Mousterian in Balzi Rossi (Ventimiglia, Liguria, Italy): New insights and old collections

摘要

Balzi Rossi (Grimaldi) is a worldwide famous complex of Paleolithic sites located on the Franco-Italian border (Ventimiglia, Liguria). Especially known for its Upper Paleolithic occupations, each site also contained Middle Paleolithic deposits in which Mousterian evidence were early unearthed. The Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology of Monaco conserves a large part of these collections originated from Villeneuve's excavations at the end of the 19th century. This fieldwork based on forward-looking methods and commissioned by Prince Albert the 1st of Monaco involved several caves (Prince, Cavillon, and Enfants) and one shelter (Lorenzi). The few Barma Grande artefacts included were donated later on. Despite the challenges provided by this kind of assemblages. excavated over a century ago and at most composed of two thousands of pieces, it was very important to conduct an exhaustive study on these underestimated or unpublished Mousterian components. Indeed, different approaches evaluated their reliability and yielded new insights on Mousterian context and behaviors in the Balzi Rossi between MIS 5-3 embedded in new results and programs of researches.