Variability of lithic resource exploitation systems in northern Italy during the early Holocene: the case-studies of Mondeval de Sora (Belluno) and I.N.F.S. (Bologna).

The paper represents an attempt to identify lithic reduction sequences adopted by Sauveterrian Mesolithic groups of northern Italy. Two sites, from different environments, have been investigated: Mondeval de Sora, Site I, situated in the Dolomite region (south-eastern Alps), at an altitude of 2150m, and I.N.F.S. (Bologna) located in the Po plain area, close to the northern Apennine margin. Though the two analysed assemblages share the same basic volumetric concepts, they are also characterised by specific features in terms of exploitation strategies which appear, at least in part, strictly dependent on local raw material availability. The adoption of differentiated responses to specific environments thus reflects the high adaptation capacities of the last group of European hunter-gatherers, resulting as one of their most distinctive features, as also evidenced by other approaches to the study of early Holocene contexts.