The event “Preistoria e ambiente nella Toscana nord-occidentale. Nuovi Orizzonti” took place on June 8, 2024, at the Archaeological and Human Museum “A.C. Blanc” in Viareggio (LU). Organized as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Tuscan Society of Natural Sciences, the event provided an opportunity to review naturalistic and archaeological research applied to the Prehistory of the area’s rich corpus of sites. Four speakers (J. Gennai, J. Conforti, A. Vassanelli, M. Romboni) covered the chronological span of local Prehistory (from the Middle Paleolithic to the Copper Age) and presented the most modern investigations and methodologies to address issues such as the contextualization of Neanderthal archaeological sites, the movement of Epigravettian groups, the ornamental traditions of Copper Age groups, and molecular techniques applied to paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
The event was organized by the Prehistory section of the Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa, specifically by Dr. J. Gennai, Prof. E. Starnini, and Prof. C. Tozzi. Thanks are extended to the Museum, the Municipality of Viareggio, the Tuscan Society of Natural Sciences, and the Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge at the University of Pisa for sponsoring the event. A. Vassanelli’s research was funded by the M.A.R.M.O research grant (Regione Toscana “100 Ricercatori Per La Cultura” –POR FSE 2014-2020 Asse A, Ambito Culturale”). J. Gennai’s research is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project (Horizon Europe, MobiliTy – nr. 101061427).