Re-colonising the Southern Alpine fringe: diachronic data on the use of sheltered space in the Late Epigravettian site of Riparo Tagliente (Verona, Italy)

This paper focuses on the use of space by Late Epigravettian groups in the Italian peninsula through the analysis of data from the site of Riparo Tagliente, which has yielded the earliest evidence of re-occupation of the Southern Alpine fringe after the end of the LGM. Previous works had underlined the presence of a persistent pattern in the differential use of the outer area of the site – mostly characterized by secondary refuse accumulations – compared to the sheltered area- dedicated to domestic activities undertaken around hearths. Here a “site-structural” approach has been applied to the abundant evidence of the sheltered area, where an articulated stratigraphic series documenting the first occupation phases in the site – disturbed at the top by an artificial “cut” carried out in historical times – was excavated starting from the late ‘70s of the last century. Radiocarbon dating of this series indicates a chronological span between 17,219 and 15,940 years cal BP and locates these occupations in the first part of the Late Glacial (GS-2.1a). Four phases have thus been recognized, which have then been grouped into two main macro-phases, each of which includes thick habitation soils, hearth-pits and cumulative features (formed by the amassing of different categories of residues). A large sunken “dwelling structural complex” was also identified and attributed to the most recent macro-phase. The two macro-phases record an important change in the organisation of domestic space over time, testified by the displacement of hearth-pits, the different intensity in their use and the variations in the frequencies of the typologies of lithic artefacts. Such modifications could be related to the different social identity of the groups that occupied the site over time or to changes in the duration and/or aims of the occupations possibly connected to settlement dynamics on a wider scale.