Niccolò Mazzucco

Macro and Micro Evidences from the Past: The state of the Art of Archeological Use-Wear Studies

Since long ago, functional interpretations about prehistoric tools illustrated one of the main concerns in the archeological research. In this scenario, although embraced with some initial controversy, the development of the use-wear analysis has been seen as the most important contributions to understand and interpret artifact functionality, particularly lithic tools.

Paths and Rhythms in the Spread of Agriculture in the Western Mediterranean: The Contribution of the Analysis of Harvesting Technology

The debate on the spread of agriculture from the Near East into Europe is largely centered on the mechanisms of the expansion, while the paths of this expansion are still poorly understood. This chapter compares the harvesting techniques in several Early Neolithic sites in Italy, southern France, and the Iberian Peninsula as these offer information on the paths and rhythms followed by human groups possessing different harvesting technology traditions in their expansion across the Western Mediterranean. Preliminary data suggest that a third terrestrial path of Neolithic expansion (associated with La Draga-type sickles) would have taken place along the northern Mediterranean, and is therefore geographically intermediate between the two acknowledged waves, the Linearbandkeramik one (associated with Karanovo-type sickles), in the North, and the maritime pioneers with impressed pottery (associated with La Marmotta-type sickles) in the south.

Reconstructing Harvesting Technologies through the Analysis of Sickle Blades: A Case-Study from Early-Middle Neolithic Sites in Northeastern Italy

The study of the crop-harvesting technology of the first groups of farmers can notably contribute to the debate on the expansion of agriculture in the Central Mediterranean. The traceological analysis of so-called “sickle blades” represents a valuable proxy for studying the emergence of harvesting technologies during Early Neolithic and their geographic variability. Use-wear traces allow to reconstruct the way in which the tool was used, the type of worked materials, the type of motion and the hafting of the flint blades. In this paper, we present the result of the analysis of a sample of sickle blades from two Early Neolithic settlements in northeastern Italy: Sammardenchia and Piancada. Those sites are particularly interesting because of their location in an area that is a natural crossroad between southern and central Europe and between the eastern and the western Mediterranean. Comparing our results with data obtained from other Neolithic sites of the Italian Peninsula, two different types of sickles have been recognized: sickles with diagonally hafted blades in southern and central Italy and sickles with parallel hafting in the Padan-Alpine region. In our opinion, such a dichotomy might be the result of different paths of diffusion of the agricultural technologies.

The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees. Human Settlements and Mobility from 18,000 cal BC to 2000 cal BC

During the last two decades, the archaeological research carried out in the Pyrenees challenged the traditional images of the past in this mountain area. The archaeological sequence of the range goes back and sites like Balma Margineda, treated until recently as an exception, now are seen as part of more global process. Actual data suggest that main valleys of the Pyrenean frequented by humans at the end of the last glacial period, with sites slightly over 1000 o.s.l. After the Younger Dryas, the human presence ascended to alpine and subalpine areas, in accordance with current archaeological data. The Neolisitation process was early in some hillsides, with intense remains of farming and pastoralism in many sites from dated in the second half of the 6th millennia cal BC. Human settlements like Coro Tracito, Els Trocs and El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the central part of the Pyrenees between 5300 and 4600 cal BC. After 3500/3300 cal BC the indices oh sheepherding rises to alpine areas, with an abrupt increase of known archaeological sites in alpine areas, above the current timberline. This phenomena, as well as the signs of anthropic disturbance of the alpine environment in sedimentary sequences, suggests a more stable and ubiquitous human presence, probably largely associated with the development of mobile herding practices.

Harvest time: crop-reaping technologies and the Neolithisation of the Central Mediterranean

Neolithic societies were defined by the development of agricultural economies not only because part of their diet was obtained from cultivated plants, but also because crop-husbandry practices strongly affected peoples lifestyles in a variety of ways. It is therefore unsurprising that the development and diffusion of agriculture can be studied from diverse perspectives and with different approaches, by analysing, for example, the macro- and micro-botanical remains of fruits and grains for morphometric and taxonomic variation (Colledge & Conolly 2007) and genetic history (Mascher et al. 2016). Conversely, agriculture can be indirectly assessed through its impact on the environment and subsequent landscape modifications (Zanchetta et al. 2013; Mercuri 2014). Yet another approach explores crop-husbandry practices as reflected in changing technology. New agricultural tasks required the adaptation of existing technologies and the adoption of new tools and practices, including querns, millstones and other grain-grinding equipment, as well as artefacts and structures for grain storage, cooking and processing.