P. Biagi, E. Starnini - THE EXPLOITATION OF THE HIGHLAND ZONES: THE EARLIEST MESOLITHIC HUNTERS OF THE CENTRAL ALPINE ARC

This paper presents a case study of the high-altitude peopling in the Italian central Alpine arc. The results of ten years of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research in the south-central Alps led to a preliminary reconstruction of the models of human exploitation of this part of the Alpine chain. Traces of Mesolithic activity and hunting camps were discovered mainly around the shores of small basins of glacial origin, often located close to passes of easy access along important transalpine routes. The research described in this paper involved not only systematic and repeated surveys, but also the pollen coring of a few peat-bogs, radiocarbon dating and theexcavation of a few sites. In particular, the results achieved from the excavation of two Preboreal Sauveterrian sites at Valmaione in Val Camonica (central Lombard Alps) are briefly illustrated. The sites have been attributed to the beginning of the Holocene thanks to the characteristics of the chipped stone assemblage retrieved during excavation and radiocarbon dating