Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Industrie litiche »

Articolul de față prezintă noi date despre situl paleolitic de la Cheia – La Izvor. Au fost obținute noi date radiocarbon care confirmă vârsta sitului în jur de 36 ka BP (cca 40 ka cal BP). Analiza faunistică arată că peștera pare să fi funcționat ca un adăpost pentru carnivore, ursul de peșteră fiind predominant. La acumularea oaselor au contribuit cel mai probabil și alte carnivore, precum hienele de peșteră, lupii și vulpile care au introdus elemente de la animale de talie mare, medie și mică. Pe oase nu au fost identificate urme antropice. Industria litică, restrânsă numeric dar conținând aproape exclusiv unelte, indică una sau mai multe ocupări de scurtă durată.

I summarize the controversies about industrial pollutants in freshwaters near the oil sands industrial area of Alberta, the inadequacies in environmental monitoring that have led to widespread misconceptions, and recent attempts to correct the problems. Adequate data are available to show that mercury, other trace metals, and polycyclic aromatic compounds are being added by industry to the Athabasca river system and its watershed, although the relative contributions of industrial development and natural sources remain in question. Recent improvements in water monitoring by Environment Canada show promise of resolving the controversies, although independent governance for Canada’s and Alberta’s water monitoring programs in the lower Athabasca River will be necessary to rebuild public confidence in the data and their interpretation by government and industry. I document one success story in the Athabasca River: the elimination of dioxins from pulp mills in the mid-1990s has caused a consumption advisory for fish in the river to be repealed.SOMMAIREJe présente ci-dessous un résumé des controverses concernant les polluants industriels dans les eaux douces à proximité de la zone industrielle des sables bitumineux de l'Alberta, des lacunes dans la surveillance des milieux de vie à l’origine d’idées fausses répandues, et de récentes tentatives visant à corriger les problèmes. Des données adéquates démontrent que l’industrie ajoute du mercure et d'autres métaux traces ainsi que des composés aromatiques polycycliques dans le système fluvial de la rivière Athabasca et dans son bassin versant, bien que les contributions relatives provenant de ces activités industrielles et de sources naturelles demeurent toujours en litige. De récentes améliorations apportées au contrôle des eaux par Environnement Canada permettent d’espérer une résolution des controverses, mais l’application d’une gouvernance indépendante des programmes de contrôle de l'eau de l'Alberta du Canada dans la partie inférieure du fleuve Athabasca sera nécessaire pour rétablir la confiance de la population à l’égard des données présentées et de leur interprétation par le gouvernement et l'industrie. Je décrie l’histoire d’une intervention réussie dans la rivière Athabasca, soit l'élimination de dioxines provenant des usines de pâte du milieu des années 1990 et qui a abouti à l’abrogation d’un avis de limitation de la consommation de poisson dans la rivière.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2013.40.012

Thepurposeof the article is to represent changes in the understanding and implementation of the idea of personal agency of schoolchildren inherent in Ukrain-ian pedagogical discourse and actual practice of educa-tion institutions in the XXth century. The above has for-warded the research to the following areas of concern: to establish the dynamics of a cognitive-creative pro-cess of generating and implementing the idea of agency given its philosophical, psychological, educational-po-litical and pedagogical-technological context; to create a general infographic periodization of the development of the idea of agency based on comparing profiles of agency of schoolchildren of the studied period in a particular territory. Methods: To solve the research tasks, the author has used interpretational methods, particularly genesis one, that has made it possible to conclude about the development patterns of the ideaof personal agency in the scientific-pedagogical dis-course and introduced models of schoolchildren’s edu-cation and upbringing; the modelling of the pro-gress of the idea contributes to finding out the logic of its generating and transformation; a discourse-anal-ysis for the identification of a socio-cultural dimension of the agency-related issues in the pedagogical ideas of the XXth century; a comparative analysis to com-pare agency profiles in the defined periods. Results.Development patterns and introduction of the idea of a pupil’s personal agency are studied within three dimensions: philosophical-psychological (methodolog-ical), the coordinate system of which is a civilizational type of personality (classical, modern, postmodern), and society (monarchical, industrial, democratic, infor-mation technology); educational and political, which is rendered on the axes of state reforms and pedagogical (including innovative) schools; pedagogical-techno-logical covering, on the one hand, the content-process aspect of educational, developmental and pedagogical effect of a teacher and, on the other hand, an effec-tive-evaluation aspect of the pedagogical influence represented by new formations of a pupil and changes in the pedagogical situation. Conclusions.A logic of the development of a child’s agency in the domes-tic educational theory and practice of the XXth century is rendered under the framework of shaping visions of agency as a cultural demand of the socio-histori-cal formation, a generic feature of a representative of the civilization, a component of pedagogical ideal, competencies and a specified level of a child’s devel-opment (a social demand for education), a note on his social role as a means of involving the child into the educational process, an opportunity for his self-re-alization. The key trends of the development of the idea of a pupil’s agency concern the changes in socio-his-torical formations and cultural-psychological type of community and psychological type of a personality belonging to a specific epoch, worldviews and educa-tional paradigms, theoretical substantiation of a new pedagogical thesaurus and technology innovations in education institutions. Keyw ords:agency, theoretical-applied knowledge, logic of idea development, determination and transfor-mation of idea, agency profile, educational process. Метою статті є репрезентація закономірних для українського педагогічного дискурсу і реальноїпрактики діяльності закладів освіти ХХ століття змін в осмисленні та втіленні ідеї суб’єктності особистості учнів. Означене зорієнтувало дослідження на такі проблемні напрямки: встановити динаміку когнітивно-креативного процесу генерування та впровадження ідеї суб’єктності з урахуванням її філософського, психологічного, освітньо-політичного та педагогічно-технологіч-ного контексту; створити загальну інфографіку періодизації розвитку ідеї суб’єктності на основі зіставлення профілів суб’єктності учнів досліджу-ваного періоду на окресленій території. Методи.Розв’язування дослідницьких завдань передбачало використання інтерпретаційних методів, зокрема, генезного, що уможливило висновки про закономірності розвитку ідеї суб’єктності особистості в науково-педагогічному дискурсі та впроваджених моделях навчання і виховання учнів; моде-лювання розвитку ідеї, щоб встановити логіку їїгенерування та трансформації; дискурс-аналізу для виявлення соціокультурного виміру суб’єк-тнісної проблематики в педагогічних ідеях ХХ століття; порівняльного аналізу з метою зіставлення профілів суб’єктності у виокремлених періодах. Результати. Закономірності розвитку та впро-вадження ідеї суб’єктності особистості школяра розглянуто в трьох площинах: філософсько-пси-хологічній (методологічній), системою координат якої є цивілізаційний тип особистості (класична, модерна, постмодерна) та суспільства (монархічне, індустріальне, демократичне, інформаційно-тех-нологічне); освітньо-політичній, розгорнутій на осях державних реформ та педагогічних (зокрема, і новаторських) шкіл; педагогічно-технологічній, яка охоплює, з одного боку, змістово-процесний бік навчального, розвивального та виховного впливів педагога, та з іншого – результатно-оцінний бік педагогічного впливу, представлений новоутво-реннями учня та змінами педагогічної ситуації. Висновки. Логіка розвитку ідеї суб’єктності учня у вітчизняній освітній теорії та практиці ХХ століття представлена в межах формування уявлень про суб’єктність як культурну вимогу суспільно-історичної формації, типову ознаку представника цивілізації, складову виховного ідеалу, компетентностей і нормативного рівня розвитку школяра (суспільний запит освіті), припис щодо його соціальної ролі, як засіб залучення учня до освітнього процесу, можливість його особистісної самореалізації. Провідні тенденції розвитку ідеї суб’єктності учня стосуються змін суспільно-історичних формацій і культурно-психологічного типу спільноти та психологічного типу особистості відповідноїепохи, світоглядних позицій та освітніх парадигм, теоретичного обґрунтування нового педагогічного тезаурусу та технологічних інновацій у закладах освіти.Ключовіслова: суб’єктність, теоретико-прикладне знання, логіка розвитку ідеї, детермінація та трансформація ідеї, профіль суб’єктності, освітній процес.

In this critically insightful and highly readable book of political ethnogra- phy, Aisha Ahmad, a political scientist at University of Toronto, seeks to explain how and why Islamist movements continue to militarily prevail and politically succeed in forming proto-states, over clan, ethnic, and/or tribal based competitions, amidst the chaos and disorder of civil wars across the contemporary Muslim world, from Mali to Mindanao. To this end, Ahmad seeks to go beyond the usual expositions that center the explanatory power of Islamist ideologies and identities, which dominate the scholarly fields of political science, international relations, security studies as well as the global public discourse shaped by journalists, politicians, and the punditry of shouting heads everywhere. Through a deep, immersive study of power in Afghanistan and Soma- lia, Ahmad demonstrates the profoundly symbiotic relationship between Islamists and the local business class. While recognizing the interconnec- tions between violent conflict and illicit trade is nothing new, Ahmad’s explication of the economic logics of Islamist proto-states furnishes a nov- el two-stage dynamic to explain the indispensability and ubiquity of this Islamist-business alliance in conflict zones. The first is the gradual social process of conversion of the business class’ worldview and practice to align them with Islamist identity formations, which is “aimed at mitigating un- certainty and improving access to markets” (xvii). Alongside this long-term socialization is a second, short-term political-economic dynamic of rapid shift in the business class’s collective patronage of a new Islamist faction, based on the assumption that it will lower the cost of business. The for- midable alliance between business class interests and Islamist institutions brings forth the new Islamist proto-state. Chapter one of the book adum- brates this two-stage argument and offers justifications for the two case studies, namely the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The second chapter unpacks the two-stage dynamic in detail. We learn that in modern civil wars across the Muslim world, business communi- ties intentionally adopt ardent Islamist identities as a practical means to- ward building trust and lowering cost. Islamist factions, aspiring toward hegemony, offer the possibility of economic relationships that transcend the ethnic boundaries which limit rival factions rooted in clan, tribal, or ethno-linguistic social formations. This leads to the second, faster conver- gence of business-Islamist interests, wherein the Islamist groups leverage their broader social identity and economic market to offer stronger secu- rity at a lower cost. This development of an economy of scale leads the local business elites to throw their financial support behind the Islamists at a critical juncture of militant competition. Once this threshold is met, Islamist factions rapidly conquer and consolidate territories from their rel- atively socially constrained rivals to form a new proto-state, like the Taliban regime and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). When we look at the timeline of their development (the Taliban in 1994 and the ICU in 2006), we notice a similar length of gestation, about 15 years of war. This similarity may be coincidental, but the political-military threshold is the same. Both societ- ies, ravaged by civil war, reached a stalemate. At this critical juncture the positional properties of Islamist formations in the field of civil war factions gives the Islamists a decided economic (cost analysis) and social (trust building across clan/tribal identities) advantage. Chapters three to six examine each of the two processes for the se- lected sites of inquiry. Thus chapters three and five, respectively, explore the long-term Islamist identity construction within the smuggling industry in the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderland, and the Somali business elites’ gradual convergence with Islamists. In chapter four, Ahmad explores the second dynamic in the context of rising security costs during the Afghan civil war. Mullah Omar’s Taliban provided the order and security across the borderland that had previously eluded the variety of industries. This allowed the Taliban to expand on the backs of voluntary donations, rather than extortions like their rival tribal warlords, which in turn allowed them to recruit and retain more disciplined fighters (81). The source of these donations was the business class, especially those involved in the highly lucrative transit trade, which, before the rise of Taliban, paid immense op- portunity cost at the hands of rapacious local and tribal warlord fiefdoms and bandits. Instead of the multitude of checkpoints crisscrossing south- ern Afghanistan and the borderlands, the Taliban presented a simplified administration. While the rest of the world took notice of their repressive measures against women’s mobility, education, and cultural expression, the men of the bazaar appreciated the newly acquired public safety to ply their trade and the lowered cost of doing business. Chapter six, “The Price of Protection: The Rise of the Islamic Courts Union,” demonstrates a similar mutually beneficial Islamist-business relationship emerging out of the incessant clan-based militia conflicts that had especially plagued southern Somalia since the fall of the last national government in 1991. Businesspeople, whether they were tycoons or small business owners, had to pay two types of tax. First was what was owed to the local racket or warlord, and the second was to the ever-fragmenting sub-clan militias and their checkpoints on the intercity highways. Unlike their rival, the Transitional Federal Government (TGF), ICU forged their supra-clan institutional identity through a universalist legal discourse and practice rooted in Islamic law and ethics. They united the courts and their associated clan-based militias, including al-Shabaab. Ahmad demonstrates, through a synthesis of secondary literature and original political ethnogra- phy, the economic logics of ICU’s ability to overcome the threshold of ma- terial and social support needed to establish the rule of law and a far-reach- ing functioning government. If the Taliban and the ICU had solved the riddle of creating order and security to create hegemonic proto-states, then what was their downfall? Chapter seven gives us an account of the international interventions that caused the collapse of the two proto-states. In the aftermath of their de- struction, the internationally supported regimes that replaced them, de- spite immense monetary and military aid, have failed to gain the same level of legitimacy across Afghanistan and Somalia. In chapter eight, Ahmad expands the scope of analysis to North/Western Africa (Al-Qaeda in the Is- lamic Maghrib: AQIM), Middle East (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: ISIS), and South Asia (Tahrik-i Taliban-i Pakistan: TTP). At the time of this book’s publication, these movements were not yet, as Ahmad posits, closed cases like the Taliban and the ICU. Thus, the data from this chapter’s comparative survey furnishes suggestive arguments for Ahmad’s larger thesis, namely that Islamist proto-states emerge out of a confluence of economic and security interests rather than mere ideological and identity politics. The epistemic humility of this chapter signals to this reader two lines of constructive criticism of some aspects of Ahmad’s sub- stantiation of this thesis. First, the juxtaposing of Islamist success against their clan-/tribal iden- tity-based rivals may be underestimating the element of ethnic solidarity in those very Islamists’ political success. The most glaring case is the Taliban, which in its original formation and in its post-American invasion frag- mentations, across the Durand Line, was more or less founded on a pan- or-tribal Pashtun social identity and economic compulsions relative to the other Afghan ethno-linguistic communities. How does one disaggregate the force of ethnic solidarity (even if it is only a necessary condition, rather than a cause) from economic calculus in explaining the rise of the Taliban proto-state? The second issue in this juxtaposition is that when we compare a suc- cessful Islamist movement against socially limited ethnocentric rivals, we discount the other Islamist movements that failed. Explanations for those Islamists that failed to create a proto-state along the lines of the ICU or the Taliban, such as al-Ittihad al-Islamiyya (Somalia) or Gulbuddin Hekmat- yar’s Hezb-e Islami (Afghanistan), needed to be more robustly taken into account and integrated into the substantiation of Ahmad’s thesis. Even in the section on ISIS, it would have been helpful to integrate the case of Jabhat al-Nusra’s (an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria) inability to create a proto-state to rival ISIS. We must ask, why do some Jihadi Islamist movements prevail against each other and why do others fail? Perhaps some of these Islamist movements appear too early to scale up their operation (i.e., they precede Ahmad’s ‘critical juncture’), or they were too embroiled and too partisan in the illicit trade network to fully leverage their Islamist universalism to create the trust and bonds that are the first part of Ahmad’s two-stage dy- namic. Possible answers would need to complement Ahmad’s excellent po- litical ethnography with deeper quantitative dives to identify the statistical variations of these critical junctures: when does the cost of warlords and mafias’ domination outweigh the cost of Islamist-Jihadi movements’ social- ly repressive but economically liberating regimes? At which point in the social evolution of society during an unending civil war do identities forged by the bonds of blood give way to those imagined through bonds of faith? These two critical suggestions do not diminish Ahmad’s highly teach- able work. This book should be read by all concerned policy makers, schol- ars in the social sciences and humanities, and anyone who wants to go be- yond ‘culture talk’ historical causation by ideas and identity and uncover structuralist explanations for the rise of Jihadi Islamist success in civil wars across the Muslim world. It is especially recommended for adoption in cog- nate courses at the undergraduate level, for its combination of erudition and readability. Maheen ZamanAssistant ProfessorDepartment of HistoryAugsburg University

In this critically insightful and highly readable book of political ethnogra- phy, Aisha Ahmad, a political scientist at University of Toronto, seeks to explain how and why Islamist movements continue to militarily prevail and politically succeed in forming proto-states, over clan, ethnic, and/or tribal based competitions, amidst the chaos and disorder of civil wars across the contemporary Muslim world, from Mali to Mindanao. To this end, Ahmad seeks to go beyond the usual expositions that center the explanatory power of Islamist ideologies and identities, which dominate the scholarly fields of political science, international relations, security studies as well as the global public discourse shaped by journalists, politicians, and the punditry of shouting heads everywhere. Through a deep, immersive study of power in Afghanistan and Soma- lia, Ahmad demonstrates the profoundly symbiotic relationship between Islamists and the local business class. While recognizing the interconnec- tions between violent conflict and illicit trade is nothing new, Ahmad’s explication of the economic logics of Islamist proto-states furnishes a nov- el two-stage dynamic to explain the indispensability and ubiquity of this Islamist-business alliance in conflict zones. The first is the gradual social process of conversion of the business class’ worldview and practice to align them with Islamist identity formations, which is “aimed at mitigating un- certainty and improving access to markets” (xvii). Alongside this long-term socialization is a second, short-term political-economic dynamic of rapid shift in the business class’s collective patronage of a new Islamist faction, based on the assumption that it will lower the cost of business. The for- midable alliance between business class interests and Islamist institutions brings forth the new Islamist proto-state. Chapter one of the book adum- brates this two-stage argument and offers justifications for the two case studies, namely the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The second chapter unpacks the two-stage dynamic in detail. We learn that in modern civil wars across the Muslim world, business communi- ties intentionally adopt ardent Islamist identities as a practical means to- ward building trust and lowering cost. Islamist factions, aspiring toward hegemony, offer the possibility of economic relationships that transcend the ethnic boundaries which limit rival factions rooted in clan, tribal, or ethno-linguistic social formations. This leads to the second, faster conver- gence of business-Islamist interests, wherein the Islamist groups leverage their broader social identity and economic market to offer stronger secu- rity at a lower cost. This development of an economy of scale leads the local business elites to throw their financial support behind the Islamists at a critical juncture of militant competition. Once this threshold is met, Islamist factions rapidly conquer and consolidate territories from their rel- atively socially constrained rivals to form a new proto-state, like the Taliban regime and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). When we look at the timeline of their development (the Taliban in 1994 and the ICU in 2006), we notice a similar length of gestation, about 15 years of war. This similarity may be coincidental, but the political-military threshold is the same. Both societ- ies, ravaged by civil war, reached a stalemate. At this critical juncture the positional properties of Islamist formations in the field of civil war factions gives the Islamists a decided economic (cost analysis) and social (trust building across clan/tribal identities) advantage. Chapters three to six examine each of the two processes for the se- lected sites of inquiry. Thus chapters three and five, respectively, explore the long-term Islamist identity construction within the smuggling industry in the Afghanistan-Pakistan borderland, and the Somali business elites’ gradual convergence with Islamists. In chapter four, Ahmad explores the second dynamic in the context of rising security costs during the Afghan civil war. Mullah Omar’s Taliban provided the order and security across the borderland that had previously eluded the variety of industries. This allowed the Taliban to expand on the backs of voluntary donations, rather than extortions like their rival tribal warlords, which in turn allowed them to recruit and retain more disciplined fighters (81). The source of these donations was the business class, especially those involved in the highly lucrative transit trade, which, before the rise of Taliban, paid immense op- portunity cost at the hands of rapacious local and tribal warlord fiefdoms and bandits. Instead of the multitude of checkpoints crisscrossing south- ern Afghanistan and the borderlands, the Taliban presented a simplified administration. While the rest of the world took notice of their repressive measures against women’s mobility, education, and cultural expression, the men of the bazaar appreciated the newly acquired public safety to ply their trade and the lowered cost of doing business. Chapter six, “The Price of Protection: The Rise of the Islamic Courts Union,” demonstrates a similar mutually beneficial Islamist-business relationship emerging out of the incessant clan-based militia conflicts that had especially plagued southern Somalia since the fall of the last national government in 1991. Businesspeople, whether they were tycoons or small business owners, had to pay two types of tax. First was what was owed to the local racket or warlord, and the second was to the ever-fragmenting sub-clan militias and their checkpoints on the intercity highways. Unlike their rival, the Transitional Federal Government (TGF), ICU forged their supra-clan institutional identity through a universalist legal discourse and practice rooted in Islamic law and ethics. They united the courts and their associated clan-based militias, including al-Shabaab. Ahmad demonstrates, through a synthesis of secondary literature and original political ethnogra- phy, the economic logics of ICU’s ability to overcome the threshold of ma- terial and social support needed to establish the rule of law and a far-reach- ing functioning government. If the Taliban and the ICU had solved the riddle of creating order and security to create hegemonic proto-states, then what was their downfall? Chapter seven gives us an account of the international interventions that caused the collapse of the two proto-states. In the aftermath of their de- struction, the internationally supported regimes that replaced them, de- spite immense monetary and military aid, have failed to gain the same level of legitimacy across Afghanistan and Somalia. In chapter eight, Ahmad expands the scope of analysis to North/Western Africa (Al-Qaeda in the Is- lamic Maghrib: AQIM), Middle East (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria: ISIS), and South Asia (Tahrik-i Taliban-i Pakistan: TTP). At the time of this book’s publication, these movements were not yet, as Ahmad posits, closed cases like the Taliban and the ICU. Thus, the data from this chapter’s comparative survey furnishes suggestive arguments for Ahmad’s larger thesis, namely that Islamist proto-states emerge out of a confluence of economic and security interests rather than mere ideological and identity politics. The epistemic humility of this chapter signals to this reader two lines of constructive criticism of some aspects of Ahmad’s sub- stantiation of this thesis. First, the juxtaposing of Islamist success against their clan-/tribal iden- tity-based rivals may be underestimating the element of ethnic solidarity in those very Islamists’ political success. The most glaring case is the Taliban, which in its original formation and in its post-American invasion frag- mentations, across the Durand Line, was more or less founded on a pan- or-tribal Pashtun social identity and economic compulsions relative to the other Afghan ethno-linguistic communities. How does one disaggregate the force of ethnic solidarity (even if it is only a necessary condition, rather than a cause) from economic calculus in explaining the rise of the Taliban proto-state? The second issue in this juxtaposition is that when we compare a suc- cessful Islamist movement against socially limited ethnocentric rivals, we discount the other Islamist movements that failed. Explanations for those Islamists that failed to create a proto-state along the lines of the ICU or the Taliban, such as al-Ittihad al-Islamiyya (Somalia) or Gulbuddin Hekmat- yar’s Hezb-e Islami (Afghanistan), needed to be more robustly taken into account and integrated into the substantiation of Ahmad’s thesis. Even in the section on ISIS, it would have been helpful to integrate the case of Jabhat al-Nusra’s (an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria) inability to create a proto-state to rival ISIS. We must ask, why do some Jihadi Islamist movements prevail against each other and why do others fail? Perhaps some of these Islamist movements appear too early to scale up their operation (i.e., they precede Ahmad’s ‘critical juncture’), or they were too embroiled and too partisan in the illicit trade network to fully leverage their Islamist universalism to create the trust and bonds that are the first part of Ahmad’s two-stage dy- namic. Possible answers would need to complement Ahmad’s excellent po- litical ethnography with deeper quantitative dives to identify the statistical variations of these critical junctures: when does the cost of warlords and mafias’ domination outweigh the cost of Islamist-Jihadi movements’ social- ly repressive but economically liberating regimes? At which point in the social evolution of society during an unending civil war do identities forged by the bonds of blood give way to those imagined through bonds of faith? These two critical suggestions do not diminish Ahmad’s highly teach- able work. This book should be read by all concerned policy makers, schol- ars in the social sciences and humanities, and anyone who wants to go be- yond ‘culture talk’ historical causation by ideas and identity and uncover structuralist explanations for the rise of Jihadi Islamist success in civil wars across the Muslim world. It is especially recommended for adoption in cog- nate courses at the undergraduate level, for its combination of erudition and readability. Maheen ZamanAssistant ProfessorDepartment of HistoryAugsburg University

Le Gravettien est le deuxième ensemble chrono-culturelle du Paléolithique supérieur après l’Aurignacien. La diffusion du Gravettien en Europe s’est produite rapidement, entre 30.000 et 20.000 ans BP. Pendant cette période, l’instabilité climatique due à l’approche du LGM a engendré la formation d’environnements différents. En particulier, la péninsule italienne était divisée en deux régions par la chaîne des Apennins: la côte adriatique, froide et aride à Est et la côte tyrrhénienne plus tempérée, à Ouest. Cette dernière fait l’objet de la présente étude. Dans le but de comprendre les stratégies de mobilité adoptées par les groupes gravettiens et leur développement, plusieurs assemblages lithiques ont été analysés. Notamment, la séquence gravettienne du Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Ligurie – Italie), qui livre une des plus importantes stratigraphies du Paléolithique supérieur italien, a été entièrement étudiée. À l’intérieur du complexe archéologique des Balzi Rossi, une comparaison directe a été faite avec la collection gravettienne de la Grotte des Enfants. Plusieurs collections mineures provenant de sites provençaux ont été examinées, en permettant d’effectuer une comparaison avec les données des Balzi Rossi. Enfin, l’analyse du site de Bilancino situé en Toscane (Italie) a rendu possible de contextualiser le Gravettien entre l’arc liguro-provençal et l’Italie. La relation entre les aspects techno-typologiques et la provenance des matières premières fournit des avancées importantes dans notre compréhension du comportement des chasseur-cueilleurs qui ont habités ces sites et permet de discuter la chronologie et la mobilité territoriale du Gravettien tyrrhénien
The Gravettian is the second chrono-cultural complex of the Upper Paleolithic after the Aurignacian. The Gravettian diffusion, throughout Europe, took place in a short span of time between 30.000 and 20.000 years BP. During this period, the climate instability due to the LGM approach created different environments. Particularly, Italy was split in two regions separated by the Apennine mountains: the cold and arid Adriatic coast on the first hand and the more temperate Tyrrhenian coast on the other hand. The latter region is the main object of this research. With the aim to understand the development and the mobility strategies used by the Gravettian groups in this area, several lithic assemblages have been analyzed. Specifically, the Gravettian sequence of Riparo Mochi (Balzi Rossi, Liguria - Italy), providing one of the most important stratigraphy of the Italian Upper Paleolithic, has been entirely studied. Inside the Balzi Rossi archaeological complex a direct comparison has been provided by the Gravettian collection of Grotta dei Faniculli. Moreover, some other smaller collections coming from the Provence area have been studied, allowing a comparison with the Balzi Rossi area. Finally, the site of Bilancino located in Tuscany let to contextualize the Gravettian between the liguro-provençal arc and Italy. The relation between techno-typological aspects and the raw materials provenance gives important advances in our comprehension of the behavior of the hunter-gatherer groups who inhabited the sites, discussing the timing and territorial mobility of the Tyrrhenian Gravettian

Mon projet de recherche porte sur une étude techno-économique des industries lithiques à la fin de Paléolithique supérieur et à la transition Pléistocène – Holocène de deux sites du sud de l’Italie: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) et Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).Les industries de cette période en Italie du sud ont fait l’objet d’études essentiellement typologiques. Avec une nouvelle méthodologie nous essayerons de produire de nouvelles données et interprétations concernant ces questions. Les trois grandes interrogations au cœur de ce projet sont les suivantes:– A travers l’étude des traditions technique, peut-on identifier des moments de rupture ou de continuité, au sein des séquences étudiées ? Si oui, les observe-t-on au même moment dans les séquences ?– Les deux gisements, qui sont différents d’un point de vue géographique et environnemental, montrent-ils aussi, sur le plan technologique, des grandes différences, comme celles mises en évidence par les études typologiques antérieures (phénomène de régionalisation épigravettien) ?– Dans la séquence de Grotta della Serratura, comment s’insèrent les deux niveaux de l’Épipaléolithique indifférencié ? Et dans le cadre du passage Pléistocène/Holocène dans la province méditerranéenne ?Les industries seront donc abordées suivant deux axes. Un premier diachronique, puisqu’il s’agit d’identifier des ruptures et/ou des continuités dans chaque séquence avec l’identification des traditions techniques. Le second axe est d’ordre synchronique, avec l’élargissement de l’échelle à un niveau micro et macro – régional
This research focuses on a techno-economic study of lithic industries at the end of the Upper Paleolithic and the frist Holocene of two sites in southern Italy: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) and Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).The industries of this period in southern Italy were the subject of essentially typological studies. With a new methodology we will try to produce new data and interpretations about these issues. The three main questions at the heart of this project are:- Through the study of technical traditions, we can identify moments of rupture or continuity, within the sequences studied? If yes, do we observe them at the same time in the sequences?- The two deposits, which are different from a geographical and environmental point of view, also show, in terms of technology, major differences, such as those highlighted by earlier typological studies (epigravettian regionalization phenomenon).- In the sequence of Grotta della Serratura, how do connect the two levels of the undifferentiated Epipaleolithic? And in the context of the Pleistocene / Holocene passage in the Mediterranean area?The lithic industries will therefore be approached along two axes. A first diachronic, since it involves identifying breaks and / or continuities in each sequence with the identification of technical traditions. The second axis is of synchronic order, with scaling up to a micro and macro - regional level
Questa ricerca si concentra su uno studio tecnico-economico delle industrie litiche alla fine del Paleolitico Superiore e il primo Olocene di due siti nel sud Italia: Grotta della Serratura (Salerno) e Grotta del Cavallo (Nardo).Le industrie di questo periodo nell'Italia meridionale sono ancora oggi oggetto di studi essenzialmente tipologici. Con una nuova metodologia dunque, cercheremo di ottenere nuovi dati e nuove interpretazioni su alcune problematiche al centro di attuali dibattiti scentifici. Le tre domande principali al centro di questo progetto sono:- Attraverso lo studio delle tradizioni tecniche, possiamo identificare momenti di rottura o continuità, all'interno delle sequenze studiate? Se sì, li osserviamo contemporaneamente nelle due sequenze?- I due depositi, diversi da un punto di vista geografico e ambientale, mostrano anche a livello tecnologico, importanti differenze, come quelle evidenziate dagli studi tipologici (fenomeno di regionalizzazione epigravettiana).- Nella sequenza della Grotta della Serratura, come si inseriscono i due livelli dell'Epipaleolitico indifferenziato? E nel contesto del passaggio Pleistocene / Olocene nell'area mediterranea?Le industrie litiche saranno quindi analizzate seguendo due assi: una diacronica, per mettere in luce discontinuità e / o continuità nelle sequenze analizzate sulla base delle tradizioni tecniche; l'altra sincronica, confrontando a livello micro e macro - regionale le sequenze analizzate

The Tagliente shelter, located on the Lessini Mountains near Verona, beside having held deposits that belong to the middle Paleolithic and to the Aurignacian culture, represents the reference sequence for the ancient part of the recent Epigravettian in North-Eastern Italy, presenting extraordinary conditions of preservation. The vicinity of this site to a stream (the Progno) and to flint outcrops has probably driven the Epigravettian hunter-gatherers to choose the shelter. This work is part of a new research project focused on the site and aimed at reconsidering excavation documents (diaries, plants, sections and SU profiles) from the Seventies of the past century to the present in the internal area of the shelter. In particular, the project has two main objectives: to reconstruct exploitation process of the lithic resources by the techno-typological analysis of the flint litotypes of the Maiolica or Biancone (the most exploited raw material in the site) belonging to three layers from the internal area (SSUU 13 a beta, 250 and 308) and to contribute to the comprehension of settlement dynamics through the spatial distribution analysis of eleven stratigraphic units from the same area by the application of GIS systems.

Los útiles percusión, sobre todo los tranchets, se utilizaban antes del inicio de la neolitización del Próximo Oriente. Estas herramientas formaban parte del utillaje que portaban ciertos grupos de cazadores recolectores durante sus desplazamientos. En el Xº milenio, cuando la sedentarización se consolida y los modos de vida cambian radicalmente, azuelas, hachas y martillos se convierten en útiles corrientes que se generalizan en todo el Levante. Se convierten en los útiles por excelencia de la neolitización y del Neolítico. Las herminettes de Mureybet, talladas sobre lascas de sílex, son los primeros de estos útiles. Aparecen en el Natufiense final y perduran en el Khiamiense y el Horizonte PPNA. Durante más de un milenio, caracterizan así las industrias líticas de todos los poblados de la cultura Mureybetiense del valle del Éufrates en Siria: Mureybet, Cheikh Hassan, Jerf el Ahmar y tell ‘Abr 3. Son incluso importadas o copiadas en su esencia por los grupos neolíticos alejados del valle, sobre todo en las montañas del Bal’as, en Siria central. En análisis muestra que la azuela de Mureybet esconde en realidad al menos dos útiles fuertemente especializados: la azuela para el corte y el trabajo de la madera y los martillos para el trabajo de la piedra. Lo que se transmite con el Neolítico, y que será adoptado en todo el Levante, es un nuevo modo de enmangue del que deriva una nueva concepción del trabajo de la materia. La evolución arquitectural se verá ampliamente beneficiada. Postes, vigas de grandes dimensiones y estructuras de madera fueron realizadas con estas azuelas. Los mismos muros fueron montados con piedras minuciosamente talladas (pierres en cigares) con la ayuda de martillos enmangados. Materiales antes poco o nada explotados lo serán ampliamente en el Neolítico. Estos instrumentos, o su tipo de enmangue, fueron igualmente requeridos para la fabricación de recipientes en madera y en caliza, para labores de carnicería, de machacado de vegetales o para el trabajo de las pieles. La fabricación de embarcaciones pudo sin duda ser facilitada. Es en la misma época que la isla de Chipre es colonizada. Es en este contexto, hacia 9500 cal a.C., cuando aparecen en las culturas neolíticas pequeñas hachas y azuelas en rocas verdes y negras. La práctica del pulido y de la abrasión ya era conocida por estas poblaciones para los objetos de adorno o las estatuillas. La aplicación de estas técnicas en los útiles de percusión supone una verdadera revolución tecnológica. Ya sean objetos simbólicos o con usos específicos, estas hachas están en el origen del perfeccionamiento de los instrumentos de percusión. En el PPNB antiguo, la azuela de Mureybet y los martillos desaparecen al menos en apariencia puesto que, con enmangues idénticos, se utilizan ahora núcleos laminares abandonados y reciclados. Los útiles de percusión tallados ya no provienen de cadenas operativas distintas sino que son incorporadas en las economías de débitage laminar. La tradición del pulido de pequeñas hachas pulidas perdura, y a partir del PPNB medio la técnica se aplica a hachas y azuelas de grandes dimensiones. En el Neolítico el útil pulido será emblemático. En el Próximo Oriente, solo las poblaciones neolíticas que practican el nomadismo pastoral conservan una fuerte tradición de útiles de percusión tallados, a pesar de un amplio conocimiento de las técnicas de pulido. Durante el VIIº milenio, el Neolítico, ya consolidado en el Próximo Oriente, comienza su difusión hacia Europa. El hacha de piedra pulida acompañará este fenómeno y tendrá un rol fundamental en la vida de las comunidades prehistóricas durante todo el Neolítico, hasta el inicio de Edad de los metales.
Percussion tools, particularly tranchets adzes, were already used by populations in the Near East just before Neolithisation. These tools were included in the tool kits carried by certain groups of hunter-gatherers during their journeys. In the 10th millennium, when sedentarisation had begun and ways of life were changing radically, adzes, axes and hammers became standard tools whose development occurred throughout the Levant. They became the tools par excellence of Neolithisation and of the Neolithic itself. The adzes of Mureybet, knapped on flakes from flint pebbles, were the first of these tools. They appeared at the end of the Natufian and continued in the Khiamian and at the PPNA horizon. For nearly a millennium, they characterised the lithic industries of all the villages of Mureybetian culture of the Euphrates valley in Syria: Mureybet, Sheik Hassan, Jerf el Ahmar and Tell ‘Abr 3. Furthermore, they were imported and copied by Neolithic groups that were distant from this valley, notably in the mountains of the Bal’as in central Syria. The analysis shows that the adze of Mureybet in fact covers at least two highly specialised tools: adzes for cutting and working wood and hammers for working stone. That which diffused with the Neolithic, and which was adopted throughout the Levant, was a new manner of fitting the haft from which arose a new conception of working the material. The evolution of architecture stimulated this development. Posts, large beams and wooden structures were created using these adzes. The walls themselves were constructed with stones (cigar-shaped stones) that were carefully worked using hafted hammers. Materials that had been little employed in the Neolithic or not at all were henceforth used. These instruments, perhaps especially because of their type of hafting, were probably also required for the fabrication of wooden and limestone recipients, for butchering activities, for crushing plants and for working hides. The fabrication of boats was probably facilitated by the use of these tools. This was the same period that the island of Cyprus was colonised. It was in this context, at about 9500 BC cal., that small axes and adzes in green and black stone appeared in the Neolithic cultures. Polishing and abrasion were already practised by these populations on objects of adornment and on figurines. The transfer of these techniques employing percussion tools was a technological revolution. Whether these axes were symbolic objects or whether their use was limited to specific actions, they are at the origin of a major endeavour to perfect percussion tools. n the early PPNB, the adze of Mureybet and the hammers disappeared, or appear to have done so. Henceforth, abandoned and recycled blade nuclei were used, probably with identical hafts. Knapped percussion tools no longer came from chain operations but were incorporated into the economies of blade débitage. The tradition of polishing small axes continued, and beginning in the middle PPNB the technique was applied to large axes and adzes. The polished tool thus became emblematic of the Neolithic. In the Near East, only Neolithic populations practising nomadic pastoralism conserved a strong tradition of knapped percussion tools, in spite of a clear knowledge of polishing techniques. In the 7th millennium, as the Neolithic diffused from the Near East, spreading in particular to Europe, the polished axe also spread. The shape and size hardly changed at all during the entire Neolithic up to the beginning of the use of metals.

Language can be loosely defined as the ability to associate sounds and meanings through grammar rules. The problem of its origin, the definition of its characteristics and its social and philosophical implications are a constant factor crossing the disciplines and fields of research which are very distant with each other, ranging from religion to linguistics, from anthropology to archeology, from psychology to neuroscience. More recently, two subjects of particular interest for this work have taken a great interest in the origin of language: prehistoric archeology and neuroscience, which have merged in what Renfrew (2008) defines "neuroarcheology". The approach taken in this work aims to integrate the data derived from the ancient technical behavior with the data of neurophysiology to support the motor theory about the origin of language, according to the intuition of Liberman (1985, 1991, 2000) who identifies the last constituents of speech not in the sounds, but in the articulatory gestures evolved exclusively in the service of language. The study is based on the assumption that language production and lithics assemblages possess a common neural substrate, to be found in the involvement of the motor system in cognitive processes (Fadiga, Craighero 2006; Fadiga, Craighero 2007; Rizzolatti, Arbib 1998). As shown by recent data, Broca's area (area which is located at the foot of the third frontal convolution of the left hemisphere, corresponding to the Broadmann areas 44 and 45 ), in addition to its traditional functions (linguistic production, activation during listening), seems also involved in motor tasks such as the execution of actions and the observation of similar actions performed by others (Arbib 2000; Buccino 2005). Broca's area, in fact, is involved in the production and observation of manual and orofacial gestures. These data allowed to hypothesize that this area may represent a central hub for the connection between language, movement and sensory-motor processes (Fadiga, Craighero 2006). The immediacy with which we understand the actions of others has suggested the existence of a mechanism of direct and immediate understanding where the actions performed by others are directly represented in the observer's motor system, which contains, therefore, a motor copy of the actions observed by allowing a better understanding, prior to any process of cognitive elaboration. The mechanism underlying the ability to understand others is represented by the "mirror neurons" (Rizzolatti et al. 1996). Human language may be regarded, therefore, as the evolutionary refinement of an implicit communication system based on finalist representations of actions of hand and mouth, as the precursor of Broca's area was equipped, before the emergence of language, with a system of gesture recognition through the organization and interpretation of motor sequences in terms of goals for the actions (Rizzolatti, Arbib 1998). It can be assumed, therefore, that our ancestors were endowed with a brain region in which objectives and programs were represented in a syntactic way (Fadiga, Craighero 2007). The activation of the Broca's area to the observations of the actions could therefore constitute the neurobiological connection to the motor origin of the well-contructed speech and, functionally speaking, the tool-making the intermediate step between the representation of actions and the verbal communication (Fadiga et al. 2007; Peeters et al. 2009). To support what is outlined in these theoretical premises, experimental data will be shown in order to study the cortical representation during the observation of tools (that is of tools easy to grasp with a functional purpose) by detecting cortical excitability.

The aim of this work was providing a contribution to the reconstruction of the natural and anthropogenic formation processes of deposits, related to the earliest phase of occupation of the site, especially the northern sector of Tagliente Rockshelter (Stallavena di Grezzana, Verona), in particular the part protected by overhang of the shelter. The study also allowed the reconstruction of the techno-economic processes related to the exploitation of some of the lithic raw materials used by Epigravettians groups for the production of tools (Scaglia Variegata , Scaglia Rossa and ooliths San Vigilio ) and the settlements dynamics, through the spatial analysis of lithic industries. One of the most interesting results of this study is the presence of lithic elements in Scaglia Rossa coming from Umbria and Marche regions. The study also showed that the area protected by overhang of the shelter has been intensively occupied, and that it has been used for the carrying out of different subsistence activities, as well as knapping and production of retouched elements. This area is in contrast with the outside part of the shelter, which is reserved to the accumulation of the waste of flint knapping and butchering activities.

Aquesta tesi doctoral tracta per primera vegada, de l’estudi en la seva totalitat del conjunt de les eines lítiques de Barranco León, proporcionant una anàlisi tipològica, morfo-tecnològica i tafonòmica d’un conjunt lític de més 1,4 milions d’anys. S'han analitzat les cadenes operatives en calcària i en sílex, identificant internament diferents seqüències de talla. La reconstrucció de la formació del dipòsit arqueològic s’ha dut a terme mitjançant la combinació de les dades geològiques i arqueològiques, les quals han permès determinar les activitats dels hominids en context primari com ara: la selecció de les matèries primeres, mida i forma del suports, activitats de talla i percussió, i l’abandonament de les eines produïdes i utilitzades pels hominids. La combinació de metodologies clàssiques i innovadores ens ha permès entendre millor les estratègies de gestió dels nuclis, dels percussors i les eines. La identificació de gratadors de gran format i subesferoides com a morfologies obtingudes de manera intencionada ens situa Barranco León al final de l'Oldowan.
Esta tesis doctoral trata por primera vez, el estudio en su totalidad del conjunto de herramientas de piedra de Barranco León, proporcionando un análisis tipológico, morfotécnico y tafonómico de este conjunto lítico con una antigüedad de más de 1,4 millones de años. Se han analizado las cadenas operativas en caliza y sílex, identificando internamente diferentes secuencias de talla. En este trabajo se ha realizado la reconstrucción de la formación del deposito arqueológico a través de la combinación de los datos geológicos y arqueológicos, los cuales han permitido determinar las actividades de los homínidos en un contexto primario: selección de las materias primas, tamaño y forma de los soportes, actividades de talla, percusión, y abandono de las herramientas producidas y utilizadas por los homínidos. La combinación de metodologías clásicas por un lado e innovadoras por otro, nos ha permitido comprender mejor las estrategias de gestión de núcleos, percutores y herramientas. La identificación de rascadores de gran formato y subesferoides como morfologías obtenidas intencionalmente ubican a Barranco León en el Oldowan tardío.
This doctoral thesis deals for the first time with the study of the Barranco León stone tool assemblage in its entirety, providing a typological, morpho-technological, as well as taphonomic analysis of a lithic assemblage over 1.4 million years old. The limestone and flint operational chains are analyzed, identifying internally different chains of actions. The reconstruction of the formation of the depositional sequence carried out in this work through the combination of geological and archeological data, has allowed to determine hominin activities in a primary context: selection of the raw materials, cobble size and shape, knapping and percussion activities, and abandonment of the tools produced and used by the hominins. The combination of classical and innovative methodologies allows to better understand the core, hammer and tool management strategies. The identification of heavy-duty scrapers and sub-spheroids as intentionally obtained morphologies now place Barranco León in the Late Oldowan.

Des publications précédentes parlent de dizaines de sites localisés en Emilie Romagne (Italie) considérés chronologiquement parlant comme appartenant à la phase la plus ancienne du Paléolithique inférieur sur la base de considérations purement typologiques. L’objectif de ce travail est de procéder à la révision des industries lithiques de certains de ces sites avec une approche méthodologique basée sur le concept de chaîne opératoire. L’étude est géographiquement circonscrite la zone de Bologne et de Forli. La dissertation est structurée deux parties principales. La première après des considérations d’ordre épistémologiques et méthodologiques concernant l’étude du Paléolithique inférieur. Elle retrace également l’historique du débat relatif aux éolithes et dresse l’état des lieux concernant les diverses méthodologies élaborées afin d’identifier les géofacts. En effet, du fait de la composition des industries (mélangés à des géofacts) il s’est avéré nécessaire mettre en place une méthode d’identification des géofacts. Le concept de clé dichotomique emprunté à la biologie végétale a été appliqué aux industries lithiques grâce à la combinaison des variables caractérisant les industries lithiques selon la méthode de percussion utilisée. La deuxième partie revient sur le débat relatif au premier peuplement de l’Europe, le contexte général du Paléolithique inférieur européen en rappelant les données archéologiques, paléoenvironnementales et chronologiques. Une partie plus approfondie est réservée à l’Italie. En plus de l’application de la clé dichotomique, une activité expérimentale avec les techniques de percussion directe et bipolaire a été menée pour les sites de Monte Poggiolo, Bel Poggio, Romanina Bianca, Cava i laghi avec matériel en provenance de l’environnement immédiat des sites afin de mieux cerner les caractéristiques morphotechnologiques des industries étudiées. L’âge chronologique de certains sites (Romanina Bianca) est sérieusement compromis par les caractéristiques morpho-techniques de leurs industries qui les placent dans des périodes plus récentes. Et la comparaison des techniques mises en œuvre dans ces sites avec d’autres sites présumés contemporains (après reconsidération techno-typologique) permet de mettre en évidence une certaine homogénéité des connaissances techniques mais aussi des choix imposés par la nature de la matière première exploitée. Par contre d’autre site de référence ( Bel Poggio) du Paléolithique inférieur de l’Italie voit leur industrie redéfinie et leur effectif se réduire drastiquement du fait de la présence de géofacts. Cette dissertation n’est que l’ébauche de tout un travail qui doit être fait pour replacer le Paléolithique inférieur et moyen de l’Italie dans un cadre chrono-technologique mais aussi paléoenvironementale mieux définis. L’autre axe de recherche à exploiter concerne très probablement les modalités d’occupation du territoire afin de définir des modèles de subsistance et d’organisation sociale sur la base des données relatives à la variabilité technologique, et la distribution des ressources.

La ricerca sulle Madonie nasce con l’intenzione di approfondire l’evoluzione storica del popolamento sulla regione montana della Sicilia nord-occidentale. Il territorio, che solo in anni recenti è divenuto oggetto di più approfondite ricerche storico-archeologiche, si presenta estremamente ricco di risorse naturali e caratterizzato da un sostrato culturale variegato che abbraccia territori d’alta montagna, dediti ad una economia silvo-pastorale prettamente conservativa, e insediamenti costieri fortemente proiettati allo scambio e al commercio. A fine di comprendere lo sviluppo delle dinamiche d’insediamento di un’area molto estesa, si è proceduto anzitutto con la restituzione ipotetica dei principali assi viari antichi, fondata su documenti storici e cartografici di epoca medievale e moderna, seguita dalla verifica di eventuali resti di questi sul campo. Sono stati presi in esame dati noti da scavi, da indagini di superficie nonché da rinvenimenti fortuiti e occasionali. Si è proceduto quindi alla ricerca di insediamenti antichi sul territorio con un approccio metodologico basato sulla ricognizione estensiva di aree campione. Queste ultime sono state selezionate osservando una serie di parametri prestabiliti che tengono conto dell’aspetto geomorfologico e del rapporto dell’area in esame con le risorse naturali ad essa circostanti. La relazione topografica diretta con la maglia stradale antica, ipotizzata in precedenza, è un termine di preferenza costante nella scelta dei luoghi. Lo studio concede una panoramica storica aggiornata su un territorio ancora poco noto e sul rapporto uomo-ambiente nel corso del tempo, mettendo in luce l’importanza della viabilità antica come elemento dinamico del paesaggio antropico e veicolo di analisi dello stesso. L’elaborato, suddiviso in cinque capitoli, comprende: l’analisi del paesaggio naturale, il vaglio della documentazione storica, la descrizione della metodologia di ricerca sul campo, la redazione di una carta archeologica dei siti rinvenuti, la ricostruzione della maglia stradale antica basata sull’incrocio di dati noti con tutti i dati raccolti e si chiude con alcune note conclusive attraverso le quali si tenta una definizione delle dinamiche storiche di popolamento sulle Madonie.
The research on the Madonie mountains was born to investigate the historical evolution of settlement in the mountainous region of northwestern Sicily. The territory, which only in recent years has become the subject of more in-depth historical-archaeological research, is extremely rich in natural resources. It is also characterized by a varied cultural background that embraces high-mountain areas, dedicated to a naturally conservative agropastoral economy, and the settlements coastal areas heavily focused on trade and cultural exchanges. Having to understand the development of the settlement dynamics of a very large area, first of all, we have proceeded to the hypothetical restitution of the main ancient roads system using historical and cartographic documents of the medieval and modern times, followed by the verification of any remains of pavement and ancient infrastructures in place. After examining data from excavations and surface surveys, as well as accidental discoveries, the search has then carried on by a methodological approach based on the selection of samples areas. That latter was chosen by observing a series of pre-established parameters that take into account the geomorphological aspect and the relationship of the area in question with the surrounding natural resources. The direct topographical relationship with the ancient viability, previously hypothesized, is a term of constant preference in the choice of places to investigate. Overall, the study provides an updated historical overview of a still little known territory and of the relationship between man and environment over time, highlighting the importance of ancient roads as a dynamic element of the anthropic landscape and at the same time vehicle of its analysis. The paper, divided into five chapters, includes the analysis of the natural landscape, the sifting of historical documentation, the description of the field research methodology, the drafting of an archaeological map of the sites found, the reconstruction of the ancient road system based on the crossing of the known data and all the data collected and ends with some concluding notes with which a definition of the historical dynamics of the population on the Madonie is attempted.