M Peresani
Biographic Data
| ID | 7737 |
|---|---|
| NAME | M Peresani |
| GIVEN NAMES | M |
| FAMILY NAME | Peresani |
| SIGNATURE | PERESANI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Ferrara |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6562-6336 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 100 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1224 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 99 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 21 |
Chronological assessments of Quina Neanderthals at De Nadale cave (Italy) using combined uranium-series/electron spin resonance dating of fossil teeth
De Nadale Cave is a Neanderthal site located in the Berici Hills of Northeast Italy that provides important insights into regional Middle Paleolithic occupational dynamics. This paper presents the results of the first combined uranium-series and electron spin resonance (U-S/ESR) dating study of herbivore teeth recovered from the site. Three bovid and cervid teeth yield U-S/ESR ages of 79 ± 9 ka, 72 ± 11 ka, and 55 ± 11 ka, with a calculated weigh…
Recherche de sites archéologiques et de séquences sédimentaires du Pléistocène moyen à San Severino Marche (Marches, Italie)
Une nouvelle campagne de sondages mécaniques à San Severino MarcheDans le cadre du projet de l’EFR sur le Paléolithique d’Italie centrale et des Marches en particulier, une nouvelle campagne de sondages mécanique a pris place à San Severino Marche, patrie du Docteur D. Pascucci, responsable des premières collectes de vestiges préhistorique à la fin du xixe s. Un site inédit du Paléolithique supérieur a été découvert en 2023 en appliquant cette mé…
From Prey to Pattern
This study presents a zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the previously unstudied component of the Mousterian faunal assemblage from Unit A9 at Grotta di Fumane (northeastern Italy), offering refined insights into Neanderthal subsistence behaviour during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Building on the previously published analysis of the principal portion of the assemblage, the new data reaffirm a subsistence strategy focused on selective trans…
The limits of short refitted sequences in detecting knapping skills from a Middle Palaeolithic assemblage
Lithic refitting reveals site dynamics and knappers’ technical behaviours. • Refits help identify differences in knapping skill levels. • Experimental and Middle Palaeolithic refits inform on prehistoric social structure. • Short refitted sequences limit assessment of skill variability. Refitting is a key-tool for researchers to understand past knapping behaviours, technological strategies, and decision-making processes. The longer the reconstruc…
Highland settling in the Early Mesolithic. Insight from the record of Cima Dodici open-air sites, Venetian pre-Alps (Italy)
New approaches on the studies of Neanderthal dwelling space use
This contribution forms part of a larger project entitled “Attesting Neanderthal Dwelling Space Use (ANDSU): effects of human occupations in the Middle Palaeolithic record of Fumane cave”. It focuses on the spatial organization of Neanderthal dwelling units in Fumane cave (units A9, A5-A6), using a mixed methodology approach. The project aims to gain insights into assemblage formation processes, post-depositional dynamics, settlement patterns, an…
Bone refits and spatial analyses of units A5-A6 of Fumane cave contribute to reconstructing the dynamics of Neanderthal use of space
Intra-site Organization of the Repeated Neanderthal Occupation of Unit A9, Grotta di Fumane (Pre-Alps, Italy)
The repeated use of spaces has been extensively studied for many years in Paleolithic archaeology through various disciplines and techniques. Caves and rockshelters are typically the most suitable contexts for these studies due to their characteristics. However, certain key elements make deciphering these reoccupations possible, which would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible. Among these elements, the density of archaeological materials an…
The Upper Sedimentary Sequence of Grotta di Fumane, Northern Italy
Fumane Cave contains a sequence of natural and anthropogenic deposits documenting key transitions in the Paleolithic of Northern Italy. Open questions remain concerning the stratigraphic integrity, the formation processes, postdepositional alterations, and paleoclimatic implications of the sedimentary record. We examine these aspects through an extensive investigation based on field descriptions and micromorphological analysis of thin sections sa…
Nouvelles recherches et données sur les sites liguriens du Riparo Bombrini (Balzi Rossi, Imperia) et de l’Arma Veirana (Erli, Savona)
Un nouveau site du Paléolithique supérieur à Chigiano « U Pia » (San Severino Marche, MC, Italie)
Dans le cadre du programme de recherche structurant de l’École française de Rome 2022-2026 « L’Italie paléolithique » et de l’axe portant sur les Abruzzes et les Marches1, une première campagne de sondages mécaniques a été réalisée sur la commune de San Severino Marche en juillet et septembre 2023. Elle a mené à la découverte d’un site du Paléolithique supérieur au lieu‐dit « Chigiano U Pia2 » (CUP). Elle fait suite à un travail en archives, bibl…
Taphonomy of the fauna and chert assemblages from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Vajo Salsone, Eastern Italian Alps
The Vajo Salsone site is located at an altitude of 376m a.s.l. on the right slope of the Valpantena valley, in the Veneto Pre-Alps, north of the town of Verona. The site was discovered in 2017 during the construction of a truckable road. It is a small and narrow karst cavity filled with Pleistocene sediments that yield abundant Middle Palaeolithic artefacts and faunal remains, often coated by carbonate encrustations. The lithic assemblage shows t…
Bone Refits and Implications for the Reconstruction of a Late Middle Palaeolithic Context
Exploring Knapping Learning Processes Amongst Upper Palaeolithic Hunter-Gatherers
The work reported in this article explores stone knapping learning processes through the study of a Late Upper Palaeolithic workshop in the Italian Alps, so as to contribute to the framework of today’s debate on social learning. Social learning is an essential process for human evolution as it fosters the development of brain districts, the building of knowledge and the acquisition of new skills. Results suggest that knapping learning was likely …
Hunting game
In this study we present the results of the archaeozoological and taphonomic analysis of the macromammal assemblage from the Uluzzian levels of three Italian sites: Uluzzo C Rock Shelter, Roccia San Sebastiano cave, and Riparo del Broion. Our archaeozoological data outlined several common elements and differences between sites sharing this culture. The most abundant taxon registered at Roccia San Sebastiano cave is Cervus elaphus; for Riparo del …
Lithic projectile technology in the western Late Epigravettian
Criteria for Identifying Knapping Skill Level Through the Analysis of Lithic Cores
The application of knapping skill analysis has increased over the years, starting from the Eighties and, by now, being employed all over the world on different material cultures and chronological periods. We studied the cores reduced at Val Lastari, a Recent Epigravettian lithic workshop in north-eastern Italy, for recognizing the most influential technological variables to define stoneknapping behaviours. In our case, knapping accidents and core…
Refitting the Context
High-resolution stratigraphic frameworks are crucial for unraveling the biocultural processes behind the dispersals of Homo sapiens across Europe. Detailed technological studies of lithic assemblages retrieved from multi-stratified sequences allow archaeologists to precisely model the chrono-cultural dynamics of the early Upper Paleolithic. However, it is of paramount importance to verify the integrity of these assemblages before building explana…
The role of individual decision-making in the manufacturing of bone retouchers
Bone retouchers, while often underrated, stand out as widespread tools throughout the Palaeolithic, typically linked to breaking bones for marrow extraction. Although bone retouchers are commonly considered a by-product of butchering activities, the possibility of intentional manufacturing has been rarely considered but should not be dismissed. In our experimental protocol, we explore decision-making processes involved in manufacturing bone retou…
Not just a technique! An experimental approach to refine the definition of the bipolar anvil reduction in the Uluzzian
Back(s) to basics
The evolution of Paleolithic stone tool technologies is characterized by gradual increase in technical complexity along with changes in the composition of assemblages. In this respect, the emergence of retouched-backed tools is an important step and, for some, a proxy for "modern" behavior. However, backed tools emerge relatively early and develop together with major changes in Middle-Upper Pleistocene stone tool technologies. We provide an updat…
Les archives Pascucci et le Paléolithique ancien de San Severino Marche (Italie)
Initié en 2019 et interrompu en raison de la pandémie de COVID, le programme de \nrecherche sur le Paléolithique ancien des Marches se poursuit dans le cadre d’un \nnouveau projet quinquennal de l’EFR. Nous sommes en recherche tant de vestiges \narchéologiques que de séquences stratigraphiques du Pléistocène moyen dans cette \nrégion susceptibles de restituer l’évolution culturelle, climatique et environnementale \nlocale. Les indices de sites so…
Quina on the edge. Insights from a Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblage of Grotta di Fumane, Italy
Unravelling technological behaviors through core reduction intensity. The case of the early Protoaurignacian assemblage from Fumane Cave
This paper investigates core reduction intensity in the early Protoaurignacian lithic assemblage from Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. Reduction intensity serves as a key tool to characterize blank selection strategies, raw material management, and the variability of knapping strategies throughout the reduction sequence by reconstructing the operatory field of core assemblages. Finally, it also aids in addressing the relationship between blades…
Neanderthal technological variability
On the chronology of the Uluzzian
Fifty thousand years of flint knapping and tool shaping across the Mousterian and Uluzzian sequence of Fumane cave
The Uluzzian technology of Grotta di Fumane and its implication for reconstructing cultural dynamics in the Middle–Upper Palaeolithic transition of Western Eurasia
La variabilité du débitage discoïde dans la grotte de Fumane (Italie du Nord)/The variability of discoid production at the grotte de Fumane
Dans la grotte de Fumane, les nombreux niveaux du Paléolithique moyen récent se caractérisent par une importante variabilité techno-économique des ensembles lithiques. L'ensemble du niveau A9, datant de l'Interpléniglaciaire würmien, est pris en considération dans ce travail. Malgré l'absence de remontages, l'étude technologique a permis de comprendre la structure du système de production régi principalement par le débitage discoïde, et d'identif…
The Uluzzian in the north of Italy
Neanderthal scraping and manual handling of raptors wing bones
From feathers to food
A New Cultural Frontier for the Last Neanderthals
The Middle-Upper Paleolithic shift was a crucial event intimately involved in Neanderthal biogeography and the patchy scenario that emerges from the last marked cultural and behavioral evolution our extinct relatives underwent during the interval 50-30 k.yr. BP. In Mediterranean Europe, this behavior, considered modern, gave rise to the Uluzzian, a cultural complex confined to central-southern Italy and Greece as a consequence of the supposed ret…
Bears and humans, a Neanderthal tale. Reconstructing uncommon behaviors from zooarchaeological evidence in southern Europe
The ungulate assemblage from layer A9 at Grotta di Fumane, Italy
Lithic techno-complexes in Italy from 50 to 39 thousand years BP
Changes in mobility patterns as a factor of 14C date density variation in the Late Epigravettian of Northern Italy and Southeastern France
International audience
Bone tools, ornaments and other unusual objects during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy
Assessing the exploitation of double patinated artifacts from the Late Mousterian
Protoaurignacian Core Reduction Procedures
The Protoaurignacian is one of the European techno-complexes that marks the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. During this time bladelet implements, frequently intended to be hafted in composite tools, become the primary goal of lithic production. The growing number of technological investigations carried out on several assemblages has revealed that, in most cases, bladelets are not the result of the reduction of blade cores. However, the detail…
What’s the point? Retouched bladelet variability in the Protoaurignacian. Results from Fumane, Isturitz, and Les Cottés
New evidence for the Mousterian and Gravettian at Rio Secco Cave, Italy
The dearth of evidence for late Neanderthals in Europe reduces our ability to understand the demise of their species and the impact of the biological and cultural changes that resulted from the spread of anatomically modern humans. In this light, a recently investigated cave in the northern Adriatic region at the border between the Italian Alps and the Great Adriatic Plain provides useful data about the last Neanderthals between 46·0 and 42·1 ky …
Application of a new typological approach to classifying denticulate and notched tools
Success of a flexible behavior. Considerations on the manufacture of Late Epigravettian lithic projectile implements according to experimental tests
The use of bone retouchers in a Mousterian context of Discoid lithic technology
Middle Paleolithic and Uluzzian human remains from Fumane Cave, Italy
Scraping hide in the early Upper Paleolithic
Endscrapers are specialized tools that are usually recovered in great quantities in every Upper Paleolithic site in Europe. Although they make their first ephemeral appearance in the Middle-late Middle Paleolithic transitional technocomplexes, endscrapers commonly appear in toolkits from initial and early Upper Paleolithic traditions onwards. Nevertheless, endscrapers and, in general, domestic tools have attracted relatively little attention in d…
Age of the final Middle Palaeolithic and Uluzzian levels at Fumane Cave, Northern Italy, using 14C, ESR, 234U/230Th and thermoluminescence methods
The contribution of 3D visual technology to the study of Palaeolithic knapped stones based on refitting
Backdating systematic shell ornament making in Europe to 45,000 years ago
La variabilité du débitage discoïde dans la grotte de Fumane (Italie du Nord)/The variability of discoid production at the grotte de Fumane
Dans la grotte de Fumane, les nombreux niveaux du Paléolithique moyen récent se caractérisent par une importante variabilité techno-économique des ensembles lithiques. L'ensemble du niveau A9, datant de l'Interpléniglaciaire würmien, est pris en considération dans ce travail. Malgré l'absence de remontages, l'étude technologique a permis de comprendre la structure du système de production régi principalement par le débitage discoïde, et d'identif…
Méthodes, objectifs et flexibilité d'un système de production Levallois dans le Nord de l'Italie
Indices de fréquentation humaine dans les grottes à ours au Paléolithique moyen final
Age of the final Middle Palaeolithic and Uluzzian levels at Fumane Cave, Northern Italy, using 14C, ESR, 234U/230Th and thermoluminescence methods
A New Cultural Frontier for the Last Neanderthals
The Middle-Upper Paleolithic shift was a crucial event intimately involved in Neanderthal biogeography and the patchy scenario that emerges from the last marked cultural and behavioral evolution our extinct relatives underwent during the interval 50-30 k.yr. BP. In Mediterranean Europe, this behavior, considered modern, gave rise to the Uluzzian, a cultural complex confined to central-southern Italy and Greece as a consequence of the supposed ret…
Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy
Approvisionnement en matériaux siliceux, ressources locales et économie du débitage dans le Sauveterrien
Dans les Alpes Orientales italiennes, la circulation et l’exploitation des matières premières lithiques siliceuses durant le Mésolithique a fait jusqu’à présent l’objet d’études ponctuelles et limitées à quelques secteurs de cette région. Les plus importantes informations récoltées font référence aux sites des Dolomites, dans lesquels on rencontre une utilisation massive mais également exclusive de silex atypiques ou préalpins, à côté d’une explo…
Application of a new typological approach to classifying denticulate and notched tools
The End of the Middle Paleolithic in the Italian Alps
Les petits sites à chasse spécialisée et leur rôle dans l’organisation de la subsistance épigravettienne
Cet article a pour objectif de participer au débat sur la question des « haltes de chasse ». Les données issues des études archéozoologique, technologique et fonctionnelle, nous conduisent à interpréter le site Épigravettien de Grotta del Clusantin comme un lieu tourné vers l’exploitation de colonies de rongeurs vivant dans les environs proches du site, parallèlement avec la chasse de quelques rares ongulés. Dans un contexte d’occupation avancée …
Human settlement of Italy during the Younger Dryas
Small Specialized Hunting Sites and Their Role in Epigravettian Subsistence Strategies
This case study focuses on the debate concerning “hunting camps” (“halte de chasse”). Zooarchaeological, lithic and functional data lead us to interpret the Epigravettian site of Grotta del Clusantin as being linked with activities oriented toward the hunting of rodent colonies living near the site, along with a small number of ungulates. In the context of an advanced occupation of the highlands, this site appears to have been a specialized, perh…
Deux clavicules de marmotte épigravettiennes incisées provenant des grottes Verdi de Pradis (Alpes italiennes)
Cet article présente l’étude de deux clavicules de marmotte mises au jour en 1970-1971, dans les niveaux tardiglaciaires des Grottes Verdi de Pradis, qui livrent une industrie attribuable à l’Epigravettien récent. Ces deux clavicules droites ont été incisées, l’une de quatre encoches, l’autre de cinq, parmi lesquelles quatre montrent une reprise de l’encoche suivant un axe différent. Après avoir discuté l’origine de ces pièces, nous montrons leur…
Marmota marmota, the most common prey species at Grotta del Clusantin
Fifty thousand years of flint knapping and tool shaping across the Mousterian and Uluzzian sequence of Fumane cave
Small shifts in handedness bias during the Early Mesolithic? A reconstruction inferred from Microburin technology in the eastern Italian Alps
Animal Exploitation Strategies during the Uluzzian at Grotta di Fumane (Verona, Italy)
A New Late Paleolithic “Offering Venus” from Frasassi Gorge (Central Italy)
We present a new find coming from a cave in the Frasassi Gorge, (Marche, central Italy). The Venus was discovered by one of us (SP) at the base of a local man‐made scarp at the entrance of the cave. Although it was not found in situ, the simple stratigraphical setting of the nearby sequence and the fact that in the past there was an archaeological layer, later destroyed, allow us to establish that layer 3 is the best candidate for the provenience…
Un nouveau type de « vénus offrant » du paléolithique récent de la gorge de Frasassi (Italie Centrale)
Nous présentons une nouvelle trouvaille provenant d’une grotte dans la gorge Frasassi (les Marches, Italie Centrale). La vénus fut découverte par l’un d’entre nous (SP) à la base d’un talus à l’entrée de la grotte. Bien qu’elle n’ait pas été trouvée in situ, le cadre stratigraphique de la séquence toute proche et le fait qu’il y avait là auparavant un niveau archéologique, détruit par la suite, nous permettent d’établir la couche 3 comme le meill…
The ungulate assemblage from layer A9 at Grotta di Fumane, Italy
Assessing the exploitation of double patinated artifacts from the Late Mousterian
Changes in mobility patterns as a factor of 14C date density variation in the Late Epigravettian of Northern Italy and Southeastern France
International audience
New evidence for the Mousterian and Gravettian at Rio Secco Cave, Italy
The dearth of evidence for late Neanderthals in Europe reduces our ability to understand the demise of their species and the impact of the biological and cultural changes that resulted from the spread of anatomically modern humans. In this light, a recently investigated cave in the northern Adriatic region at the border between the Italian Alps and the Great Adriatic Plain provides useful data about the last Neanderthals between 46·0 and 42·1 ky …
On the chronology of the Uluzzian
Middle Paleolithic and Uluzzian human remains from Fumane Cave, Italy
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (90 works) · Geography (87 works) · Archaeology (79 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (65 works) · Geology (52 works) · Cave (48 works) · Paleontology (40 works) · Biology (38 works) · Neanderthal (34 works) · Mousterian (33 works)