Piovesello (Ferriere, PC)

Piovesello (870 m a.s.l., Cassimoreno, Piacenza) was excavated by the University of Ferrara from 2012 to 2018. The stratigraphic sequence attests the presence of a humid area that originated the clay sediments of layer 7, where lithic artefacts and charcoal fragments bore witness of a Gravettian hunter-gatherers’ frequentation. Research allowed to obtain data on palaeoenvironment and climate, characterized by a mountain steppe landscape with low and sparse vegetation of mountain pine and Scots pine. Date framed the site about 30 thousand years ago, during the cooling phase called Greenland Stadial 5. The frequentation of the site is linked to the presence, about ten km away, of the Monte Lama massif, known for the jasper outcrops and primary source of most of the raw material present at the site. The Piovesello hunters, however, reveal direct contacts with areas beyond the Alps, as the identification of lithic tools made of Provencal flint attests. The peculiarity of this site also lies in the high amount of lithic refittings, which allowed a detailed technical analysis of the knapping sequences carried out with the laminar method. In 2013, an accumulation of artifacts was also found, corresponding to the remains of a lithic workshop resulting from a knapper’s work. The virtual analysis permitted to reconstruct its formation phases, providing new data on the occupation of the site.