Ricerc@Sapienza

The archaeological site of Lepenski Vir is widely known after its remarkable stone art sculptures that
represent a unique and unprecedented case of Holocene hunter-gatherer creativity. These artworks
were found largely associated with equally unique trapezoidal limestone building floors around their
centrally located rectangular stone-lined hearths. A debate has raged since the discovery of the site
about the chronological place of various discovered features. While over years different views from

In this contribution we dismantle the perceived role of marine resources and plant foods in the
subsistence economy of Holocene foragers of the Central Mediterranean using a combination of dental
calculus and stable isotope analyses. The discovery of fish scales and flesh fragments, starch granules
and other plant and animal micro-debris in the dental calculus of a Mesolithic forager dated to the end
of the 8th millenium BC and buried in the Vlakno Cave on Dugi Otok Island in the Croatian Archipelago

Objectives: The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope, and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear pat-terns to gain a broader understanding of the diet of three individuals who lived between the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene (ca., 17–8 ky cal BP)in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy.

The chapter discusses the appearance of osseous harpoons in northern Italy. At present, in Italy, the earliest harpoons come from the eastern Alpine region and in particular from the Adige Valley, the southern Dolomites and the Julian Alps. Typologically, specimens from these areas are defined as bilateral harpoons with straight barbs and basal bilateral gorge and bevelled bases.

For decades, a closed eco-niche like Iron Gates in Eastern Serbia enabled specialists to explore the transition to a sedentary life, with an exceptional record of human occupation during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. Following the series of published analysis from the architecture to the prehistoric diet of the Iron Gates inhabitants, our research aims to present the newest results regarding the use-wear analysis of chipped stone artefacts from Lepenski Vir and Padina site with a broader focus on the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic in this region.