Il Musteriano delle unità A10 e A11 a Grotta di Fumane (VR). Risultati delle campagne di scavo 2014 e 2016

Results produced from 2014 and 2016 archaeological campaigns at Fumane Cave are here presented. The campaigns have been devoted to the excavation of contexts A11 and A10, lying at the base of the Macro-unit A Mousterian sequence with an estimated date of >48 ka cal BP. The excavation took place in the eastern part of the cave entrance with a combined total area of 6 m2: this allowed discovering a sequence of thin subunits rich in archaeological findings. Several structures of combustion had been revealed throughout the whole stratigraphic sequence. Faunal remains provide evidence of human exploitation and an overall similarity with the overlied unit A9. On the contrary, the lithic industry is markedly different showing the prevalence of Levallois method, mainly the unipolar modality producing elongated blanks, over the Discoid method which appears only in the higher part of the A10 sequence. The important results achieved reveal the significance of units A10 and A11 in defining Late Neanderthals behaviour in the Central Mediterranean area and stimulate further investigations.