New evidence of human frequentations in the western Alps: The project “Survey Alta Valsessera (Piedmont–Italy)”

Berruti, Gabriele Luigi Francesco; Bertè, Davide; Caracausi, Sandro; Daffara, Sara; Ferreira, Cristiana; Garanzini, Francesca; Borel, Francesco Rubat; Scoz, Luca

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.073

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Concerning Middle Palaeolithic, the studies completed in the last years (Ciota Ciara cave, Vaude Canavesane, Baragge Biellesi) (Berruti et al, 2016;Rubat Borel et al, 2013 and the data from Trino, give a quite homogeneous picture of the Piedmontese area, where we observe the presence of human frequentations based on the exploitation of local resources, among which vein quartz is the most diffused, and with technological behaviours similar one to the other. On the other hand, there is still a long way to go to clarify modalities and characteristics of the Piedmontese Upper Palaeolithic.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

“…The backwardness of the Palaeolithic studies in Piedmont is probably due to the fallacy that it was considered as an inhospitable territory during Pleistocene (Fedele, 1985) but in the last ten years, the new archaeological investigations at the Ciota Ciara cave arose the interest in Palaeolithic studies with new research projects and the re-examination of old data (Berruti et al, 2016;Rubat Borel et al, 2013 The present work concerns the technological study of the lithic assemblages found during survey activities carried out between the'70s and the '90s in the Trino area and in particular at Rilievo Isolato di Trino (RIT), a small hill located in the north western part of the Trino territory (Fig. 2) and result of a sequence of Pleistocene uvial terraces (GSQP, 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Technological analysis of lithic assemblages from surface collections. First evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in Piedmont: the case of Trino (north-western Italy)

Daffara

Giraudi²,

Berruti

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Trino hill is an isolated relief located in north-western Italy, close to Trino municipality. The hill was subject of multidisciplinary studies during the 70s, when, because of quarry activities and agricultural arrangements, five concentrations of lithic artefacts were recognized and referred to a Palaeolithic frequentation of the area. During the 80s and the 90s, surface collections continued, but the lithic finds have never been subject of specific studies. Even if most of the lithic assemblages count a few lithic implements, four collection areas (3, 13 E, 13 W and 14) have significative lithic assemblages, representing the most important evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in north-western Italy. The present work, in the limits imposed by a surface and not systematic collection, propose a technological study of the lithic artefacts from the Trino hill, with the aim to define the main features of the technological behaviour of the human groups that inhabited the area. The results obtained allow to clearly identify a Middle Palaeolithic frequentation of the Trino hill, characterized by the exploitation of vein quartz and other local raw materials; allochthonous varieties of chert were used in the next frequentation phases to produce blades and bladelets. Even if part of the laminar production can be referred to Neolithic, most of that remains of indeterminate chronology and could be the result of both an Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic human presence.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technological analysis of lithic assemblages from surface collections. First evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in Piedmont: the case of Trino (north-western Italy)

Daffara

Giraudi²,

Berruti

et al. 2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…What we have not found is evidence of intensified pastoralism, in the form of shielings, byres, pens, or similar installations. The signature of specialized transhumant pastoralism in European mountains is well known both ethnographically and archaeologically (Bartosiewicz and Greenfield 1999;Berruti et al 2016;Carrer 2013Carrer , 2015Carrer and Angelucci 2018;Christie et al 2007;Mientjes 2004;Moe and Fedele 2019;Putzer et al 2016;Stagno 2017;Visentin et al 2016;Walsh et al 2014). Such studies in the Alps, Pyrenees, and elsewhere have revealed the extensive infrastructure needed to support specialized pastoralism.…”

Section: Early Modern Through Nineteenth Centurymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Taking such an approach, the picture that emerges reveals a new history of landscape use in Europe's mountains. Elsewhere in Italy, and indeed in southern Europe, there is archaeological evidence that humans used high mountains in many periods from the Bronze Age through medieval times, particularly as seasonal pastures in transhumant systems (Bartosiewicz and Greenfield 1999;Berruti et al 2016;Carrer 2013;Carrer and Angelucci 2018;Christie et al 2007;Mientjes 2004;Putzer et al 2016;Visentin et al 2016;Walsh et al 2014). But in Aspromonte, this was not the case.…”

Section: Modern But Structurally Archaic: Inventing Ancient Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mountainous areas present both unique challenges and opportunities for human occupation and unique challenges for archaeological research (Grimaldi et al 2016); in southern Europe, this is often tied up with the archaeology of prehistoric and historic pastoralism. There is an increasing body of diachronic research studying the changing ways people have used Europe's high mountains, particularly the Alps and Pyrenees, up to the twentieth century, for pastoralism, specialized production, transit, and other uses (Berruti et al 2016;Carrer 2013;Carrer and Angelucci 2018;Christie et al 2007;Gassiot Ballbè et al 2016;Mientjes 2004;Moe and Fedele 2019;Putzer et al 2016;Stagno 2017;Walsh et al 2014). These works provide a comparative context for the work presented here.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Twentieth Century Invention of Ancient Mountains: The Archaeology of Highland Aspromonte

Robb

Chesson

Forbes

et al. 2020

Int J Histor Archaeol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The high mountains of the Mediterranean are often considered as refuges of ancient traditions, particularly of pastoralism and brigandage. Is this image true? This paper reports the first systematic archaeological research on Aspromonte, Southern Calabria. Archaeological, cartographic and air photo evidence suggests that people used the high mountains in all periods from the Neolithic onwards. However, early usage was lowintensity and probably for special purposes such as iron-smelting, charcoal-burning and logging; only in the Classical Greek period was there sustained effort at inhabiting higher areas. The real development of the mountains came in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the 1920s onwards, there were large-scale, state-fostered projects for economic exploitation of forests, political control of territory, and creation of a recreational landscape. These endeavors tied into modernist ideas of the state, as well as period concepts such as Alpinism and healthy outdoor recreation for city dwellers. Ironically, as soon as these modern efforts made the high mountains accessible, they were assigned a chronotope, and were reimagined as the exemplification of an ancient way of life.

show abstract

Conditioning of the raw materials on discoid exploitation strategies during the Early Middle Palaeolithic: the example of Payre level D (South-East France)

Daffara

Borel

Moncel

2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last decades, a growing attention was paid towards the exploitation of other lithic raw materials than flint. In this context, the lithic assemblage of Payre level D, dated to the end of the MIS 6, offers the opportunity to make some considerations about the modalities of a discoid technology on various lithic raw materials. Payre is a very well-known Middle Palaeolithic site located on the right edge of the Middle Rhône valley. Three main archaeological levels attest an intense human frequentation of the site between the end of MIS 8 and the beginning of MIS 5. The rich faunal and lithic assemblages, recovered during systematic excavations from 1990 to 2002, have been deeply analysed for a precise understanding of the site formation processes and the modalities of the human occupation of the area. The exploitation of different local and semi-local raw materials made Payre an interesting case to observe how lithic resources with different petrographic characteristics were exploited by the Neanderthal groups. The present work aims to observe how the lithic raw materials have affected the discoid reduction sequences. This knapping method is widely attested in archaeological level D, the last large phase of human occupation at Payre. Among the different raw materials exploited (flint, vein quartz, quartzite, basalt and limestone), the discoid method is just applied on flint and vein quartz. The new technological analysis carried out focuses for the first time on the characteristics of the discoid technology present in level D and on the differences in discoid reduction sequences depending on the raw materials. The results indicate some expedients used to apply discoid reduction strategies on vein quartz and adapt this technology to the features of a coarse-grained stone. The use of such expedients testifies a large capability to manage the raw materials but also of the discoid method itself. Results allow to make considerations on some of the criteria proper to the technological definition of the method.

show abstract

New evidence of human frequentations in the western Alps: The project “Survey Alta Valsessera (Piedmont–Italy)”

Cited by 9 publications

References 23 publications

Technological analysis of lithic assemblages from surface collections. First evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in Piedmont: the case of Trino (north-western Italy)

Technological analysis of lithic assemblages from surface collections. First evidence of a Palaeolithic frequentation of the Po plain in Piedmont: the case of Trino (north-western Italy)

The Twentieth Century Invention of Ancient Mountains: The Archaeology of Highland Aspromonte

Conditioning of the raw materials on discoid exploitation strategies during the Early Middle Palaeolithic: the example of Payre level D (South-East France)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About