Living in the mountains at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. Insights on the use of Alpine territories by the last prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Project Information

LiMPH

Grant agreement ID: 886476

DOI

10.3030/886476

Project closed

EC signature date 16 April 2020

Start date 16 November 2020

End date 15 November 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 160 932,48

EU contribution

€ 160 932,48

Coordinated by

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LiMPH (Living in the mountains at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. Insights on the use of Alpine territories by the last prehistoric hunter-gatherers.)

Reporting period: 2020-11-16 to 2022-11-15

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The LiMPH project aimed to understand how the last European hunter-gatherers exploited mountain environments during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition (14,000-8500 cal BP), a period marked by significant climatic and environmental factors changes. Through the adoption of different techno-functional methods applied to stone tool assemblages, the project investigated the lifeways of these hunter-gatherer groups starting from the evidence of the south-eastern Alps – the richest in Europe – and tried to reconstruct the importance of mountain areas in the framework of the socio-economic structure of these human groups. Some key assemblages were analysed with an innovative techno-functional approach combining technological and use-wear analyses to reconstruct the main activities carried out at the sites. By cross-referencing these data with those on raw material circulation, faunal exploitation and site distribution, it was possible to investigate the mobility, settlement system and social structure of the prehistoric groups that colonised such a changing environment after the Last Glacial Maximum. At a general level, the proposed research provided a broader comparative perspective on the exploitation of mountain environments in Europe and allowed to understand which were the most attractive features of the Alpine palaeo-environments that led the last hunter-gatherer groups to intensively settle most of the European mountain ranges during this time span. The project results have been made available to researchers and the general public through several actions, including open-access publications and different outreach activities. Results of LiMPH have also contributed to enhancing public awareness of the historical value of the Alpine range and implementing the touristic offer of the region.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project applied different technological and traceological techniques to studying knapped stone tool assemblages belonging to eight key assemblages of the southeastern Alps. Obtained data concerning the activities carried out at these sites allowed reconstructing how the valley bottoms and the uplands of this mountain sector were exploited at the end of the Palaeolithic (i.e. during the first recolonisation phase of the Alps after the Last Glacial Maximum) and during the Early Mesolithic. In particular, they highlight a differential use of these two altitudinal belts during both phases. In the valley bottoms, activities recorded by use-wear on lithic tools testify to numerous and intensive transformation tasks concerning animal and vegetal resources. In the uplands, sites seem to be more specialised towards hunting practices, with limited evidence of transformation activities. Particularly interesting is also the diachronic comparison of the studied assemblages that indicate a general increase in the specialisation of sites with the beginning of the Mesolithic and a shift towards a more logistic settlement system. Additionally, LiMPH results allowed identifying consistent evidence of wear related to the transportation of lithic artefacts both as cores and as blanks. This unforeseen discovery, which has been confirmed through dedicated experimental protocols, is particularly relevant to studying mobility patterns among prehistoric societies and is expected to significantly impact future research development.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

LiMPH allowed significant progress beyond the state-of-the-art, both from a methodological point of view and concerning our knowledge of the hunter-gatherer groups that first settled the Alpine area after the Last Glacial Maximum. The rich data concerning the use of Alpine space at the end of the Pleistocene and in the Early Holocene can be considered the primary result of the project. These results are being exploited through the ongoing redaction of high-level scientific papers but will also constitute a reference for future works in the same area or similar ones.
The identification of consistent transportation wear is one of the most significant unforeseen results of LiMPH, which required dedicated experimentation and methodological development. Because of the wide possibility of application of this methodology to the entire prehistoric period, this result has a wide exploitation potential through dedicated papers and other colleagues interested in applying this methodology. These data have already been presented with very positive feedback at two International Conferences.
Also, identifying fish-processing use-wear traces at one of the studied sites represents a significant result, as this type of use-wear is very difficult to be identified at an archaeological level.
Finally, data concerning the single studied assemblages are abundant and will undoubtedly be exploited in the near future to prepare monographic works and dedicated papers.

The site of Casera Staulanza (Dolomites) during the excavation. Photo D. Visentin.