scholarly journals Between the flake and the blade: Associated systems of production at Riparo Tagliente (Veneto, northern Italy)

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Carmignani

The Riparo Tagliente site (Verona, Italy) shows three macro phases in which high technological variability can be observed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the specific role of the Middle Paleolithic blade production within this variability. Preliminary results show a complex scenario in which the role of the blade is strictly linked with flake production through mixed reduction systems. Two different approaches were used for analysing the lithic assemblages from the site. The first analysis focused on the identification of the reduction systems by determining the techniques, methods and concepts underlying the entire chaîne opératoire.  The second approach concentrated on analysing blade production in order to identify its variability. Evidence of blade technology from the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 8-6) has been found in northern Europe (France, Belgium). Later, during MIS 5 blades can be found over a larger area, this time also including north-western Germany and the central-southern part of France. A third period (MIS 4-3) marks the appearance of laminar production in southern Europe, including in the Italian peninsula. Based on the present state of research these three phases appear to be on-and-off events without clear evolutionary continuity. By repositioning the sequence of Riparo Tagliente within the Italian context we can observe that at the end of the Mousterian period the technological patterns differ greatly, with laminar production being one of its most evident expressions. The origin of this fragmentation is questionable.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Carpentieri ◽  
Marta Arzarello

Abstract The opportunistic debitage, originally adapted from Forestier’s S.S.D.A. definition, is characterized by a strong adaptability to local raw material morphology and its physical characteristics and it is oriented towards flake production. Its most ancient evidence is related to the first European peopling by Homo sp. during Lower Pleistocene starting from 1.6 Ma and gradually increasing around 1 Ma. In these sites a great heterogeneity of the reduction sequences and raw materials employed is highlighted, bringing to the identification of multiple technical behaviours. However, the scientific community does not always agree on associating the concepts of opportunism and method to describe these lithic complexes. The same methodological issues remain for the Middle Pleistocene where, simultaneously to an increase of the archaeological evidence and the persistence of the opportunistic debitage, the first bifacial complexes are attested. Further implications concerning the increasing complexity highlighted in core technology management are now at the centre of an important debate regarding the genesis of more specialized method (Levallois and Discoid) especially during MIS 12 and MIS 9. We suggest that the opportunistic debitage could be the starting point for this process, carrying within itself a great methodological and cultural potential.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Carpentieri ◽  
Marta Arzarello

The opportunistic debitage, originally adapted from Forestier’s S.S.D.A. definition, is characterized by a strong adaptability to local raw material morphology and its physical characteristics and it is oriented towards flake production. Its most ancient evidences are related to the first European peopling by Homo sp. during Lower Pleistocene starting from 1.6 Ma and gradually increasing around 1 Ma. In these sites a great heterogeneity of the reduction sequences and raw materials employed is highlighted, bringing to the identification of multiple technical behaviours. However, the scientific community does not always agree on associating the concepts of opportunism and method to describe these lithic complexes. The same methodological issues remain for the Middle Pleistocene where, simultaneously to an increase of the archaeological evidences and the persistence of the opportunistic debitage, the first bifacial complexes are attested. Further implications concerning the increasing complexity highlighted in core technology management are now at the centre of an important debate regarding the genesis of more specialized method (Levallois and Discoid) especially during MIS 12 and MIS 9. We suggest that the opportunistic debitage could be the starting point for this process, carrying within itself a great methodological and cultural potential.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Blinkhorn ◽  
Huw S. Groucutt ◽  
Eleanor M. L. Scerri ◽  
Michael D. Petraglia ◽  
Simon Blockley

AbstractMarine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, ~ 130 to 71 thousand years ago, was a key period for the geographic expansion of Homo sapiens, including engagement with new landscapes within Africa and dispersal into Asia. Occupation of the Levant by Homo sapiens in MIS 5 is well established, while recent research has documented complementary evidence in Arabia. Here, we undertake the first detailed comparison of Levallois core technology from eastern Africa, Arabia, and the Levant during MIS 5, including multiple sites associated with Homo sapiens fossils. We employ quantitative comparisons of individual artefacts that provides a detailed appraisal of Levallois reduction activity in MIS 5, thereby enabling assessment of intra- and inter-assemblage variability for the first time. Our results demonstrate a pattern of geographically structured variability embedded within a shared focus on centripetal Levallois reduction schemes and overlapping core morphologies. We reveal directional changes in core shaping and flake production from eastern Africa to Arabia and the Levant that are independent of differences in geographic or environmental parameters. These results are consistent with a common cultural inheritance between these regions, potentially stemming from a shared late Middle Pleistocene source in eastern Africa.


Author(s):  
Francesco Piccialli ◽  
Vincenzo Schiano di Cola ◽  
Fabio Giampaolo ◽  
Salvatore Cuomo

AbstractThe first few months of 2020 have profoundly changed the way we live our lives and carry out our daily activities. Although the widespread use of futuristic robotaxis and self-driving commercial vehicles has not yet become a reality, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in different fields. We have witnessed the equivalent of two years of digital transformation compressed into just a few months. Whether it is in tracing epidemiological peaks or in transacting contactless payments, the impact of these developments has been almost immediate, and a window has opened up on what is to come. Here we analyze and discuss how AI can support us in facing the ongoing pandemic. Despite the numerous and undeniable contributions of AI, clinical trials and human skills are still required. Even if different strategies have been developed in different states worldwide, the fight against the pandemic seems to have found everywhere a valuable ally in AI, a global and open-source tool capable of providing assistance in this health emergency. A careful AI application would enable us to operate within this complex scenario involving healthcare, society and research.


Author(s):  
Joachim Wagner ◽  
John P. Weche Gelübcke

SummaryThis is the first study of the link between internationalization and firm survival during the 2008/2009 crisis in Germany, a country which was hit relatively lightly compared to other countries. Moreover, it is the first study which looks at the role of importing, exporting and FDI simultaneously in the context of a global economic recession. We use a tailor-made representative dataset that covers all enterprises from the manufacturing sector with at least 20 employees. Our most striking result is to demonstrate the disadvantage of exporting for the chances of survival of a firm during the crisis in western Germany. Importing instead reveals a positive correlation with survival and firms that both export and import do not show a different exit risk relative to non-traders. A plausible explanation is that in a global recession, deteriorating markets abroad cause demand losses for exporters and improved conditions on factor markets which result in an advantage for firms sourcing from factor markets abroad. Two-way traders do not show a link with exit risk, supporting the idea that they were able to outweigh their losses from exporting with their gains from importing, in what could be called an export-import hedge. Furthermore, we cannot support the hypothesis that foreign multinationals are more volatile during times of economic crisis.


2011 ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Luigi Cantone ◽  
Marcello Risitano

Tourist destination (TD) is considered the most important unit of analysis in tourism industry and the amalgam of tourism products, which offers an integrated travel experience for the customer. In this paper is analyzed the role of Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), the key player in the tourism stakeholders systems which manage collaborative marketing strategies. Particularly, are recognized the destination branding strategies defined by DMOs, one of the most important organizational solution to manage internal and external relationships in tourism stakeholders systems. The theoretical assumptions of the paper are supported by an empirical research which analyzes, comparatively, the Italian DMOs of eight regional contexts. The goals of the empirical survey have been the following: a. to identify the main tourism players of regional stakeholders systems, deepening the nature and the intensity of marketing relationships in these networks; b. to define the main characteristics of the regional DMOs in Italy, in terms of business models and collective marketing strategies planned in the own networks; c. to categorize the destination branding strategies defined by DMOs in regional tourism stakeholders systems, valuating the main brand decisions carried out in these contexts.


2009 ◽  
pp. 25-46
Author(s):  
Elena Caneva ◽  
Maurizio Ambrosini

- The number of immigrant children in Italy has been increasing more and more. They are impacting both on immigration as a phenomenon and on receiving societies. Thus, it becomes important and useful to understand which factors matter in second generation's paths and potential trajectories. Through a presentation of different analytical approaches on the phenomenon of migration, the paper explores the role of the family, the ethnic community and friends, as well as of religion and religious organizations in the promotion or prevention of positive forms of inclusion. With a specific focus on the Italian context, it explains the social and cultural transformation that characterises immigrant families, stressing the role that can be played by the human and social capital embedded in ethnic networks. The main aim of this paper is to go beyond the assimilation approaches and to highlight how immigrant families, ethnic networks and religious organizations could promote integration and the upward mobility of future generations. Keywords: Immigration, Second Generation, Ethnic Communities, Integration, Social Cohesion.


2017 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 632-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello Longo ◽  
Francesca Granata ◽  
Sergio Racchiusa ◽  
Enricomaria Mormina ◽  
Giovanni Grasso ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Tapio Raunio

This chapter examines the party system of the European Parliament (EP). In the early 1950s, members of the EP decided to form party-political groups instead of national blocs to counterbalance the dominance of national interests in the European Council. Since then, the party groups have gradually, but consistently, consolidated their positions in the EP. The chapter first considers the shape of the EP party system, the structure of the party groups, and the role of national parties within them. It then looks at the Spitzenkandidaten (lead candidates) initiative, whereby the Europarties put forward their own candidates for the Commission President in the 2014 elections. It also discusses coalition politics and parliamentary committees as well as electoral accountability in the EP and concludes with an overview of the state of research on the EP party system, emphasizing the need to understand how coalitions are formed in the committees and the plenary.


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