Papers by Silvia Florindi
Journal of Mediterranean Earth Sciences, 2023
The middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy) was excavated in 2012 when the c... more The middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy) was excavated in 2012 when the construction of a thermal pool brought to light a stratigraphic succession with various levels of human frequentation. Data suggest that the presence of thermal water may have attracted animals and Neanderthals to Poggetti Vecchi at the beginning of the penultimate glaciation (MIS6), when the climate was getting colder. The oldest archaeological unit (U2), dating around 170,000 years BP, consists of a paleosurface on which the remains of large fauna, stone and bone tools, and wooden artefacts were found. The remains of seven individuals of Palaeloxodon antiquus were found, probably belonging to a single family of elephants who died of natural causes. The most significant finds consist of fragments of digging sticks made of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). Some of the sticks were partially blackened by fire, as a result of the working and finishing of the tools, providing the earliest evidence of the use of fire as an engineering tool. The particularity of the Poggetti Vecchi environmental and archeological context is ideal for the dissemination of many aspects to a non-specialist public, including the reconstruction of the human-environment relationship in a period of climatic emergency. Despite this, the site of Poggetti Vecchi is still waiting to find a suitable temporary or permanent location for a museum exhibition. Since physical space is increasingly difficult to find, while digital technologies are more accessible in everyone's daily life, the Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, as part of its research projects, wanted to promote the outreach of scientific culture through the virtual exhibition "170,000 years ago in Poggetti Vecchi. Neanderthals and Elephants in the Tuscan Maremma, the climate challenge". Exploiting technology, this virtual exhibition made it possible to substitute the real space with a digital reality capable of expanding the visiting experience. One of the aims is to engage the public on the subject of the relationship between climate change and human communities since the origins of human history.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2023
Evidence of plant food processing is a significant indicator of the human ability to exploit envi... more Evidence of plant food processing is a significant indicator of the human ability to exploit environmental resources. The recovery of starch grains associated with use-wear on Palaeolithic grinding tools offers proof of a specific technology for making flour among Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Here we present the analysis of five grindstones from two Italian sites, Riparo Bombrini and Grotta di Castelcivita, both inhabited during a crucial phase spanning the decline of the Neanderthals and the establishment of Sapiens. The recovery of starch grains on a Mousterian grindstone at Bombrini suggests that the last Neanderthals not only consumed and processed plants but also made flour 43e41,000 years ago. Starch grains attributable to Triticeae on Protoaurignacian grindstones at both sites testify that Sapiens were processing wild cereals at least 41,500e36,500 years ago when they expanded into Eurasia, long before the dawn of agriculture. These new data suggest a profound knowledge of available plant resources in both human groups.
Millenni. Studi di Archeologia Preistorica, 2022
Ci è sembrato opportuno ricordare Giuliano Cremonesi prendendo le mosse dall'articolo che, appars... more Ci è sembrato opportuno ricordare Giuliano Cremonesi prendendo le mosse dall'articolo che, apparso nel 1965 nella Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche (Cremonesi 1965) e dedicato agli scavi condotti nel villaggio di Ripoli presso Corropoli (Teramo), segnò la prima evidente affermazione di uno studioso, allora giovanissimo, nel panorama italiano degli studi preistorici. Si trattava infatti dei risultati della tesi di specializzazione da lui discussa presso la Scuola Normale di Pisa, condotta uffcialmente sotto la direzione di Silvio Ferri, ma in realtà svoltasi sotto la guida attenta di Antonio Mario Radmilli, e quello che colpisce di tale lavoro, oltre alla sua qualità e all' impostazione d'avanguardia, è che dopo oltre mezzo secolo costituisce ancor oggi un contributo insuperato per la definizione della cultura di Ripoli. L' intento del presente articolo è pertanto quello di aggiornare tale contributo grazie ad alcuni dati riemersi dagli archivi delle Soprintendenze di Chieti e di Ancona relativi alle ricerche condotte oltre un secolo fa nel villaggio e, soprattutto, sulla base dei risultati degli scavi recentemente effettuati a Ripoli da uno degli scriventi (A.P.).
Egypt and the Levant, 31, 2021
In autumn 2020, the 11th season of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke t... more In autumn 2020, the 11th season of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke took place in extramural Area A, where, based on indications provided by magnetometer surveys, tombs, possible ritual pits, and numerous wells were found, but no architectural remains. Tomb RR, which had been partly exposed in 2018 and 2019, was further excavated. It revealed a preliminary minimum total of 54 individuals (MNI) and numerous artefacts including, inter alia, complete ceramic vessels, figurines, jewellery, ivory objects, a scarab and a cylinder seal. The life span of the tomb can, on the evidence to date, be assigned from the LC IIA1 to LC IIC1 period, i.e., roughly from the last quarter of the 15th to the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 13th century BCE. Just to the south of Tomb RR another magnetic anomaly, Tomb SS, was investigated. Only the uppermost burial layer was reached, which was covered by two large deposits of several hundred intact or fully restorable ceramic vessels. These include various types of Cypriot tableware, as well as imports from the Aegean, Anatolia and the Levant. The preliminary date of these contexts is LC IIA˗B, i.e., roughly the last quarter of the 15th to the last quarter of the 14th century BCE. Since neither tomb has been completely exposed, excavations in the protected area will continue in spring 2021.
This report describes the methodology and preliminary results of 3D documentation and physicochemical analyses of two terracotta figurines of Base-ring ware uncovered in 2020, as well as the 3D documentation of Tomb RR at its last stages of excavation, aimed at analysing the spatial distribution of human remains and associated material culture. The 3D models of one figurine were further used to print a 3D replica of the original, in order to test various hypotheses on how it was made and handled.
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2022
In 2020 and 2021, the eleventh and twelfth seasons of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of ... more In 2020 and 2021, the eleventh and twelfth seasons of excavations at the Late Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke were carried out in the cemetery of Area A. Based on indications provided by a large-scale magnetometer survey, two tombs exposed by intensive farming were located, Tombs RR and SS. The excavation of Tomb RR, which had started in 2018, was concluded. The total minimum number (MNI) of skeletons in this tomb, of which most were incomplete and disarticulated, is estimated at 137. In addition to clay figurines, seals and scarabs, objects of ivory, as well as jewellery of gold, silver, bronze, faience and carnelian, the inhumations are associated with more than 100 intact or complete ceramic vessels, many of them imported from the Mycenaean, Minoan, Hittite and Levantine spheres of culture. The pottery indicates a LC II(A/)B–C1 date of the inhumations, i.e., covering the 14th and the beginning of the 13th centuries BC. The excavations of the adjacent Tomb SS began in 2020 an...
Proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Research "Ground Stone Tools and Past Foodways", 2021
In this paper we focus on the technology related to wild plant food processing. In the course of ... more In this paper we focus on the technology related to wild plant food processing. In the course of the last ten years, the production of flour from wild plants has been unequivocally documented starting from the Upper Palaeolithic. This has opened up new prospects for studying both the nutrition and the technological skills of Homo sapiens in Europe from 30,000 years ago (Aranguren et al. 2007; Revedin et al. 2010, 2015; Mariotti Lippi et al. 2015). The first discovery of tools used for grinding plant material dating to the Gravettian was made at Bilancino in Tuscany (Aranguren et al. 2007; Aranguren and Revedin, 2008). A grindstone and pestle-grinder were found, which conserved on their surfaces numerous starch grains largely referable to cattail (Typha sp.) rhizomes and to caryopses of grasses (Poaceae), representing the first documentation in Europe of the production of flour from wild plants datable to the Gravettian.
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal remains in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of plant material, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009, in press).
The experimental archaeology activities carried out to produce different kinds of flour allowed to reconstruct the processing phases, define new sampling methods, obtain flour samples to be used for morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses. The research is part of the project of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory PLUS_P - Plant use in the Palaeolithic. The project is based on the hypothesis that plant resources with high energy content, such as complex carbohydrates, were part of the diet of the hunter-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic and that processing plant food and production of flour were common activities in Europe for at least 30,000 years.
An interdisciplinary research team was thus formed, composed of specialists from different countries and different disciplines: archaeology, experimental archaeology, archaeobotany, use-wear analysis, food science.
Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche, 2021
Residue analyses on a Gravettian grinding tool recovered at Grotta Paglicci (32.614±429 cal BP), ... more Residue analyses on a Gravettian grinding tool recovered at Grotta Paglicci (32.614±429 cal BP), Southern Italy, have confirmed that early modern humans collected and processed a variety of wild plants for food purposes. The recording of starch grains attributable to wild oat caryopses (Avena cf. barbata) expands our information about the food plants used for producing flour in Europe during the Palaeolithic, and about the origins of a food tradition persisting up to the present in the Mediterranean basin. The particular state of preservation of the starch grains suggests the use of a thermal treatment before grinding, possibly to accelerate drying of the caryopses, making the following process easier and faster. The experimentation presented here is part of the Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria (IIPP) research project “PLUS_P” (PLant USe in the Palaeolithic), dealing with technologies for plant food processing documented by stone tools with use-wear traces and plant residue found in several European sites that can be referred to the Gravettian and dated around 30,000 years ago. The goal of this work is to reconstruct the technologies for processing oat caryopses to obtain flour, from harvesting to grinding, including the more complex activities such as dehusking and thermal pre-treatment. The dehusking activity is the most difficult to perform in the operational chain but is of paramount importance for the human consumption of oats. The experimentations performed allow us to verify that the heat treatment was related to the dehusking process. Although wild oat processing is particularly time/energy consuming, the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics of this plant food nevertheless justify the effort of the Gravettian groups.
Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology
As known, artefacts made from wood are very rarely encountered in prehistoric deposits due to the... more As known, artefacts made from wood are very rarely encountered in prehistoric deposits due to the low durability of this material. Emergency excavations in the spring of 2012 at Poggetti Vecchi, Central Italy, brought to light an open-air, stratified Palaeolithic site of an overall area of around 160 m2. The finds are radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene. The site is therefore of particular interest, not only because it offers snapshots of the local environment at a time when early Neanderthals occupied the area but also in view of the recovery of wooden tools. The presence of a burnt film on some of the artefacts has led us to conjecture that, in addition to stone tools, fire was also used in the manufacture of the sticks, as documented in ethnography and hypothesised for prehistoric digging sticks. An experimental study was carried out to reconstruct the operational chain of this kind of tool. This study demonstrates that the use of fire was functional to the manufacture of the sticks featuring this morphology. The working of a very hard wood like Buxus is painstaking and requires a complex operational chain, from the selection of the particular wood to its working employing stone tools and fire, with a significant investment of time and effort.
Heritage, 2020
In this work, we present a study on experimental archaeology replicas of 170,000-year-old digging... more In this work, we present a study on experimental archaeology replicas of 170,000-year-old digging sticks excavated in 2012 in the archaeological site of Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Italy). One of the techniques used for documenting and studying the sticks was the reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) technique, which allows the creation of an interactive image by varying the angle of illumination. A reconstruction of the 3D profile of the surface was also made by applying the technique of photometric stereo imaging to the RTI images.
Abstract Book of the Conference "Science Applications Becoming Culture", 2020
Bollettino di Archeologia Online, 2019
In 2012, the excavations for the construction of a thermal pool at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tus... more In 2012, the excavations for the construction of a thermal pool at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tuscany, Central Italy) exposed a stratified succession of seven units with assemblages of bone, wooden and stone tools and fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus. The site is radiometrically dated to around 171,000 years BP and hence correlated with the early Marine Isotope Stage 6. The artifacts were thus created by early Neanderthals. Most relevant are the wooden sticks, made from boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), but also their association with the elephant bones. The sticks were over 1 meter long, rounded at one end and pointed at the other. They have been partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique unparalleled at the time. The wooden tools have the size and features of digging sticks, which are quite commonly used by human foragers. The Poggetti Vecchi sticks therefore provide the first evidence of the use of fire for working wooden implements by an early Neanderthal population.
The current study aimed at reconstructing the operational sequence for the fabrication of the Poggetti Vecchi wooden tools, especially analyzing the working traces (scratches and cut marks) on the artefacts and developing an experimental study.
Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 2019
As known, artefacts made from wood are very rarely encountered in prehistoric deposits due to the... more As known, artefacts made from wood are very rarely encountered in prehistoric deposits due to the low durability of this material. Emergency excavations in the spring of 2012 at Poggetti Vecchi, Central Italy, brought to light an open-air, stratified Palaeolithic site of an overall area of around 160 m2. The finds are radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene. The site is therefore of particular interest, not only because it offers snapshots of the local environment at a time when early Neanderthals occupied the area but also in view of the recovery of wooden tools. The presence of a burnt film on some of the artefacts has led us to conjecture that, in addition to stone tools, fire was also used in the manufacture of the sticks, as documented in ethnography and hypothesised for prehistoric digging sticks. An experimental study was carried out to reconstruct the operational chain of this kind of tool. This study demonstrates that the use of fire was functional to the manufacture of the sticks featuring this morphology. The working of a very hard wood like Buxus is painstaking and requires a complex operational chain, from the selection of the particular wood to its working employing stone tools and fire, with a significant investment of time and effort.
Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies, 2018
Paper is fragile, but so is rock. The “Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory” (IIPP) c... more Paper is fragile, but so is rock. The “Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory” (IIPP) choose to take fragility as the main topic to communicate the heritage of the Institute, more specifically that of the photographic archive which conserves evidence of one of the most ancient human heritage at risk of disappearing forever. The IIPP archive consists predominantly of images and films related to Prehistory, produced by its founder Paolo Graziosi between the 1930s and 1970s, during several missions he carried out to study the rock art of the Horn of Africa and Libya, including in the "Rock-Art sites of Tradart Acacus", which has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1985 and in the "World Heritage in Danger" list since July 2016. The digitization project has given rise to the exhibition "The Fragility of the Sign. African Rock Art in the Archives of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory". The exhibition aims at protecting the photographic archive left to the Institute by its founder, and to make it accessible to the greater public. Through an immersive itinerary, it was possible to make known some of the most ancient and extraordinary examples of human artistic expression, situated in places that are currently inaccessible as a result of domestic and international conflicts. The purpose of the present work is to share an experience of public archaeology carried out through the use of visual and immersive technologies.
«Saggi» (Pubblicazioni degli Archivi di Stato), Direzione Generale per gli Archivi, Roma
L'archivio dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria costituisce una fonte documentaria ... more L'archivio dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria costituisce una fonte documentaria di grande interesse per gli studi di pre-protostoria e per la ricostruzione del quadro storico della disciplina, con un grande potenziale divulgativo e didattico. In questo contributo si illustreranno i
principali interventi di carattere conservativo e di valorizzazione operati su di esso, con particolare attenzione ai progetti di valorizzazione messi in atto tra il 2014 e il 2017.
Thesis Chapters by Silvia Florindi
Tesi di Scuola di Specializzazione, 2019
Il rinvenimento di elementi organici nel record archeologico, soprattutto per le fasi più antiche... more Il rinvenimento di elementi organici nel record archeologico, soprattutto per le fasi più antiche della preistoria, è estremamente raro. I manufatti prodotti con materia prima deperibile costituiscono infatti la “missing majority” del record archeologico, in particolare nelle zone temperate dell’Europa.
In alcuni fortunati casi, però, è stato possibile recuperare resti lignei provenienti da diversi contesti deposizionali.
Il presente lavoro prende le mosse dal rinvenimento nel 2012 di circa 50 manufatti lignei databili al Paleolitico medio nel sito di Poggetti Vecchi, in provincia di Grosseto. Questi manufatti dal 2017 sono oggetto di studio nell’ambito di un accordo tra l’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria e la Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Siena, Grosseto, Arezzo.
In questa sede si intende sviluppare un approccio per lo studio di questi manufatti, integrando diversi aspetti della ricerca archeologica, ovvero l’archeologia sperimentale, la tracceologia e le tecniche di imaging digitale per definirne le tecniche di manifattura e tentare di identificare e mappare le tracce di fabbricazione. Si intende, con il presente lavoro, strutturare una metodologia per la raccolta dei dati nella maniera meno invasiva possibile, da applicare successivamente ai manufatti archeologici.
Tesi di laurea magistrale non pubblicata sul materiale ceramico proveniente dal sito neolitico di... more Tesi di laurea magistrale non pubblicata sul materiale ceramico proveniente dal sito neolitico di Ripoli (TE).
Conference Presentations by Silvia Florindi
The 4th Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Tools Research "Anthropological insights into Ground Stone technologies”, 2023
In archaeological practice, the first step for documenting and analysing an artefact or a class o... more In archaeological practice, the first step for documenting and analysing an artefact or a class of materials is by cataloguing it/them, giving information about the object itself, from the generic to the most specific ones. The principle of cataloguing is the knowledge of a specific object and of all the properties and relations that help understand the links with other disciplines. However, the descriptions and the data collection are often done in an unstructured way on a discretionary basis, making this practice less effective. An important step towards the representation of knowledge is the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM), an object-oriented formal ontology aimed at facilitating the integration and the exchange of information between heterogeneous data sources on cultural heritage, allowing to combine knowledge coming from different sources. The ontological solutions guarantee data homogeneity, allowing also data integration and interoperability, matching the FAIR principles. This work aims to illustrate the application of CIDOC-CRM ontology to describe the study of Ground Stone Tools (GSTs) to manage the heterogeneous type of data (qualitative and quantitative), produced by analyzing these artefacts. What is presented is a draft, with the intent to open the collaboration to all the researchers interested in contributing to the conceptualisation of the study of this class of materials. The main goal is to build an ontological model clarifying the steps of the research and the process of data acquisition. Another important goal will be the creation of a controlled vocabulary integrated to the ontology. Moreover, this is an attempt to create a framework for the graph database of the project PLUS P. This study will offer a significant contribution to sharing and spreading more efficiently the knowledge of data essential to reconstruct the technological aspects related to the management/exploitation strategy, the behaviour, and the social organisation of past human communities.
In archaeological practice, the first step for documenting and analysing an artefact or a class o... more In archaeological practice, the first step for documenting and analysing an artefact or a class of materials is by cataloguing it/them, giving information about the object itself, from the generic to the most specific ones. The principle of cataloguing is the knowledge of a specific object and of all the properties and relations that help understand the links with other disciplines. However, the descriptions and the data collection are often done in an unstructured way on a discretionary basis, making this practice less effective. An important step towards the representation of knowledge is the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM), an object-oriented formal ontology aimed at facilitating the integration and the exchange of information between heterogeneous data sources on cultural heritage, allowing to combine knowledge coming from different sources. The ontological solutions guarantee data homogeneity, allowing also data integration and interoperability, matching the FAIR principles. This work aims to illustrate the application of CIDOC-CRM ontology to describe the study of Ground Stone Tools (GSTs) to manage the heterogeneous type of data (qualitative and quantitative), produced by analyzing these artefacts. What is presented is a draft, with the intent to open the collaboration to all the researchers interested in contributing to the conceptualisation of the study of this class of materials. The main goal is to build an ontological model clarifying the steps of the research and the process of data acquisition. Another important goal will be the creation of a controlled vocabulary integrated to the ontology. Moreover, this is an attempt to create a framework for the graph database of the project PLUS P. This study will offer a significant contribution to sharing and spreading more efficiently the knowledge of data essential to reconstruct the technological aspects related to the management/exploitation strategy, the behaviour, and the social organisation of past human communities.
“Ground Stone Tools and Past Foodways” The 3rd Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Research, 2019
In the course of the last ten years, the production of flour from wild
plants has been unequivoca... more In the course of the last ten years, the production of flour from wild
plants has been unequivocally documented starting from the Upper
Palaeolithic. This has opened up new prospects for studying both the
nutrition and the technological skills of Homo sapiens in Europe 30,000
years ago (Aranguren et al. 2007; Revedin et al. 2010, 2015; Mariotti Lippi et al. 2015).
The first discovery of tools used for grinding plant material dating to
such an antique period was made at Bilancino in Tuscany. A grindstone
and pestle-grinder were found, which conserved on their surfaces
numerous starch grains largely referable to cattail (Typha sp.) rhizomes
and to caryopses of grasses (Poaceae), representing the first
documentation of the production of flour from wild plants datable to the
Gravettian (Aranguren et al. 2007; Aranguren and Revedin, 2008).
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal residue
in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of vegetal substances, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009; cs).
Experimental archaeology carried out in order to produce different
kinds of flour made it possible to: reconstruct the processing phases,
define new sampling methods and to obtain flour samples to be used for
morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses.
11th Experimental Archaeology Conference EAC11, Trento, Italy, 2019
Residue analyses on a Gravettian grinding tool recovered at Grotta Paglicci sub-layer 23A (32.614... more Residue analyses on a Gravettian grinding tool recovered at Grotta Paglicci sub-layer 23A (32.614±429 cal. BP), Southern Italy, have demonstrated that early modern humans collected and processed various plants. The recording of starch grains attributable to Avena (oat) caryopses expands our information about the food plants used for producing flour in Europe, during the Palaeolithic, and about the origins of a food tradition persisting up to the present in the Mediterranean basin. The particular state of preservation of the starch grains suggests the use of a thermal treatment before grinding, possibly to accelerate drying of the plants, making the following process easier and faster.
The goal of the present communication is to reconstruct the technologies for complex processing of the whole oat caryopses to obtain flour, including de-husking and thermal pre-treatment before grinding.
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Papers by Silvia Florindi
This report describes the methodology and preliminary results of 3D documentation and physicochemical analyses of two terracotta figurines of Base-ring ware uncovered in 2020, as well as the 3D documentation of Tomb RR at its last stages of excavation, aimed at analysing the spatial distribution of human remains and associated material culture. The 3D models of one figurine were further used to print a 3D replica of the original, in order to test various hypotheses on how it was made and handled.
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal remains in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of plant material, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009, in press).
The experimental archaeology activities carried out to produce different kinds of flour allowed to reconstruct the processing phases, define new sampling methods, obtain flour samples to be used for morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses. The research is part of the project of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory PLUS_P - Plant use in the Palaeolithic. The project is based on the hypothesis that plant resources with high energy content, such as complex carbohydrates, were part of the diet of the hunter-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic and that processing plant food and production of flour were common activities in Europe for at least 30,000 years.
An interdisciplinary research team was thus formed, composed of specialists from different countries and different disciplines: archaeology, experimental archaeology, archaeobotany, use-wear analysis, food science.
The current study aimed at reconstructing the operational sequence for the fabrication of the Poggetti Vecchi wooden tools, especially analyzing the working traces (scratches and cut marks) on the artefacts and developing an experimental study.
principali interventi di carattere conservativo e di valorizzazione operati su di esso, con particolare attenzione ai progetti di valorizzazione messi in atto tra il 2014 e il 2017.
Thesis Chapters by Silvia Florindi
In alcuni fortunati casi, però, è stato possibile recuperare resti lignei provenienti da diversi contesti deposizionali.
Il presente lavoro prende le mosse dal rinvenimento nel 2012 di circa 50 manufatti lignei databili al Paleolitico medio nel sito di Poggetti Vecchi, in provincia di Grosseto. Questi manufatti dal 2017 sono oggetto di studio nell’ambito di un accordo tra l’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria e la Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Siena, Grosseto, Arezzo.
In questa sede si intende sviluppare un approccio per lo studio di questi manufatti, integrando diversi aspetti della ricerca archeologica, ovvero l’archeologia sperimentale, la tracceologia e le tecniche di imaging digitale per definirne le tecniche di manifattura e tentare di identificare e mappare le tracce di fabbricazione. Si intende, con il presente lavoro, strutturare una metodologia per la raccolta dei dati nella maniera meno invasiva possibile, da applicare successivamente ai manufatti archeologici.
Conference Presentations by Silvia Florindi
plants has been unequivocally documented starting from the Upper
Palaeolithic. This has opened up new prospects for studying both the
nutrition and the technological skills of Homo sapiens in Europe 30,000
years ago (Aranguren et al. 2007; Revedin et al. 2010, 2015; Mariotti Lippi et al. 2015).
The first discovery of tools used for grinding plant material dating to
such an antique period was made at Bilancino in Tuscany. A grindstone
and pestle-grinder were found, which conserved on their surfaces
numerous starch grains largely referable to cattail (Typha sp.) rhizomes
and to caryopses of grasses (Poaceae), representing the first
documentation of the production of flour from wild plants datable to the
Gravettian (Aranguren et al. 2007; Aranguren and Revedin, 2008).
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal residue
in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of vegetal substances, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009; cs).
Experimental archaeology carried out in order to produce different
kinds of flour made it possible to: reconstruct the processing phases,
define new sampling methods and to obtain flour samples to be used for
morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses.
The goal of the present communication is to reconstruct the technologies for complex processing of the whole oat caryopses to obtain flour, including de-husking and thermal pre-treatment before grinding.
This report describes the methodology and preliminary results of 3D documentation and physicochemical analyses of two terracotta figurines of Base-ring ware uncovered in 2020, as well as the 3D documentation of Tomb RR at its last stages of excavation, aimed at analysing the spatial distribution of human remains and associated material culture. The 3D models of one figurine were further used to print a 3D replica of the original, in order to test various hypotheses on how it was made and handled.
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal remains in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of plant material, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009, in press).
The experimental archaeology activities carried out to produce different kinds of flour allowed to reconstruct the processing phases, define new sampling methods, obtain flour samples to be used for morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses. The research is part of the project of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory PLUS_P - Plant use in the Palaeolithic. The project is based on the hypothesis that plant resources with high energy content, such as complex carbohydrates, were part of the diet of the hunter-gatherers of the Upper Palaeolithic and that processing plant food and production of flour were common activities in Europe for at least 30,000 years.
An interdisciplinary research team was thus formed, composed of specialists from different countries and different disciplines: archaeology, experimental archaeology, archaeobotany, use-wear analysis, food science.
The current study aimed at reconstructing the operational sequence for the fabrication of the Poggetti Vecchi wooden tools, especially analyzing the working traces (scratches and cut marks) on the artefacts and developing an experimental study.
principali interventi di carattere conservativo e di valorizzazione operati su di esso, con particolare attenzione ai progetti di valorizzazione messi in atto tra il 2014 e il 2017.
In alcuni fortunati casi, però, è stato possibile recuperare resti lignei provenienti da diversi contesti deposizionali.
Il presente lavoro prende le mosse dal rinvenimento nel 2012 di circa 50 manufatti lignei databili al Paleolitico medio nel sito di Poggetti Vecchi, in provincia di Grosseto. Questi manufatti dal 2017 sono oggetto di studio nell’ambito di un accordo tra l’Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria e la Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Siena, Grosseto, Arezzo.
In questa sede si intende sviluppare un approccio per lo studio di questi manufatti, integrando diversi aspetti della ricerca archeologica, ovvero l’archeologia sperimentale, la tracceologia e le tecniche di imaging digitale per definirne le tecniche di manifattura e tentare di identificare e mappare le tracce di fabbricazione. Si intende, con il presente lavoro, strutturare una metodologia per la raccolta dei dati nella maniera meno invasiva possibile, da applicare successivamente ai manufatti archeologici.
plants has been unequivocally documented starting from the Upper
Palaeolithic. This has opened up new prospects for studying both the
nutrition and the technological skills of Homo sapiens in Europe 30,000
years ago (Aranguren et al. 2007; Revedin et al. 2010, 2015; Mariotti Lippi et al. 2015).
The first discovery of tools used for grinding plant material dating to
such an antique period was made at Bilancino in Tuscany. A grindstone
and pestle-grinder were found, which conserved on their surfaces
numerous starch grains largely referable to cattail (Typha sp.) rhizomes
and to caryopses of grasses (Poaceae), representing the first
documentation of the production of flour from wild plants datable to the
Gravettian (Aranguren et al. 2007; Aranguren and Revedin, 2008).
These discoveries stimulated the systematic search for vegetal residue
in Palaeolithic sites, in particular on artefacts that could have been used in the processing of vegetal substances, such as tools made of bone and flint, grindstones, hearthstones etc. (Revedin et al. 2009; cs).
Experimental archaeology carried out in order to produce different
kinds of flour made it possible to: reconstruct the processing phases,
define new sampling methods and to obtain flour samples to be used for
morphological and chemical-nutritional analyses.
The goal of the present communication is to reconstruct the technologies for complex processing of the whole oat caryopses to obtain flour, including de-husking and thermal pre-treatment before grinding.
The digitization project has given rise to the exhibition “The Fragility of the Sign. African Rock Art in the Archives of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory”. The exhibition aims at protecting the photographic archive left to the Institute by its founder, and to make it accessible to the greater public.
Through an immersive itinerary, it was possible to make known some of the most ancient and extraordinary examples of human artistic expression, situated in places that are currently inaccessible as a result of domestic and international conflicts.
Explain the relevance for the conference in one sentence:
Share an experience of public archeology carried out through the use of visual and immersive technologies