Abstract
This study presents an analysis of two Proto-Aurignacian lithic assemblages from the site of Riparo Bombrini to test the idea that there was a correlated change in behavior and paleoenvironmental conditions at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in Liguria. The available data paint a picture of Level A2 being associated with colder, more open conditions and a logistical mobility strategy reflected in the lithic technological organization by a more expedient signature. In contrast, Level A1 is associated with warmer conditions and the adoption of a more residential mobility strategy reflected by a more curated approach to lithic technology. A correlation between behavioral and ecological changes within the Proto-Aurignacian is thus identified, establishing a degree of dynamism in human behavior in that techno-complex that is usually muffled by traditional techno-typological analyses. The paper concludes with a discussion of what this inherent flexibility in the Proto-Aurignacian means in terms of the development and maintenance of an early modern human niche in coastal Liguria across some of the most dramatic climatic fluctuation documented over the past 45,000 years.
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Notes
- 1.
Here, we use our finalized reconstruction of the site stratigraphy to assign Arobba and Caramiello’s sample no. four to Level A2 rather than Level A3, the latter being found only in a limited area against the back wall of the shelter (cf. Bertola et al. 2013, Riel-Salvatore et al. 2013). As such, sample nos. four and eight should be considered as reflecting the pollen record of Level A2.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (BCS 0526073), Université de Montréal, the University of Colorado Denver, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Data on the bladelets analyzed here was collected with the help of Crystal Simms, Claudine Gravel-Miguel, and Enza Spinapolice; Crystal Simms also conducted a first compilation of some of the bladelet data. We kindly thank an anonymous reviewer who gave detailed, pointed, and extremely useful feedback on an earlier draft of this paper. Finally, we wish to thank Erick Robinson and Fred Sellet for inviting us to contribute this chapter and, especially, for their patience and encouragement during the process.
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Riel-Salvatore, J., Negrino, F. (2018). Proto-Aurignacian Lithic Technology, Mobility, and Human Niche Construction: A Case Study from Riparo Bombrini, Italy. In: Robinson, E., Sellet, F. (eds) Lithic Technological Organization and Paleoenvironmental Change. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64407-3_8
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