The Open Aurignacian Project
The aim of this project is to 3D scan Aurignacian lithic assemblages across Italy to create permanent open access repositories that can be used for teaching, research, and cultural heritage preservation. To do so, I decided to use Zenodo, a multi-disciplinary open repository maintained by CERN. 3D meshes have been in most cases obtained with an Artec Space Spider, while an Artec Micro as well as micro-computed tomography has been used to scan the smallest artifacts (e.g., bladelets).
The first available repository is from the site of Fumane Cave. Shortly, other Aurignacian sites (e.g., Castelcivita and Bombrini) will follow.
Armando Falcucci
Postdoctoral Researcher
My research focuses on the earliest stages of the Upper Paleolithic. I am currently analyzing several Aurignacian sites in Italy to better frame the chrono-cultural development of this technocomplex and investigate the role of climate change in the evolution of stone tool technologies.