The Mesolithic Hunters of the Trentino

This volume offers a contribution to the understanding of Mesolithic settlement and subsistence change through a regional case study of archaeological data from the Trentino, a mountain region in northern Italy. Excavations in this region have identified rock-shelter deposits extending throughout the Mesolithic period, containing comparatively well-preserved animal bone assemblages as well as lithic material. The basis of this study is that in order to understand hunter-gatherer sites, it is necessary to examine both animal bone assemblages and lithic material, in the form of stone tools and the residue associated with their manufacture. These represent the main archaeological evidence recorded from valley-bottom rock-shelter and open-air high-altitude sites in the Trentino. The combined study of animal bones and lithics, together with long-term and spatial perspectives, provides a framework for then extending the scale of analysis from site-based to regional in scale.