Updating on the Final Palaeolithic-Mesolithic transition in Trentino (NE Italy)

This work offers an approach to the question of the transition phase between the Epigravettian and the Mesolithic in the Alpine area. The aim is to compare the techno-typological characteristics of diachronic lithic industries. Archaeological records that contribute to this issue come from the sites of Riparo Cogola(Trento), Palù Echen (Trento), Regole (Trento) and Galgenbühel/Dos de la Forca (Bozen/Bolzano). They cover the period from the Younger Dryas to the Boreal and are attributed to the Recent Epigravettian and to the Sauveterrian. Some changes in the lithic production that occurred between the beginning of the Younger Dryas and the Preboreal can be perceived: one of the most evident aspects of this development is the reduced necessity for the production of laminar products. A blade-bladelet production that exploits the maximum length of the core until its abandon (Cogola 19) changes into a more varied core management in the Sauveterrian finalised at extracting bladelets, laminar flakes and flakes. Taking into consideration the manufacture of the armatures, the use of the microburin technique becomes systematic in the Preboreal. Regarding the composition of the microliths, the following observations have been made: there is a numerical increase in some geometric microliths (crescents and triangles), a decrease in backed pieces with truncation and the disappearance of the trapeziums. Moreover, one of the key elements for analysing this transition is represented by the backed points that are characterised by a clear morpho-technical change together with a progressive microlithization.