Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HUMA (HUMAN ADAPTATION TO DIFFERENT ALTITUDES THROUGH TIME AND CLIMATIC CHANGES)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-04-01 al 2025-03-31
The evolution of Homo sapiens has always benefited from its ability to adapt to the most diverse environments. The
subject of the adaptation of human groups to the environment has been of interest to scholars, whose attention is often
turned to cases of adaptation to environments with extreme conditions and to the so-called ecological niches. However,
little attention has been given to the choice of human groups to occupy extremely different environments (high mountains,
higher than 2000 meter asl vs lowlands) and how high altitude settlements relate to the lowland sites in the framework
of the land management. This is particularly the case of the Finale Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene period in the Horn of
Africa. HUMA will be the first project to fully explore the contribution of a multidisciplinary and integrated approach
to the understanding of human adaptation to the different environments in the Later Stone Age of the Horn of Africa.
This will be achieved by integrating the most up-to-date approaches in lithic techno-functional analysis with organic
and inorganic residues analysis on lithic artefacts and dental calculus analysis. Focusing on archaeological sites from
Ethiopian highlands (Beefa Cave, a site discovered in 2019) and Somali highlands and plains, Huma will investigate
the role played by the climate played in the development of the cultural traits and how environmental factors may have
fostered specific adaptations to different ecological niches and encouraged seasonal use of them.
Lithic techno-functional analysis, Residues analysis, Archaeobotany, Experimental Archaeology, Dental Calculus
analysis, and aDNA analysis will be applied in order to answer the research questions.
Both the University of Florence and the University of Connecticut are the ideal environments for undertaking the
proposed cross-disciplinary research, as they will contribute with their theoretical, methodological, and professional
resources to reaching the project's goals
subject of the adaptation of human groups to the environment has been of interest to scholars, whose attention is often
turned to cases of adaptation to environments with extreme conditions and to the so-called ecological niches. However,
little attention has been given to the choice of human groups to occupy extremely different environments (high mountains,
higher than 2000 meter asl vs lowlands) and how high altitude settlements relate to the lowland sites in the framework
of the land management. This is particularly the case of the Finale Pleistocene to Mid-Holocene period in the Horn of
Africa. HUMA will be the first project to fully explore the contribution of a multidisciplinary and integrated approach
to the understanding of human adaptation to the different environments in the Later Stone Age of the Horn of Africa.
This will be achieved by integrating the most up-to-date approaches in lithic techno-functional analysis with organic
and inorganic residues analysis on lithic artefacts and dental calculus analysis. Focusing on archaeological sites from
Ethiopian highlands (Beefa Cave, a site discovered in 2019) and Somali highlands and plains, Huma will investigate
the role played by the climate played in the development of the cultural traits and how environmental factors may have
fostered specific adaptations to different ecological niches and encouraged seasonal use of them.
Lithic techno-functional analysis, Residues analysis, Archaeobotany, Experimental Archaeology, Dental Calculus
analysis, and aDNA analysis will be applied in order to answer the research questions.
Both the University of Florence and the University of Connecticut are the ideal environments for undertaking the
proposed cross-disciplinary research, as they will contribute with their theoretical, methodological, and professional
resources to reaching the project's goals
Scientific Objectives
O.1: Describe the specific subsistence strategies of the LSA groups of the Horn of Africa living at different altitudes through the analysis of the stone tools (lithic) assemblages.
O.1 was partially achieved by analyzing the lithic assemblage from Beefa Cave (Ethiopia) following an integrated approach involving techno-typological analysis and use-wear and residues analysis. Moreover, the objective was pursued by performing an extensive review of the literature on the Later Stone Age of the Horn of Africa and East Africa. A comparative analysis of the macro-tools from the LSA site of Morchena Borago (Ethiopia), started during the second year of fellowship, is still ongoing, and another comparative analysis of macrotools from the pastoral site of Luxmanda (Tanzania), chronologically overlapping the most recent occupation phase of Beefa Cave, has been completed. Finally, the revision of Graziosi’s archive materials from the Horn of Africa, stored at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria (Firenze, Italy), is ongoing.
O.2: Investigate the specific dietary habits and craft activities through the dental calculus analysis of LSA human remains from Somalia.
O.2 has not been achieved yet. During the second year of fellowship, dental calculus samples from Graziosi’s archive (Iadadale Cave, Somalia) have been taken and are awaiting to be ready for analysis. Human Remains for Buur Eibe (Somalia) are currently in the process of being transferred from the University of Florida to Stony Brook University and are planned to be sampled for dental calculus in September 2025 and analysed right after at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria.
O.3: Builds an interpretative scheme to correlate the entire dataset and create a model of the human response at sudden climatic changes.
O.3 has been fully achieved by creating an Excel worksheet that summarizes a series of published data on LSA sites across the Horn of Africa. The researcher has built a scheme for interpreting the LSA adaptation through the late Pleistocene/Mid-Holocene climatic shifts by considering topography, orography, environmental data, faunal remains, archaeobotanical remains, and material culture. The results will be presented at the 27th SAFA Meeting in Algarve, Portugal, at the end of July 2025.
Training Objectives
Training objectives included the following intensive formation courses:
Micro FTIR: This training objective was fully achieved.
RAMAN SPECTROGRAPHY: This training objective was fully achieved.
SEM-EDS: This training objective was fully achieved.
GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY: This training objective wasn’t achieved.
Ancient DNA (planned for the third year of fellowship): This training objective is ongoing and has not been achieved yet.
Statistics applied to lithic analysis (planned for the third year of fellowship): This training objective is ongoing and has not been achieved yet.
At the end of the training process, Dr.Mutri will provide a detailed report about the acquired skills (M4, D3.1).
WP1 was fully completed; deliverables and milestones planned for the outgoing phase have been fully achieved.
Data management Plan (D1.1) was completed within the first 6 months of the project, as the Career Development Plan (D1.2). The latter has just recently been updated with a few minor changes and signed by the supervisors. Communication, Dissemination and Outreach (D1.3) was partially achieved through the following activities:
- Conferences/Meetings
- Education/Outreach;
- Online Activities.
With the acquisition of the management plan to start the project, the researcher has reached the first Milestone (M1).
Podcast activity is planned for September 2025. Annual progress reports and proactive contingency arrangements (D1.4 D1.5) were constantly performed.
WP2 is at a satisfactory level of progress; deliverables and milestones have been partially achieved.
About the 70% if the lithic assemblage excavated so far from Beefa Cave (Ethiopia) was studied from the techno-typological and functional point of view (D2.1) a more than acceptable amount to be statistically relevant. The ongoing study of the lithic assemblages from the Graziosi’s archive at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria will determine the completion of Task 2.1. The researcher has created a reference collection of obsidian artefacts through experimental knapping and used to perform several tasks (cutting fibers, butchering, scraping wood, etc). This reference collection is being used to build a detailed repository of residue analysis (D2.2). The environmental data collection (Task 2.2) was obtained through the flotation of the sediment from the site of Beefa Cave (D2.3). Samples obtained were sent for identification to specialists, together with many charred wood and animal (herbivore) teeth samples for isotope analysis. A targeted experimental collection was created (Task 2.3) to identify residue on lithic artefacts and micro-debris in dental calculus, and it was recorded in a database. Experimental data were used to interpret the archaeological data (D2.4). With the achievement of D2.1 to D2.4 the researcher has reached M2.
Results will be integrated into the general framework. The dental calculus sampling and analysis (Task 2.4) was started and is ongoing (D2.5). The acquisition of data on dental calculus will determine the achievement of M3.
WP3 was fully achieved; deliverables and milestones planned for the outgoing phase have been fully achieved.
Micro FTIR: The Researcher was trained by Gideon Hartman in preparing samples, analyzing data, and processing them with an FTIR based at the Stable Isotope Preparation Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut (April to November 2023). Moreover, she was trained by Gilliane Monnier and Bing Luo to use a micro-FTIR at the Materials Science Laboratory, University of Minnesota (December 2023 and November 2024). During the training, the researcher was able to build a reference collection for the interpretation of archaeological residues and to analyze finds from the project’s case study.
RAMAN Spectrography: At the Materials Science Laboratory of the University of Minnesota, the researcher was also trained in RAMAN SPECTROGRAPHY by Gilliane Monnier and Bing Luo (December 2023).
SEM-EDS: The Researcher was trained at the Advanced Imaging Service for Objects and Spaces (AISOS) with a Hitachi TM4000Plus tabletop scanning electron microscope equipped with an analyzer- EDS -(December 2023).
During the training in FTIR and SEM-EDS, the researcher has analyzed a series of experimental organic and inorganic materials and built a targeted reference collection for residue analysis on experimental artefacts to serve as a comparative tool in identifying residue on archaeological finds from the project’s case study.
GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY: Adjustments were required due to practical issues. (See adjustment in paragraph 5).
Ancient DNA and Statistics applied to lithic analysis are planned for the third year of fellowship. Once all the planned training are concluded, the researcher will provide a detailed report (D3.1 M4).
WP4 is at a satisfactory level of progress; deliverables and milestones have not been achieved yet.
This WP represents the essential step toward the understanding of the Later Stone Age living strategies and settlement choices in the Horn of Africa through the study of material culture, human remains and paleoenvironment.
The researcher could go on fieldwork in Ethiopia and Tanzania five times during the outgoing phase, working both on the excavation and in the museum’s laboratory. This intense activity led to the techno-typological analysis of about 70% of the lithics from the currently excavated levels of Beefa Cave. This percentage is considerably more than sufficient to obtain statistically relevant information about the lithic complex. The elaboration of statistical tests is currently the subject of the training that the researcher is receiving at the Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications "G. Parenti" (DiSIA), University of Firenze. Also, about 200 samples for use-wear and residue analysis from Beefa Cave and Morchena Borago (Ethiopia) and 200 from Luxmanda (Tanzania) were collected during the fieldwork.
The results will be the focus of two planned paper on Lithic Technology (D4.1) and Use-wear and residues (D4.2) both in preparation.
The ongoing analysis of dental calculus and Ancient DNA will be the focus of an integrated paper on Holocene lowland settlement in Somalia (D4.3). With the contribution of all the project collaborators, Dr. Mutri will also finalize one methodological paper to be published open access (D4.4).
After an accurate revision of the published literature, the researcher built a worksheet that summarizes the features of the LSA sites of the Horn of Africa. This outcome will soon be published as a pre-print in FLORE (the publication repository if UNIFI) and made available open access, following the EU directions. Moreover, it is the starting point for a synthesis paper (D4.5) on High-elevation/Low-elevation settlement in the LSA of the HoA that is in preparation and will be presented at the 27th SAFA Meeting in Algarve, Portugal at the end of July within a session co-organized by the researcher with Christyan Tryon (Supervisor during the outgoing phase, University of Connecticut) and Veronica Waweru (Yale University).
O.1: Describe the specific subsistence strategies of the LSA groups of the Horn of Africa living at different altitudes through the analysis of the stone tools (lithic) assemblages.
O.1 was partially achieved by analyzing the lithic assemblage from Beefa Cave (Ethiopia) following an integrated approach involving techno-typological analysis and use-wear and residues analysis. Moreover, the objective was pursued by performing an extensive review of the literature on the Later Stone Age of the Horn of Africa and East Africa. A comparative analysis of the macro-tools from the LSA site of Morchena Borago (Ethiopia), started during the second year of fellowship, is still ongoing, and another comparative analysis of macrotools from the pastoral site of Luxmanda (Tanzania), chronologically overlapping the most recent occupation phase of Beefa Cave, has been completed. Finally, the revision of Graziosi’s archive materials from the Horn of Africa, stored at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria (Firenze, Italy), is ongoing.
O.2: Investigate the specific dietary habits and craft activities through the dental calculus analysis of LSA human remains from Somalia.
O.2 has not been achieved yet. During the second year of fellowship, dental calculus samples from Graziosi’s archive (Iadadale Cave, Somalia) have been taken and are awaiting to be ready for analysis. Human Remains for Buur Eibe (Somalia) are currently in the process of being transferred from the University of Florida to Stony Brook University and are planned to be sampled for dental calculus in September 2025 and analysed right after at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria.
O.3: Builds an interpretative scheme to correlate the entire dataset and create a model of the human response at sudden climatic changes.
O.3 has been fully achieved by creating an Excel worksheet that summarizes a series of published data on LSA sites across the Horn of Africa. The researcher has built a scheme for interpreting the LSA adaptation through the late Pleistocene/Mid-Holocene climatic shifts by considering topography, orography, environmental data, faunal remains, archaeobotanical remains, and material culture. The results will be presented at the 27th SAFA Meeting in Algarve, Portugal, at the end of July 2025.
Training Objectives
Training objectives included the following intensive formation courses:
Micro FTIR: This training objective was fully achieved.
RAMAN SPECTROGRAPHY: This training objective was fully achieved.
SEM-EDS: This training objective was fully achieved.
GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY: This training objective wasn’t achieved.
Ancient DNA (planned for the third year of fellowship): This training objective is ongoing and has not been achieved yet.
Statistics applied to lithic analysis (planned for the third year of fellowship): This training objective is ongoing and has not been achieved yet.
At the end of the training process, Dr.Mutri will provide a detailed report about the acquired skills (M4, D3.1).
WP1 was fully completed; deliverables and milestones planned for the outgoing phase have been fully achieved.
Data management Plan (D1.1) was completed within the first 6 months of the project, as the Career Development Plan (D1.2). The latter has just recently been updated with a few minor changes and signed by the supervisors. Communication, Dissemination and Outreach (D1.3) was partially achieved through the following activities:
- Conferences/Meetings
- Education/Outreach;
- Online Activities.
With the acquisition of the management plan to start the project, the researcher has reached the first Milestone (M1).
Podcast activity is planned for September 2025. Annual progress reports and proactive contingency arrangements (D1.4 D1.5) were constantly performed.
WP2 is at a satisfactory level of progress; deliverables and milestones have been partially achieved.
About the 70% if the lithic assemblage excavated so far from Beefa Cave (Ethiopia) was studied from the techno-typological and functional point of view (D2.1) a more than acceptable amount to be statistically relevant. The ongoing study of the lithic assemblages from the Graziosi’s archive at the Museo and Istituto Fiorentino di Preistoria will determine the completion of Task 2.1. The researcher has created a reference collection of obsidian artefacts through experimental knapping and used to perform several tasks (cutting fibers, butchering, scraping wood, etc). This reference collection is being used to build a detailed repository of residue analysis (D2.2). The environmental data collection (Task 2.2) was obtained through the flotation of the sediment from the site of Beefa Cave (D2.3). Samples obtained were sent for identification to specialists, together with many charred wood and animal (herbivore) teeth samples for isotope analysis. A targeted experimental collection was created (Task 2.3) to identify residue on lithic artefacts and micro-debris in dental calculus, and it was recorded in a database. Experimental data were used to interpret the archaeological data (D2.4). With the achievement of D2.1 to D2.4 the researcher has reached M2.
Results will be integrated into the general framework. The dental calculus sampling and analysis (Task 2.4) was started and is ongoing (D2.5). The acquisition of data on dental calculus will determine the achievement of M3.
WP3 was fully achieved; deliverables and milestones planned for the outgoing phase have been fully achieved.
Micro FTIR: The Researcher was trained by Gideon Hartman in preparing samples, analyzing data, and processing them with an FTIR based at the Stable Isotope Preparation Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut (April to November 2023). Moreover, she was trained by Gilliane Monnier and Bing Luo to use a micro-FTIR at the Materials Science Laboratory, University of Minnesota (December 2023 and November 2024). During the training, the researcher was able to build a reference collection for the interpretation of archaeological residues and to analyze finds from the project’s case study.
RAMAN Spectrography: At the Materials Science Laboratory of the University of Minnesota, the researcher was also trained in RAMAN SPECTROGRAPHY by Gilliane Monnier and Bing Luo (December 2023).
SEM-EDS: The Researcher was trained at the Advanced Imaging Service for Objects and Spaces (AISOS) with a Hitachi TM4000Plus tabletop scanning electron microscope equipped with an analyzer- EDS -(December 2023).
During the training in FTIR and SEM-EDS, the researcher has analyzed a series of experimental organic and inorganic materials and built a targeted reference collection for residue analysis on experimental artefacts to serve as a comparative tool in identifying residue on archaeological finds from the project’s case study.
GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY: Adjustments were required due to practical issues. (See adjustment in paragraph 5).
Ancient DNA and Statistics applied to lithic analysis are planned for the third year of fellowship. Once all the planned training are concluded, the researcher will provide a detailed report (D3.1 M4).
WP4 is at a satisfactory level of progress; deliverables and milestones have not been achieved yet.
This WP represents the essential step toward the understanding of the Later Stone Age living strategies and settlement choices in the Horn of Africa through the study of material culture, human remains and paleoenvironment.
The researcher could go on fieldwork in Ethiopia and Tanzania five times during the outgoing phase, working both on the excavation and in the museum’s laboratory. This intense activity led to the techno-typological analysis of about 70% of the lithics from the currently excavated levels of Beefa Cave. This percentage is considerably more than sufficient to obtain statistically relevant information about the lithic complex. The elaboration of statistical tests is currently the subject of the training that the researcher is receiving at the Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications "G. Parenti" (DiSIA), University of Firenze. Also, about 200 samples for use-wear and residue analysis from Beefa Cave and Morchena Borago (Ethiopia) and 200 from Luxmanda (Tanzania) were collected during the fieldwork.
The results will be the focus of two planned paper on Lithic Technology (D4.1) and Use-wear and residues (D4.2) both in preparation.
The ongoing analysis of dental calculus and Ancient DNA will be the focus of an integrated paper on Holocene lowland settlement in Somalia (D4.3). With the contribution of all the project collaborators, Dr. Mutri will also finalize one methodological paper to be published open access (D4.4).
After an accurate revision of the published literature, the researcher built a worksheet that summarizes the features of the LSA sites of the Horn of Africa. This outcome will soon be published as a pre-print in FLORE (the publication repository if UNIFI) and made available open access, following the EU directions. Moreover, it is the starting point for a synthesis paper (D4.5) on High-elevation/Low-elevation settlement in the LSA of the HoA that is in preparation and will be presented at the 27th SAFA Meeting in Algarve, Portugal at the end of July within a session co-organized by the researcher with Christyan Tryon (Supervisor during the outgoing phase, University of Connecticut) and Veronica Waweru (Yale University).
So far, the main scientific impact of the project has been the results of the data collected from the site of Beefa Cave. Both data from the lithic complex (typology, technology, use-wear and residue) and palaeoenvironmental data (macro-botanical remains, charred woods, charcoals, phytoliths, starch granules, isotope, faunal remains). The information obtained from these findings are essential to shed light on the paleoenvironment of the Ethiopian Highlands from roughly 7000 to 5000 BP. The expected impact on the local society of the Awash village and the surroundings of Melka Kunture area is focused on the increased self-awareness of local people, thanks to the outreach activity planned for the third year of the fellowship at the Melka Kunture Museum for local children. This, together with the enhanced tourism in the area due to the recent recognition of Melka Kunture as UNESCO HERITAGE site, will contribute to the improvement of the local economy.