This study concerns those crystallographic and microstructural features that can provide indications on the actual origin of red pigments based on hematite (Fe2O3). The main features of natural and artificial hematite are recalled and used to discuss the results obtained from the characterization of red‐ochre samples coming from the Palaeolithic site of Riparo Dalmeri, a rock‐shelter located in northeastern Italy, dated to 13 000 cal. bp, and notorious for the presence, among the other finds, of red‐painted calcareous stones. Painting and the treatment of leather and hides obtained from the intensive hunting activity were the main uses of the hematite‐based red‐ochres at Riparo Dalmeri. It turns out that hematite was mostly obtained from the thermal treatment of goethite, which, unlike hematite, was and still is widely available in the neighbourhood of the site.

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The site of Riparo Dalmeri yielded numerous flint, bone, and shell artifacts, as well as faunal and botanical remains, which are evidence of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (or Late Epigravettian culture, ca. 16,000-12,000 CAL B. P.) occupation of the Alps region. The importance of the site is related to the discovery of 267 stones painted with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric designs. Here we report on ground stone tools from Riparo Dalmeri investigated by means of an integrated technofunctional and experimental approach to reconstruct their production and use. The results support the hypothesis that the ground stone artifacts were employed in specialized activities (e. g., hide treatment, flintknapping) as well as in the production of some of the painted stone artifacts

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Stable isotopic data (δ 13 C; δ 15 N) were obtained from Mesolithic human and faunal remains from northeastern Italy in order to document the human diet and provide information on the relationship between landscape use and subsistence strategies. The bone samples were from an adult female individual (Early Mesolithic, Late Sauveterrian) buried at Vatte di Zambana (Trento), an adult male (Late Mesolithic, Castelnovian) buried at Mondeval de Sora (Belluno), and an adult female from Mezzocorona Borgonuovo (Trento). For the latter, the stratigraphic position of the burial pit and evidence of the associated ritual suggest a Mesolithic attribution. Carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) and nitrogen ( 15 N/ 14 N) stable isotope compositions of human bone collagen were compared with those of animal remains from different taxa found in stratigraphic association with the burial. The isotopic data and the Bayesian model developed from the latter and from data in the literature indicate a very significant proportion of terrestrial resources in the protein fraction of the human diet, particularly from red deer compared to other ungulates and potentially from freshwater fish and small mammals. These results add to the information provided by zooarchaeological studies and reopen the debate on the role of secondary resources such as chamois, ibex, small mammals and fish, such as pike, in the diet of these mobile human societies. However, as this is a preliminary study based on a very small sample size, interpretations should be considered with caution.