Related papers: Bone tools, ornaments and other unusual objects du…
Defining the processes involved in the technical/cultural shifts from the Late Middle to the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe (~50-39 thousand years BP) is one of the most important tasks facing prehistoric studies. In this debate Italy…
Evidence of human activities during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition is well represented from rock_shelters, caves and open_air sites across Italy. Over the past decade, both the revision of taphonomic processes affecting…
Humans have been using symbolic representation (i.e. art) as a creative cultural form indisputably for at least 80,000 years. A description of the processes central to the evolution of art from sculpted earthen forms early in human…
Roccia San Sebastiano is a tectonic-karstic cave located at the foot of the southern slope of Mt. Massico, in the territory of Mondragone (Caserta) in Campania (southern Italy). Systematic excavation has been carried out since 2001, leading…
We present a mathematical model, based on the compilation and statistical processing of radiocarbon dates, of the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic, from about 7,000 to 4,000 BC in Europe. The arrival of the Neolithic is…
Foraging is constrained by the energy within resources and the mechanics of acquisition and assimilation. Thick molar enamel, a character trait differentiating hominins from African apes, is predicted to mitigate the mechanical costs of…
Most of the Middle Palaeolithic evidence of Central Italy still lacks a reliable chrono-cultural framework mainly due to research history. In this context Grotta dei Santi, a wide cave located on Monte Argentario, on the southern coast of…
One of the last chapters in the long course of human evolution was the shift from hunting and gathering to the production of food or strategies of subsistence based on farming and the herding of animals. In Southwest Asia, the first steps…
Autocatalytic networks have been used to model the emergence of self-organizing structure capable of sustaining life and undergoing biological evolution. Here, we model the emergence of cognitive structure capable of undergoing cultural…
Nuragic figurines are rare and unique examples of the mastery achieved by Sardinian craftsmen in the early Iron Age. These bronze artefacts were most likely cast using the lost wax technique: the shapes were moulded with relative ease, and…
Museum curators and archaeologists use analytical science to provide important information on artworks and objects. For example, scientific techniques provide information on artwork elemental composition, origin and authenticity, and…
This paper analyses the application of artificial intelligence techniques to various areas of archaeology and more specifically: a) The use of software tools as a creative stimulus for the organization of exhibitions; the use of humanoid…
From Paleolithic cave paintings to Impressionism, human painting has evolved to depict increasingly complex and detailed scenes, conveying more nuanced messages. This paper attempts to emerge this artistic capability by simulating the…
The advent of the post-human era has blurred the boundary between the body and artefacts. Further, external materials and information are more deeply integrated into the body, making emerging technology a key driving force for shaping…
I review the evolutionary history of human populations in Europe with an emphasis on what has been learned in recent years through the study of ancient DNA. Human populations in Europe ~430-39kya (archaic Europeans) included Neandertals and…
In this work we apply techniques and modus operandi typical of Statistical Mechanics to a large dataset about key social quantifiers and compare the resulting behaviours of five European nations, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and…
I discuss various aspects of archeoastronomy concentrating on physical artifacts (i.e., not including ethno-archeoastronomy) focusing on the period that ended about 2000 years ago. I present examples of artifacts interpreted as showing the…
Comparisons of DNA sequences between Neandertals and present-day humans have shown that Neandertals share more genetic variants with non-Africans than with Africans. This could be due to interbreeding between Neandertals and modern humans…
There is a general consensus among archaeologists that replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans in Europe occurred around 40K to 35K YBP. However, the causal mechanism for this replacement continues to be debated. Searching…
The tumuli of Newgrange and Knowth in Ireland are among the most monumental heritages of the Neolithic era. The megalithic constructions date back to around 3'200 BC, centuries before the completion of Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.…