Papers by Isabella Caricola
Analisi delle tracce d’uso su alcuni pugnali litici dalle necropoli di Torre della Chiesaccia e di Casetta Mistici (Roma)
Le punte foliate dai contesti funerari di Torre della Chiesaccia (Roma): analisi delle tracce d’uso e dei residui
Experimentation and traces analysis of macro-lithic tools: the case of “Grotta della Monaca” Cave (Sant'Agata di Esaro-Cosenza, Italy)
Ce travail a pour but d'enqueter sur les modalites d'exploitation des ressources minerale... more Ce travail a pour but d'enqueter sur les modalites d'exploitation des ressources minerales pendant la Prehistoire recente, dans le bassin de la Mediterranee occidentale. L'etude debute par l'observation des instruments lithiques - outils macrolithiques - produits par les groupes humains prehistoriques, qui les ont utilises dans les phases d'extraction. Ces outils sont analyses par la methode morphologique et techno-fonctionnelle, par observation microscopiques, a grossissement faible et eleve. Toutes les etapes de cette activite sont abordees, permettant de traiter de la complexite qui tourne autour de l'extraction des mineraux. Les etapes de la chaine operatoire sont analysees, depuis l'identification des sources d'approvisionnement - des hydroxydes de fer et de cuivre - a la production d'outils ; la recherche de matieres premieres lithiques, les techniques d'extraction, jusqu'aux premiers stades de transformation des mineraux. Le problem...
Analisi delle usure dei reperti litici poliedrici provenienti da contesti eneolitici dall’area di Roma
A taste for the unusual. Green, flat pebbles used by late Neanderthals
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
Non-flaked stones used in the Mesolithic Eastern Alpine Region: A functional assessment from Romagnano Loc III and Pradestel sites
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2021
Abstract Recent advances in the functional study of stone technology have highlighted how, since ... more Abstract Recent advances in the functional study of stone technology have highlighted how, since the early Paleolithic, non-flaked stone tools were employed in a wide range of tasks, from food processing to craft activities. Non-flaked tools are documented within the stone assemblages of various Mesolithic sites of Italy. However, these tools are still poorly known and no analysis was ever conducted for investigating their use. In this study, we present the results of the functional study performed on Mesolithic non-flaked stone artefacts from Pradestel and Romagnano Loc III, two sites located in the Adige Valley of the Eastern Alpine region of Italy. This area yielded some of the best-known Mesolithic record in Europe, and significant evidence of forager lifeways between the second half of the 10th millennium cal BC and the beginning of the 6th millennium cal BC. Through the application of qualitative and quantitative functional analyses we were able to interpret residues and use wear from the processing of plant and animal materials, finally assessing the activities performed with non-flaked stones at both sites. Our data provide the first direct evidence of the role played by little modified pebbles in the daily life of the Mesolithic foragers of the Italian Eastern Alpine region, so far assumed only through indirect evidence.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
The Calabria region of Southern Italy is rich in mineralisation. Unfortunately, no consistent dat... more The Calabria region of Southern Italy is rich in mineralisation. Unfortunately, no consistent data are available about mineral exploitation in the later prehistoric periods. The Grotta della Monaca mine in Calabria is a prehistoric site that is characterised by the mineralisation of iron ores (such as goethite) and copper carbonates (malachite and azurite). For this reason, the site provides an exceptional opportunity to study a prehistoric mine in which several minerals were exploited during the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic. In this study, we present the results of an experimental protocol and use-wear analysis conducted using macro-lithic tool replicas to extract mineral resources. The experimental test aimed at reconstructing the function of grooved stone tools found at Grotta della Monaca. Use-wear observation, through a combined low- and high-power approach on experimental and archaeological objects, allowed us to define different extraction techniques and methods of m...
PLOS ONE, 2020
The presence of shaped stone balls at early Paleolithic sites has attracted scholarly attention s... more The presence of shaped stone balls at early Paleolithic sites has attracted scholarly attention since the pioneering work of the Leakeys in Olduvai, Tanzania. Despite the persistent presence of these items in the archaeological record over a period of two million years, their function is still debated. We present new results from Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave on the use of these implements as percussion tools. Use-wear and abundant bone and fat residues found on ten shaped stone balls indicate crushing of fresh bones by thrusting percussion and provide direct evidence for the use of these items to access bone marrow of animal prey at this site. Two experiments conducted to investigate and verify functional aspects proved Qesem Cave shaped stone balls are efficient for bone processing and provide a comfortable grip and useful active areas for repeated use. Notably, the patina observed on the analyzed items precedes their use at the cave, indicating that they were collected by Qesem inhabitants, most probably from older Lower Paleolithic Acheulian sites. Thus, our results refer only to the final phases of the life of the items, and we cannot attest to their original function. As bone marrow played a central role in human nutrition in the Lower Paleolithic, and our experimental results show that the morphology and characteristics of shaped stone ball replicas are well-suited for the extraction of bone marrow, we suggest that these features might have been the reason for their collection and use at Qesem Cave. These results shed light on the function of shaped stone balls and are consistent with the significance of animal fat in the caloric intake of Middle Pleistocene humans as shown by the archeozoological evidence at Qesem Cave and possibly beyond.
An integrated approach based on archaeometry, use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology to investigate the function of a specific type of basin diffused in the Predynastic sites of Lower Egypt (4th mill. BC)
Quaternary International, 2020
Abstract This paper focuses on the functional analysis of a specific oval shaped basin diffused i... more Abstract This paper focuses on the functional analysis of a specific oval shaped basin diffused in Lower Egyptian Predynastic sites during the first half of the 4th millennium BC. These oval shallow ceramic basins are characterised by a flat and wide inner surface that is covered by a layer of small rock fragments pressed into the clay matrix. Several archeologists have interpreted them as grinding tools, but the limited number of samples unearthed thus far and their poor state of preservation made this interpretation uncertain. Here we present the results of a preliminary integrated study based on the combination of experimental archaeology and petrographic, use-wear and residue analyses carried out on two samples from the Predynastic site of Maadi. The use-wear analysis of the archaeological fragments highlighted traces of an intentional grinding and light pounding of oily substances, which is also partially supported by the organic residue investigation. These results were tested through experimental tests that confirmed these basins are most likely mortars. Establishing the actual functional activities performed in such a unique type of vessel is important not only for understanding the social behaviors of the Lower Egyptian Predynastic communities and the dynamics related to the diffusion of such basins, but it also provides a new methodological framework for Egyptian Predynastic studies.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019
In recent years, several works have proved the reliability of the application of 3D modeling and ... more In recent years, several works have proved the reliability of the application of 3D modeling and spatial analysis in the study of stone tool use. Monitoring surface morphometry resulting from the use of lithic tools has the potential to objectively quantify and identify patterns of modifications associated to specific activities and worked materials. In particular, the combination of surface morphometry with a systematic experimental framework and use wear analysis has the potential of foreseeing residue distribution areas over the groundstone surfaces, hence providing a key aid in establishing sampling strategies applied to archeological specimens. Here, we propose an approach that applies 3D modeling, performed through a close-range photogrammetry, and the use of GIS software to investigate surface modifications and residue distribution on groundstones used to process wild plants. Our work comprises a dedicated experimental framework in which modern tool replicas have been used to process different species of wild plant foods through grinding, crushing, and pounding. By applying 3D modeling and spatial analysis, we were able to characterize patterns of surface modifications related to each of the worked substances and activities performed. Moreover, we monitored the distribution of starch granules over the experimental groundstone surfaces and its variation in relation to the state of the worked substance and the action carried out. Our results provide one of the first experimental dataset focused on the use of groundstones for wild plant processing, and a reliable methodology for further studies related to the exploitation of stone technology and wild vegetal substances in the past.
PLOS ONE, 2018
The article presents an original analysis which combines use-wear, 3D modelling and spatial analy... more The article presents an original analysis which combines use-wear, 3D modelling and spatial analyses to experimental archaeology in order to investigate Early Upper Palaeolithic flintknapping gestures and techniques involving the use of macro-lithic tools. In particular, the methodological framework proposed in this paper was applied to the study of Protoaurignacian and Aurignacian macro-tools from Fumane Cave (Verona, Italy). Combining spatial analysis and use wear investigation, both at low and high magnifications, permitted the identification and detailed description of the use-related traces affecting both the hammerstones and retouchers which, at Fumane Cave, were used at different stages during flint tool production. Several experimental activities were performed including core reduction, maintenance, and blank production together with different types of edge retouching. From a methodological perspective, the protocol of analysis permitted to codify specific traces and to produce quantitative data related to their geometry and distribution over the tool's surface, according to the activities and gestures performed. The results obtained allowed a careful investigation of the function and the gestures associated to the use of the macro-lithic tools coming from the Protoaurignacian and Aurignacian levels of Fumane Cave while providing a methodological tool for interpreting different archaeological samples.
Scientific reports, Jan 25, 2018
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Papers by Isabella Caricola