The lithic assemblage from Ca'Belvedere di Monte Poggiolo: Stratigraphy, raw material, typology, refitting and usewear

The aim of this article is twofold : on one hand we believe it to be opportune to present a synthesis of the interdisciplinary results of the palaeoenvironmental research which has been carried out at the Palaeolithic site of Ca' Belvedere di Monte Poggiolo, as well as to provide detailed descriptions of the large number of refits found. These are examined from a spatial, stratigraphic, techno-typological and morpho-functional point of view. Only in this way is it possible to get a complete view of the significance of this important prehistoric site which dates to the Lower Pleistocene, and in fact the research on the geology, stratigraphy and palaeontology as well as the radiometric and paleomagnetic dates all confirm this chronology. The characteristics of the lithic industry also fall within the ambit of the most ancient industries found so far not only in Europe but also in Africa and Asia. In particular we show how the industry is characterised by a substantial simplicity in the flaking techniques used. The knapping of the pebbles took place in a rapid and opportunistic way. thus leading to the production of a large number of flakes and cores. Tools, in the classic sense of the word, are virtually absent, and the few examples discovered are almost always difficult to classify on a typological level because they fall within the ambit of a chance phenomenon which is neither repetitive nor systematic. The refits, which are described analytically in this article, make it possible to identify the knapping techniques used by the prehistoric hominids in this ancient period and to get a better understanding of the overall morphology of the products obtained. From this point of view we show how the morphologies which are sometimes classified as choppers and chopping-tools are in fact the result of a morphological convergence, resulting simply from the intensive knapping of the chert pebbles, and thus it is clear that they belong to the group of cores. The study of the lithic artifacts was accompanied by the systematic analysis of the use wear traces present on surfaces of the artifacts with the twofold aim of identifying the activities carried out by the hominids as well as providing a control of the techno-typological interpretation of the artifacts. It was demonstrated that in fact only the flakes bear traces of use wear, which confirms that the latter were the real tools rather than the: knapped pebbles. The morphology of the use wear traces enables us to establish that the hominids carried out activities involving meat cutting and working wood and vegetal matter.