Il Musteriano delle unità A10 e A11 a Grotta di Fumane (VR). Risultati delle campagne di scavo 2014 e 2016.

Results produced from the last three archaeological campaigns at Fumane Cave are here presented. The campaigns have been devoted to the excavation of units A11 and A10 lying at the base of the Mousterian Macro-unit A with an estimated age of >48 ka cal BP (Peresani, 2012; López-García et alii, 2015). The excavation took place in the eastern part of the cave entrance with a combined total area of 6 m2: this allowed unearthing a sequence of thin subunits rich in archaeological findings. Several combustion structures were revealed throughout the explored stratigraphic sequence. Faunal remains provide evidence of human exploitation and an overall similarity with the overlying unit A9 (Cassoli, Tagliacozzo, 1991; Romandini et alii, 2014). By contrast, the lithic industry is markedly different showing the prevalence of the Levallois method, mainly the unipolar modality producing elongated blanks, over the Discoid method which is only attested in the higher part unit A10 (Gennai, 2017). The important results achieved reveal the significance of units A10 and A11 for defining Late Neanderthals behaviour in the Central Mediterranean area and stimulate further investigations.