Human occupation at the Southern Po Plain margin in the Early Mesolithic: the contribution of technological and typological studies

This paper focuses on the study of a set of lithic assemblages brought to light in the last 20 years along the Southern margin of the Po Plain, between the cities of Bologna and Piacenza. Geological studies and pollen analyses support an Early Holocene age for these open-air sites and indicate that they were located along the ancient river banks of some main tributaries of the Po river. Due to the pedological features of these deposits, lithic assemblages represent the dominant archaeological finds uncovered. The application of both a technological and a typological approach to the study of these assemblages therefore represents a unique opportunity to examine aspects related to the occupation of this area in the early Holocene. Our study indicates that the lithic assemblages analysed share several aspects allowing them to be referred to the same cultural complex (i.e. Sauveterrian, Early Mesolithic of Northern Italy). Nevertheless each of them is characterized by some specific features involving raw materials provisioning, chaînes opératoires, types and rates of retouched tools and presence/absence of the microburin technique.