Earliest Italy: An Overview of the Italian Paleolithic and Mesolithic

by Margherita Mussi

Overview

This book aims to synthesize more than 600,000 years of Italian prehistory, beginning with the Lower Paleolithic and ending with the last hunter-gatherers of the early Holocene. The author treats such issues as the development of social structure, the rise and fall of specific cultural traditions, climatic change, modifications of the landscape, fauna and flora, and environmental adaptation and exploitation and includes detailed descriptions of the most important sites.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475774986
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	03/18/2013
Series:	Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology
Edition description:	2002
Pages:	402
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword; C. Gamble. 1: The land and the scientists. 1.1. The geography of Italy. 1.2. Outline of the history of archaeological research. 2: The earliest settlement. 2.1. Introduction. 2.2. The time and the way. 2.3. Technological developments. 2.4. Characteristics of the preferred environments. 2.5. Comments. 3: Real colonisation. 3.1. Introduction. 3.2. The emergence of technological complexity. 3.3. Lower Palaeolithic marine crossings? 3.4. Comments. 4: On Neandertals and caves. 4.1. Introduction. 4.2. A changing environment. 4.3. Mousterian variability. 4.4. Comments. 5: Moderns vs. Neandertals. 5.1. Introduction. 5.2. Exploring and exploiting. 5.3. Uluzzian and Aurignacian compared. 5.4. Comments. 6: Fully equipped hunter-gatherers. 6.1. Introduction. 6.2. Archaeological evidence inside and outside the peninsula. 6.3. The approach to a new territory. 6.4. Ritual behaviour and practical constraints. 7: The great shift. 7.1. Introduction. 7.2. Different niches in a changing landscape. 7.3. Local and regional diversification. 7.4. Exchanging and sharing resources and ideas. 7.5. Comments. 7.6. Final remarks.

Editorial Reviews

Prepublication praise:

"This comprehensive volume on Italian prehistory provides a wealth of information that will improve readers' access to the archaeological and faunal records which have been gathered by several generations of Italian researchers and will undoubtedly serve many scholars and students who are either not at all or only partially familiar with Italian prehistory. The author produces a most interesting picture of Paleolithic Italy."

(Ofer Bar-Yosef, Harvard University)

"A must for college and university programs offering undergraduate and graduate courses in the Paleolithic[...]"

(Choice, 39:9, 2002)

"Magnifico! Bravissimo! Margherita Mussi has done the virtually "impossible" and done it very well (and in a language that is not her native tongue): a book that thoroughly, intelligently synthesizes the Pleisene prehistory of Italy.[...] This is a landmark book.[...] If you read one work on the Italian Paleolithic, Mussi's magnus opus is it."

(Journal of Anthropological Research, 58, 2002)

From the Publisher