The course debates general topics on cultural, social and economic evolution of Palaeolithic populations in relation to ecological changes. The geographic contexts are Africa and EuroAsia continents where extensive geographic, climatic and bio-cultural changes occurred since the lower Pleistocene.
The chronological interval spans from the oldest appearance of stone tools up to the complex record of last hunter-gatherers. Following the hominin geo-ecological dispersion from African up to the appaearance of Homo sapiens, the most important steps in culture evolution are taken into consideration. The Quaternary and the timeline of the Palaeolithic will be the reference scale for discussing the impact of technological innovations supported Palaeolithic people to interact with the ecological context.
The dynamics of human peopling will be assessed in relation to modifications in the distribution of lithic, botanical and animal resources. Main topics are listed below: - emergence of first technologies in Africa and their impact; - first south European peopling, contests and models; - appearance of bifaces, the Acheulean and the North-european peopling; - from the Lower to the Middle Palaeolithic, technological changes and Human-resources interaction ; - the age of the Neandertal: economy, technologies, settlements; - appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa and the first spreads of our direct ancestors; - Homo sapiens and the Others: state of art, hypotheses, models and methodological problems; - Disappearance of the Neandertals from Eurasia; - The Upper Palaeolithic, lower and middle phases, Aurignacian and Gravettian, Last Glacial Maximum and ecological interactions; - Late-Glacial and the late Upper Palaeolithic, demographic development; - Transition to the Mesolithic.
- Docente: PERESANI Marco