Small Specialized Hunting Sites and their Role
in Epigravettian Subsistence Strategies
A case Study in Northern Italy
Marco PERESANI, Rossella DUCHES, Riccardo MIOLO,
Matteo ROMANDINI, Sara ZIGGIOTTI
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Abstract
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, perhaps intermittently occupied camp, oriented toward immediate consumption rather than being a part of a structured economic system involving a spatio-temporal division in the exploitation of marmot carcasses. In terms of ecological evolution, the Pradis Plateau can be thus viewed as one of the first hunting basins occupied during the middle Late Glacial interstadial and even shortly after, before the Epigravettian dispersion to other pre-alpine plateaus above 1000 m in altitude. The recent discovery of this marmot hunting camp contributes to our knowledge of hunter-gatherer behavior from the Late Glacial period until the beginning of the Holocene.
To cite this article
Peresani M., Duches R., Miolo R., Romandini M., Ziggiotti S., 2011 – Small Specialized Hunting Sites and their Role in Epigravettian Subsistence Strategies. A case Study in Northern Italy, in Bon F., Costamagno S., Valdeyron N. (eds.), Hunting Camps in Prehistory. Current Archaeological Approaches, Proceedings of the International Symposium, May 13-15 2009, University Toulouse II – Le Mirail, P@lethnology, 3, 251-266.
Experimental observations
of early Mesolithic points in north-east Italy
Stefano GRIMALDI
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Abstract
We present an analysis of Sauveterrian microlithic backed points from sites located in the Trentino region of the north-eastern Italian Alps: Pradestel, Lago delle Buse & Colbricon. Experimental arrows were produced, hafted and shot into an animal target. The results of this study indicate that these points may have been “ineffective” for the hunting of medium to large-sized prey, such as ibex, red deer, bear, or wild boar. We propose that Sauveterrian microliths can rather be correlated with the hunting of small forest prey such as roe deer, marmot and other animals with thick fur. An alternative hypothesis for the hunting of large game is also proposed.
To cite this article
Grimaldi S., 2009 – Experimental Observations of Early Mesolithic Points in North-East Italy, in Pétillon J.-M., Dias-Meirinho M.-H., Cattelain P., Honegger M., Normand C., Valdeyron N., Projectile Weapon Elements from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic, Proceedings of session C83, XVth UISPP World Congress, Lisbon, September 4-9, 2006, P@lethnology, 1, 147-160.
Archéologie et Sciences humaines
