Federica Fontana

• Associate Professor - University of Ferrara Department of Humanities
• Researcher at University of Ferrara

The Epigravettian corresponds to one of the final Upper Palaeolithic culture-historical taxonomic units in Europe. Many sites have been attributed to the Epigravettian over a wide area —from south-eastern France, Italy, and the Balkans to Russia and Armenia. The onset is almost synchronous across this territory with the start date of around 26 and...

Mobility is a crucial feature of the territorial exploitation strategies of hunter-gatherer groups. Generally, in archaeological studies, the reconstruction of the displacements of humans carrying lithic artefacts and materials relies on identifying raw material outcrops or indirect evidence of transportation, i.e. inferences based on the absence o...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299512.].

The Epigravettian human remains from Riparo Tagliente in northern Italy represent some of the earliest evidence of human occupation in the southern Alpine slopes after the Last Glacial Maximum. Genomic analyses of the 17,000-year-old Tagliente 2 mandible revealed the oldest presence of a genetic profile with affinities to the Near East in the Itali...

Le armature litiche rappresentano una delle categorie di manufatti riferibili al Paleolitico superiore con la maggiore variabilità morfologica. Fin dai primi studi tassonomici, questa caratteristica è stata utilizzata per definire tendenze regionali e specifiche fasi cronologiche. Particolarmente significativo in questa prospettiva è il Tardoglacia...

The application of backing techniques is a central element in the manufacturing process of Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic lithic projectile implements (e.g., backed points, backed bladelets, backed and truncated bladelets, geometrics, etc.). In recent years, different studies based on a low magnification analysis have been developed to provide a...

The human fibular shape has been scarcely analyzed in anthropology. However, studies on athletes and human archaeological samples suggest the importance of including fibular structural properties to reconstruct mobility patterns in past populations. This study analyzes human fibular variation in relation to mobility patterns, environmental conditio...

Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical proce...

The human fibular shape has been scarcely analyzed in anthropology. However, studies on athletes and human archaeological samples suggest the importance of including fibular structural properties to reconstruct mobility patterns in past populations. This study analyzes human fibular variation in relation to mobility patterns, environmental conditio...

Comparative macro-archaeological investigations of the human deep past rely on the availability of unified, quality-checked datasets integrating different layers of observation. Information on the durable and ubiquitous record of Paleolithic stone artefacts and technological choices are especially pertinent to this endeavour. We here present a larg...

The microburin blow technique is a crucial element in the chaîne opératoire that involves the production of geometrics. In Europe, it sporadically appeared at the end of the Upper Paleolithic but reached its maximum diffusion during the Mesolithic. The discussion concerning when this type of fracture transformed from an unintentional breakage into...

This article focuses on the Mesolithic record of northeastern Italy, one of the key European regions for studying the last prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups. Most specifically, it aims to compare the rich Early and Late Mesolithic evidence, trying to shed some light on the shift between these two periods. Such a topic is approached at a regional s...

Scenari di ricostruzione delle interazioni uomo-ambiente-clima in Lombardia (N-Italia) dal Paleolitico medio all’età del Ferro Characterising key issues in human–environment interactions in Lombardy (N-Italy) from the Middle Paleolithic to the Iron Age. - This contribution aims to provide an updated and concise overview of the main events and devel...

Characterising key issues in human–environment interactions in Lombardy (N-Italy) from the Middle Paleolithic to the Iron Age. - This contribution aims to provide an updated and concise overview of the main events and developments characterising the interaction between human communities and their environment in Lombardy (Northern Italy) between the...

This paper is aimed at providing an updated synthesis on the present knowledge of human occupation in Lombardy during the Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic. The possibility to reconstruct a reliable framework is severely biased by the still limited evidence, especially for the most ancient periods. Authors illustrate the most relevant published data...

Questo volume offre un bilancio su settant’anni di ricerche sulla preistoria antica d’Italia, condotte da almeno quattro generazioni di docenti e ricercatori dell’Università di Ferrara, ora afferenti al Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici. Innumerevoli sono le testimonianze archeologiche, paleontologiche, geoarcheologiche e archeobiologiche, talora di...

Since the first studies of H. Breuil, the typological variability of lithic armatures and other specific traits in lithic and osseous technology have allowed establishing a cultural separation between the Western-Atlantic and Mediterranean-Balkan regions after the Gravettian period. The former is characterised by the Solutrean-Badegoulian-Magdaleni...

Diachronically, the presence of an abrupt retouch opposed to a cutting edge is a recurrent feature within Upper Palaeolithic armatures. Besides their morphology, the ensemble of backing techniques and gestures applied for producing this retouch must also be considered as a key element to better understand technical traditions of hunter-gatherer gro...

The Late Epigravettian is one of the main European Late Palaeolithic cultural traditions covering the whole Late Glacial. Although it took place in a timespan marked by significant climatic and environmental changes, it is usually perceived as rather homogenous when compared to the cultural evolution of the western and northern regions of Europe. T...

Early Holocene hunter-gatherer settlements are spread throughout Italy and testify to the exploitation of very different landscapes. Nonetheless, their preservation state is not always exceptional. This is not the case for Contrada Pace, an archaeolo-gical site recently discovered on a terrace of the Chienti river in central-eastern Italy. This pap...

Early Mesolithic technology is generally perceived as the result of a small technical investment in lithic tool manufacture and use. In this paper, it is argued that such perception is primarily the result of low archaeological visibility. By using a combined techno-functional approach to study two Early Mesolithic (Sauveterrian) flaked assemblages...

Lithic armatures are among the elements with the highest morphological variability in Late Palaeolithic techno-complexes. As suggested by several ethnographic studies, this seems to be related to two main factors: the hunting techniques and their role as markers of ethnic and personal identities. For this reason, they have often been used as key el...

Before the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼16.5 ka ago)1 set in motion major shifts in human culture and population structure,2 a consistent change in lithic technology, material culture, settlement pattern, and adaptive strategies is recorded in Southern Europe at ∼18-17 ka ago. In this time frame, the landscape of Northeastern Italy change...

Recent advances in the functional study of stone technology have highlighted how, since the early Paleolithic, non-flaked stone tools were employed in a wide range of tasks, from food processing to craft activities. Non-flaked tools are documented within the stone assemblages of various Mesolithic sites of Italy. However, these tools are still poor...

We report on a virtual workshop aimed at advancing a new synthesis of techno-cultural patterns at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in Europe. We respond to the growing need of developing meta-analytical frameworks for comparing and eventually integrating disparate regional datasets and stress the opportunities of collaborative approaches. We propo...

The paper is an overview on the Late-Final Epigravettian in the Italian peninsula. The lithic assemblages and symbolic behaviour are the main reference records while other aspects (settlement dynamics, dwelling organisation, economic strategies, etc.) are less diagnostic for an evaluation on a broad geographical scale, since they are strictly conne...

ABSTRACT - Crossing the Alps 11,000 years ago: the Early Mesolithic at high altitude in the eastern Alps and the site of Ullafelsen (Austria). Ullafelsen (Stubai Alps, Tyrol) is one of the most important and bestdocumented sites in the Central Eastern Alps and a key deposit for reconstructing settlement dynamics in this sector of the Alpine region....

During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 30 to 16.5 ka ago), the Great Adriatic-Po Region (GAPR) was deeply affected by the spread of glaciers from the Alps to the southern foreland and by the dropping of the sea level to ~ -120 m amsl. The combination of these two events triggered the aggradation of the Great Po Plain (GPP), a vast flat area between...

Objectives: The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear patterns to gain a bro...

The Late Mesolithic in Southern Europe is dated to the 7th and the first part of the 6th millennia BCE and is marked by profound changes which are mostly evident in the technical know-how and tool-kit of the last hunter-fisher-gatherer societies. The significance of this phase also relates to the fact that it precedes the Early Neolithic, another p...

The end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Europe (~16.5 ka ago) set in motion major changes in human culture and population structure. In Southern Europe, Early Epigravettian material culture was replaced by Late Epigravettian art and technology about 18-17 ka ago at the beginning of southern Alpine deglaciation, although available genetic evide...

The aim of this study is to understand Neanderthals' techno-functional behavior at Riparo Tagliente (VR). To this purpose, the use-wear analysis on the lithic artefacts from the upper levels of the Mousterian sequences was carried out. In particular, two main features of the Mousterian lithic assemblage of Riparo Tagliente are considered: how the l...

Nel 2011 sono riprese le ricerche da parte dell'U-niversità di Ferrara nell'area delle Dolomiti Bellunesi. L'obiettivo delle indagini è quello di arricchire il quadro delle conoscenze sul popolamento preistorico del territorio, con particolare riferimento al periodo degli ultimi cacciatori-raccoglitori, nell'ottica di contestualizzare meglio l'impo...

Small mammal fossil remains from Mondeval de Sora (VF1, sectors I and III) have been analyzed in order to allow a reconstruction of the environment surrounding the site throughout the Holocene. A taxonom- ic study has led to the identification of 14 species while statistics tools as Simpson index and Habitat Weighting method have been applied to ex...

Early Levallois core technology is usually dated in Europe to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and particularly from the beginning of MIS 8 to MIS 6. This technology is considered as one of the markers of the transition from lower to Middle Paleolithic or from Mode 2 to Mode 3. Recent discoveries show that some lithic innovations actually ap...

Backing techniques represent one of the most relevant technical aspects involved in the manufacturing processes of backed tools. In this paper, we present results of an experimental programme focused on the manufacture of backed points, a kind of tool that has played a key role in Upper Palaeolithic technical systems. In order to identify which ret...

Since the 1970'ies archaeological and ethnographic studies (Gendel 1982, 1984, Hodder 1977, Wiessner 1983) have explored the potentiality of arrowheads as a meaningful parameter for measuring the ethnographic identities of prehistoric groups and the relationships among them. Later on, mainly in connection with the diffusion of technological studies...

This work presents the results of an experimental programme focused on the manufacture of Late Palaeolithic backed points. In order to identify the retouch techniques used to produce an archaeological assemblage of backed points from the Late Epigravettian layers of Riparo Tagliente (Verona, North-Eastern Italy) different combinations of retouchers...

Tardiglacial and early Holocene settlement of the Venetian Prealps (north-eastern Italy): comparative elements. The environmental conditions during Tardiglacial human settlement (19,000-11,500 years cal BP), in the region of the Eastern Italian Alps began with the Wurmian deglaciation, a process that determined the retreat of the icecaps from the c...

Evidence from archaeological and anthropological research suggest major changes in human adaptations at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. In Western Europe, hunter- gatherers which had long-distance network and extremely high mobility in the Middle Upper Palaeolithic were forced into southerly refugia with the Last Glacial Maximum. During de-glaci...

The use of red ochre for utilitarian, symbolic and artistic purposes is widely documented in prehistoric contexts. The absence of adequate red-coloured raw materials influenced the development of technological activities aimed at modifying the original physiochemical properties of yellow ochre. The heat treatment of goethite to obtain hematite was...

Il sito pluristratificato all'aperto di Arco via Serafini (Trento), posto alla quota di 80 m s.l.m., è collocato sulla porzione distale del conoide colluviale del Rio Bordellino, in prossimità della pianura alluvionale del fiume Sarca. Le indagini archeologiche iniziate nel febbraio del 2013 in un'area già nota per il ritrovamento di importanti evi...

Throughout the Upper Palaeolithic, shell beads experienced few modifications as the only manufacturing stage is reduced to the perforation of the shell. In epigravettian contexts, whereas raw material identification is systematic, the characterisation of perforation techniques is still rarely considered. The few studies which take in account this a...

Upper Palaeolithic yellow and red ochre samples recovered in the last 40 years at Tagliente rock-shelter in the Lessini Mountains (Verona, NE Italy) were analysed by means of conventional X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) and compared with goethite- and hematite-based natural geomaterials coming from geological deposits within a distance of approxima...

The site of Riparo Tagliente (north-eastern Italy) contains one of the main Upper Pleistocene archaeological sequences of south-western Europe. It also represents a key site for the study of human adaptation to Late Glacial environmental changes in the southern Alpine area. These climatic and environmental conditions are here reconstructed based on...

Provenance research of archaeological ocher contributes to understanding the capabilities of prehistoric humans to select, process, and treat suitable raw materials for symbolic and utilitarian purposes. The western part of the Lessini Mountains in the Veneto region of northeast Italy is an ideal location for this type of study as it features sever...

According to the current archaeological evidence human peopling in the Southern Po Plain after the LGM was delayed with respect to other areas of northern-central Italy. Although a rather rich set of sites is recorded from the plain to the main Apennines watershed, true reference points are still lacking. Within this context, Collecchio (Parma, Nor...

The two living species of bison (European and American) are among the few terrestrial megafauna to have survived the late Pleistocene extinctions. Despite the extensive bovid fossil record in Eurasia, the evolutionary history of the European bison (or wisent, Bison bonasus) before the Holocene (o11.7 thousand years ago (kya)) remains a mystery. We...

Sample details

Supplementary Figures 1-27, Supplementary Tables 1-11, Supplementary Notes 1-4 and Supplementary References

BEAST input file

Nuclear SNPs

MrBayes output tree

Despite new discoveries of human fossil remains, some aspects of paleoanthropological research are biased by the poor sample size, which limits our understanding of intra-species variability among the different hominin species. In this context, continuous assessment and reassessment of human fossil remains discovered decades ago, and often unknown...

Outlines the aims, objectives and methods of a new research programme (The ‘Hidden Foods’ project) aimed at reconstructing the importance of plant foods in prehistoric forager subsistence in Southern Europe, with a particular focus on Italy and the Balkans.

Mesolithic lithic scatters were identified in the highland district of San Vito di Cadore (1800-2700 m a.s.l.) since the late 1970s, mostly enhanced by the discovery of the site of Mondeval de Sora. From 2011 to 2015 a new archaeological survey project was developed in this territory, focusing on the area between Passo Giau and Col de la Puina. A "...

Mondeval de Sora is situated in the heart of the Dolomites (south-eastern Alps, Italy) at an altitude of about 2150 m a.s.l.; this site represents a key deposit for the study of occupation and exploitation patterns of mountain areas in the southern slope of the Alps during the early Holocene. This paper contains the results of the study of the faun...

The territory extending between the Venetian Alps and the Emilian Apennines is formed by a mosaic of environments which span from high mountains to hilly and plain areas. These present rather varied features from one extreme (Alpine watershed) to the other (Emilian Apennines watershed). In the early Holocene, the plain area included between the two...

We studied the Early and early-Mid Holocene landscape at the site of Mondeval de Sora, VF1 (Bellu-no, N-E Italy), preserving one of the best archaeological records of the Dolomites for this time span. Charcoal analyses are related to sectors I and III located under a dolomite boulder at an altitude of 2,150 m a.s.l. Samples were systematically pick...

Key words • Sauveterrian • Dolomites • lithic raw materials • reduction sequence • diachronical evolution Parole chiave • Sauveterriano • Dolomiti • materie prime litiche • sequenza operativa • evoluzione diacronica Summary The Mesolithic lithic assemblage of site VF1-sector III of Mondeval de Sora (BL, Italy). Economy, technology and typology. Sit...

Bulletin du Musée d'Anthropologie Préhistorique de Monaco - N.56/2016 - Abstract Book - First annual meeting of Prehistory and Protohistory - IIPP - DAFIST, Genova (italy) – 4th-5th February 2016 - The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in Italy: new research and perspectives - pp- 93-189.

This paper reports results of a technological study carried out on the lithic assemblages of the Mesolithic sequence of Romagnano rock shelter, in the south-eastern Alps, which represents the reference site for the Sauveterrian and Castelnovian of northeastern Italy. Considering the technical differences between the two phases, this work has tried...

The Sauveterrian occupation of the southern Po plain is known thanks to the discovery of five sites. Three are located near Bologna (INFS, Casalecchio and Cava Due Portoni), one in the Parma district (Collecchio) and one near Piacenza (Le Mose). Although they were excavated between the 1980s and 1990s, the spatial position of the archaeological fin...

The identification of Mesolithic lithic scatters on the highland district of Cadore (1700-2700 m a.s.l.), in the Eastern Italian Alps, started during the 1980s, enhanced by the discovery of the rock-shelter site of Mondeval de Sora. A new archaeological survey project was developed in this area, particularly between Passo Giau and Col de la Puina,...

Les recherches en paléoanthropologie sont souvent biaisées par la taille des échantillons qui limite notre compréhension de la variabilité des espèces humaines. La découverte de nouveaux restes fossiles a une place importante dans la perception de la variabilité des taxons mais l’examen ou le réexamen de restes fossiles humains découverts il y a de...

During MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 9 and the transition to MIS 8 – around 350–300,000 years ago – some lithic assemblages in Europe reflect marked transformations in technical behavior. These transformations involved the standardization of products and the development of diversified and elaborated débitage methods which are considered to be markers...

This article reports results of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) stable isotope analysis performed on the bone collagen of a Late Epigravettian human individual and 11 faunal remains from the Upper Palaeolithic deposits of Riparo Tagliente (Verona, Italy). Riparo Tagliente is located in Valpantena on the pre-alpine massif of Monti Lessini, a...