Patterns of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic land use in Central Lazio (Italy)

The Italian Agro Pontino and surroundings are well known for their archaeological and palaeo-environmental research. This paper presents the results of interdisciplinary research in that area that started in the 1970’s and continued into this century. After a description of the geology and soils of the Agro Pontino and the Monti Lepini, this data is used in a predictive model for land use during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. The model predicts that Middle and Upper Palaeolithic inhabitants of the area exploited only the Agro Pontino and not the surrounding mountains. They did this as generalist hunter-gatherers practising residential mobility