Il paleolitico dei terrazzi pleistocenici astigiani: le industrie litiche

Abstract

Lower and Middle Paleolithic assemblages from partially preserved beds of a paleodrainage in the Asti region (Piedmont. Italy) are described in the paper. Most of the findings from the slopes are "roIled" and indicate a secondary deposition in the alluvial gravels of Middle/Late Pleistocene terraces. The distinctive lithotechnic feature of the major assemblage is the presence of no standardized types resulting trom a kind of expedient core technology. excluding the Levallois technique and with "Clactonian" - "Evenosian" "Tayacian" -"Taubachian" affinities. Few artifacts also linked to the gravel beds generally not worn and not "glassed" (unlike the previous ones) show evident cultural discontinuities: stratigraphic features and typological evidence indicate therefore some different phases of the Lower-Middle Paleolithic transition. Local lithic raw materials include flints, quartzites and, more rarely, quartz-calcedony veins (geothermal), fossil woods, and other types of rocks.