GOTAM - Gotera Archaeological Mission

Research > Archaeological Fieldwork > Sapienza "Grandi Scavi" > GOTAM - Gotera Archaeological Mission

Director: Enza E. Spinapolice

External links:
@gotam su X e Instagram

Survey and excavation of selected contexts aimed at reconstructing, diachronically, the main phases of human occupation and the palaeoenvironmental context in the Gotera Area, Borana Zone, southern Ethiopia, from the appearance of modern humans (~250,000 BP) to the final stages of the Pleistocene. Analysis of Pleistocene contexts in stratigraphy, with attention to conservation issues and cultural heritage management. Training of local staff in fieldwork, artefact analysis and heritage enhancement.

Collaborators:

• Dott.ssa Marianna Fusco, Co-director

Bibliography

Carletti, E., Fusco, M., Gallinaro, M., Zerboni, A., Spinapolice, E.E. 2018􀀃􀂳Raw material exploitation and lithic variability at the MSA site of Gotera, Southern Ethiopia: technological and quantitative approaches combined, in Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, pp. 140-148.

Gallinaro, M., Zerboni, A., Solomon, T., & Spinapolice, E. E., 2018. Rock Art Between Preservation, Research and Sustainable Development􀂲a Perspective from Southern Ethiopia. African Archaeological Review, 1-13.

Spinapolice, E. E., Gallinaro, M., Zerboni, A. 2017 «New investigations in southern Ethiopia (Yabelo and Gotera): Pleistocene and Holocene Archaeological Evidence», SCIENZE DELL􀂶ANTICHITÀ 23 (1), pp. 37-47.

M. Fusco, A. Zerboni, M. Gallinaro, E. E. Spinapolice 􀂳Raw material exploitation and lithic variability at the Middle Stone Age site of Gotera, southern Ethiopia: technological and quantitative approaches combined, Journal of Lithic Studies 2021

Fusco, M., Aureli, C., Zerboni, A., Gallinaro, M., Spinapolice E.E. , 2024, The Italian Archaeological Mission in southern Ethiopia: new data on the MSA site of Gotera (Oromia, Borana zone). Annales d􀂶Ethiopie, vol. 35.

Asrat, S., Aureli, C., Fusco, M., Gallinaro, M, Zerboni, A., Spinapolice, E. E. in press "The Italian Archaeological Mission in Southern Ethiopia: the Gotera Archaeological Area" in Il contributo dell'Italia all'archeologia dell' Etiopia; The Contribution of Italy to the Archaeology of Ethiopia. Sernicola and Manzo Eds. Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Addis Ababa;

Università degli Studi di Napoli L'Orientale, Treccani editore, Italy.

Fusco, M., Habte, B., Leplongeon, A., Menard, C., Manica, A., Spinapolice, E. E., & Leonardi, M. (2024). The environmental context of the Middle-to-Late Stone Age Transition in eastern Africa: seasonality as a key factor. bioRxiv, 2024-12.

Asrat, S., Lucchini, F., Tafuri, M. A., Aureli, C., Gallinaro, M., Zerboni, A., ... & Spinapolice, E. E. (2025). A strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isoscape of Southern Ethiopia: implications for hominin land use and faunal mobility patterns. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, 4, 1499291.

Further details about this research:

• Research type: Sapienza "Grandi Scavi"
• Location of the excavation: Ethiopia
• Research topic: Palaeolithic
• Fundings: Grandi scavi Sapienza, Ministero Affari Esteri

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