Project description
Through the multidisciplinary study of the two sites of Riparo Tagliente (Bartolomei et al. 1982; Bortolini et al. 2021; Fontana et al. 2009, 2018) and Badanj (Borić et al. 2023; Basler 1976; Miracle & O’Brien 1998; Whallon 1999) AFTER THE ICE will provide important insights into the evolution of Epigravettian hunter-gatherers faced by dramatic climatic and environmental changes during the Late Pleistocene.
The project will:
Improve our knowledge on the role of “persistent places” within the settlement system of Late Epigravettian groups by asking what attracted these groups to focus their activities at particular sites over the long term despite significant environmental and landscape instabilities;
Reveal diachronic patterns in the use of various raw materials (mineral/lithic, vegetal, animal) taking into account resource availability within the given territories;
Explore the spatial organization of domestic activities at the two investigated sites;
Shed light on seasonal patterns in the scheduling of activities on the landscape;
Understand land-use strategies pertaining to the two sub-regions.
Excavations at Badanj at the start of the 1986 field seasons (photo: R. Whallon).
Riparo Tagliente (photo: F. Fontana)