A High-Resolution Investigation of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition at Riparo Bombrin (Balzi Rossi, Liguria)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in the Prehistory of Liguria and Neighboring Regions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper presents an overview of the results of the 2015-2018 field seasons at Riparo Bombrini, a collapsed rock shelter part of the storied Balzi Rossi site complex in Liguria, immediately next to the border with France. The excavation has sought to capitalize on the insights of the 2002-05 excavations at the site with the explicit goal of refining our understanding of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in this key region which is home to some of the earliest Proto-Aurignacian assemblages in Europe. We present here the larger framework of the project to achieve this goal by combining fine-grained spatial analysis, proteomics, micromorphology, lithic raw material proveniencing, multiple dating methods, aDNA recovery and photogrammetry. This, combined with original methodological tools focused on reconstructing mobility patterns from lithic assemblages, provides us with an unprecedented overall picture of process in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Recent Advances in the Prehistory of Liguria and Neighboring Regions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25111