Role and Meaning of Lithic Personal Ornaments in Ancient Agricultural-Pastoral Communities of the Mediterranean: Traditions, Techniques, Functionality
- Candidate: Alice Vassanelli
- Supervisor: Niccolò Mazzucco
- PHD in Classical Studies and Archaeology
- Department of Philology, Literature, and Linguistics
- University of Pisa
The aim of OrnaMed is to analyse prehistoric ornamental productions, giving particular attention to lithic productions. The geographical panorama of the proposed research involves the central area of the Mediterranean area, placing the Italian peninsula at the forefront, in relation to the surrounding areas. The chronological span chosen is the Neo-Eneolithic period, marked by important socio-economic changes, which also involved ornamental productions. Studying the geographical and chronological distribution of these particular artifacts and highlighting the production techniques and their use, will make it possible to highlight the existence of identity traditions, changes, persistence, and possible transcultural networks.
This holistic approach includes:
- the survey of ornaments through bibliographic examination and direct study of public and private collections
- typological and geometric morphometric analysis of the artifacts
- microscopic analysis of manufacturing and use-wear traces, through the creation of a special experimental program for the creation of a comparison collection
- characterization of the lithologies and definition of the sources
- data network analysis to model the distribution of observed lithologies and typologies
Particularly innovative is the analytical protocol applied able to trace the life of the artifact: from the source of the raw material to its use, allowing the reconstruction of the economic, social, and behavioural dynamics that involved ancient populations during the time.
Contact: Alice Vassanelli