External Links

ResearchGate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Armando_Falcucci
Academia.edu: www.uni-tuebingen.academia.edu/ArmandoFalcucci
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3255-1005
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hsrY_B4AAAAJ&hl=en
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57198884288

Current position

Post-Doctoral Researcher (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter)

Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology
University of Tübingen

DFG Research Project – FA 1707/1-1

Title: Investigating Early Upper Paleolithic Technological Variability and Cultural Dynamics South of the Alps.

Term: 2020–2023

Project Description: The Aurignacian is often viewed as the result of the spread of modern humans into Europe. However, the biocultural processes that favored the success of the Aurignacian industries across a range of environmental settings and climatic conditions are yet to be fully understood. The same is true for the cultural trajectories that occurred during this period, and its relation to the so called transitional technocomplexes. In this debate, the regions south of the Alps provide a unique test case due to the high geographical and ecological variability of the region and the presence of several Aurignacian and transitional Uluzzian sites. This project aims to address several interrelated questions: are there differences in the lithic technological systems and techno-economic behavior of Aurignacian foragers across the different regions of Italy? Is there evidence of cultural contact between the makers of Aurignacian and Uluzzian industries? How does the diachronic development of the Aurignacian in Italy progress and how does it compare to the regions north of the Alps? To shed light on these issues, we will characterize and compare the lithic technology and the behavioral patterns of modern humans at the sites of Fumane Cave and Bombrini in northern Italy as well as Castelcivita and Serino in southern Italy. We will perform extensive technological investigations of the lithic assemblages from several archaeological units using different methods of analysis. Furthermore, we will evaluate the stratigraphic integrity of the cultural deposits using lithic refittings and radiocarbon dating. Results will be statistically processed to model patterns of intra- and inter-site variability and diachronic change. In a next step, we will investigate convergences and divergences with Aurignacian sites north of the Alps. This project will provide new critical information to test several hypotheses regarding the spread of modern humans across Europe and investigate the diachronic variability of the Aurignacian on various geographic scales. Finally, the project will suggest proxies for better understanding mechanisms of cultural evolution during the formation of the European Upper Paleolithic.

Project details: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/431809858

Research interests

• Paleolithic Archaeology
• Lithic Technology
• Human Behavior
• Human Evolution
• Early Upper Paleolithic

University education

Previous employment

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

1. Bataille, G., Falcucci, A., Tafelmaier, Y., Conard, N. J. (2020) Technological differences between Kostenki 17/II (Spitsynskaya industry, Central Russia) and the Protoaurignacian. Reply to Dinnis et al. (2019). Journal of Human Evolution, 146:102685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102685.

2. Caricola, I., Zupancich, A., Moscone, D., Mutri, G., Falcucci, A., Duches, R., Peresani, M., Cristiani, E. (2018) An integrated method for understanding the function of macro-lithic tools. Use wear, 3D and spatial analyses of an Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblage from North Eastern Italy. PLoS One, 13:e0207773. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0207773

3. Falcucci, A. (2018) Towards a renewed definition of the Protoaurignacian. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte, 27:87–130. http://mgfuopenaccess.org/

4. Falcucci, A., Conard, N.J. & Peresani, M. (accepted) Breaking through the Aurignacian frame: a re-evaluation on the significance of regional variants during the Early Upper Paleolithic as seen from a key record in southern Europe. Journal of Anthropological Sciences.

5. Falcucci, A. & Peresani, M. (2019) A pre-Heinrich Event 3 assemblage at Fumane Cave and its contribution for understanding the beginning of the Gravettian in Italy. Quartär, 66:7-27.

6. Falcucci, A. & Peresani, M. (2018) Protoaurignacian Core Reduction Procedures: Blade and Bladelet Technologies at Fumane Cave. Lithic Technology 43:125-140. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01977261.2018.1439681

7. Falcucci, A., Peresani, M., Roussel, M., Normand, C., Soressi, M. (2018) What’s the point? Retouched bladelet variability in the Protoaurignacian. Results from Fumane, Isturitz, and Les Cottés. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 10:539–554. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-016-0365-5

8. Falcucci, A., Conard, N. J., Peresani, M. (2017) A critical assessment of the Protoaurignacian lithic technology at Fumane Cave and its implications for the definition of the earliest Aurignacian. PLoS ONE, 12(12): e0189241. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0189241

9. Ioannidou, M. Falcucci, A., Röding, C., Kandel, A.W. (2019) Eighth Annual Meeting of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews, 28(2):52–54. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/evan.21770?af=R

10. Marciani, G., Ronchitelli, A., Arrighi, S., Badino, F., Bortolini, E., Boscato, P., Boschin, F., Crezzini, J., Delpiano, D., Falcucci, A., Figus, C., Lugli, F., Negrino, F., Oxilia, G., Romandini, M., Riel-Salvatore, J., Spinapolice, E., Peresani, M., Moroni, A., Benazzi, S. (2020) Lithic techno-complexes in Italy from 50 to 39 thousand years BP: an overview of cultural and technological changes across the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic boundary. Quaternary International, 551:123-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.11.005.

Publications in non-peer-reviewed journals

1. Falcucci, A. (2019) The importance of re-evaluating the Aurignacian industry for understanding the Early Upper Paleolithic. The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH), Newsletter, 15th issue. https://www.hadw-bw.de/sites/default/files/documents/Newsletter%20ROCEEH%2015-2019.pdf

Conference Proceedings

1. Aureli, D., Arrighi, S., Bortolini, E., Boscato, P., Boschin, F., Crezzini, J., Falcucci, A., Delpiano, D., Figus, C., Moroni, A., Negrino, F., Peresani, M., Riel-Salvatore, J., Romandini, M., Ronchitelli, A., Spinapolice, E., Benazzi, S. (2018) Italian Peninsula between 45 and 39 ky ago: the sunset of the "old" and the dawn of the "new"? Let the lithic industries tell! Proceedings of the XVIII° UISPP World Congress, sciencesconf.org:uispp2018:181484.

2. Bataille, G., Bolus, M., Conard, N. J., Falcucci, A., Peresani, M., Tafelmaier, Y. (2017) The techno-typological variability of the European Aurignacian from a multi-regional and diachronic perspective. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age, 59, 15–16.

3. Falcucci, A. (2019) The site of Fumane Cave in northern Italy. Formation processes, stratigraphy, and dating of the Protoaurignacian. Proceedings of the meeting organized in the framework of the CIERA‐project (Archéologie Alsace – ÄUQÖ Tübingen).

4. Falcucci, A. & Peresani, M. (2016) New investigations on the Protoaurignacian lithic technology of Fumane Cave. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution, 5, 90.

5. Falcucci, A., Peresani, M., Roussel, M., Normand, C., Soressi, M. (2016) Protoaurignacian retouched bladelets: where do we stand? Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age, 58, 31–34.

6. Falcucci, A., Conard, N. J., Peresani, M. (2018) Testing technological definitions: a critical assessment of the Protoaurignacian at Fumane Cave. Proceedings of the XVIII° UISPP World Congress, sciencesconf.org:uispp2018:179543.

7. Falcucci, A., Conard, N. J., Peresani, M. (2018) The chrono-cultural narrative of the Fumanian Aurignacian supports the inapplicability of the Aquitaine Model on a supra-regional scale. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution, 7, 62.

8. Falcucci, A., Conard, N. J., Peresani, M. (2019) A re-evaluation of the Protoaurignacian sequence at Fumane Cave in northern Italy. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age, 61.

9. Falcucci, A., Peresani, M., Moroni, A., Negrino, F., Riel-Salvatore, J., Ronchitelli, A., Conard, N. J. (2020) Exploring Early Upper Paleolithic cultural dynamics south of the Alps: Research questions and case studies. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age, 62.

10. Peresani, M., Delpiano, D., Aleo, A., Duches, R., Falcucci, A., Forte, M., Gennai, J., Nannini, N., Romandini, M., Terlato, G. (2017) La transizione Neanderthal – Sapiens in Italia Nord-orientale: Ricerche dell’università di Ferrara. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the TourismA Society for Archaeology and Tourism, 2017 edition.

11. Romandini, M., Falcucci., A., Gurioli, F., Broglio, A. (2014) First European Anatomically Modern Humans and the “route of shells”: chronological and qualitative evidence from the Veneto plain region sites. Proceedings of the XVII° UISPP World Congress, Abstract book page: 247.

Invited Academic Lectures

Projects and third-party funding

Grants and scholarships

Academic service

Manuscript peer-review (research articles published in PlosOne, IIPP Journal, edited book chapters)

Professional memberships

Since 2016                  European Society for the Study of Human Evolution

Since 2016                  Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft

Since 2020                  Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte e.V.

Language skills

Italian: native speaker
English: fluent
Spanish: fluent (DELE Certificate – C1)
French: excellent command
German: good command

Computer skills

MS–Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook): Excellent
Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator, & InDesign): Excellent
IBM SPSS: Very good
Landmark 3.0 and 3D elaborations: Very good
3D scanning (Artec Space Spider): Very good
3D Software Artec Studio: Very good
R-CRAN, package Geomorph: Basic knowledge