Jacopo Gennai

The Middle Palaeolithic record of the southern Balkans is largely known from open-air surface scatters that are often difficult or impossible to date and lack a clear stratigraphic context. In the area close to the Pindos range, only two sites—Theopetra cave and Asprochaliko rockshelter—yielded stratified Middle Palaeolithic deposits, while Kokkinopilos presents partial stratification, although artefacts from older excavations remain difficult to contextualise. Information on surface scatters is generally limited to typological assessments, with little insight into depositional processes or spatial distribution. SMR1 (Samarina, western Macedonia) represents an exceptionally large Middle Palaeolithic assemblage recovered from erosional patches. The site is on a terrace overlooking the Samariniotikos River located at 1517 m a.s.l. While most artefacts were found in a horizontal position on the surface, a few of them were embedded in the soil profile, suggesting a buried context affected by recent erosion and accumulation. The assemblage includes all stages of lithic reduction, from core preparation to micro-debitage, reinforcing its technological coherence and Middle Palaeolithic attribution. Despite the absence of any direct radiometric dating, the techno-typological characteristics of SMR1 can be compared with some dated and undated assemblages from the Pindos range, providing valuable evidence for the Balkan Peninsula Middle Palaeolithic debate and Neanderthal occupation of the Pindos highlands.

Reconstructing changes in human behaviour during the Pleistocene, particularly when based on lithic or other artefact types, is often hindered by the traditional categorisation of these materials into discrete entities. The Early Upper Palaeolithic of Mediterranean Eurasia – comprising the Protoaurignacian, Early Aurignacian, Northern Ahmarian, and Southern Ahmarian technocomplexes – represents the first emergence of a pan-European cultural unit. However, this conventional categorisation into discrete entities obscures a deeper understanding of the dynamics of Homo sapiens’ dispersal across Eurasia during this period. In this study, we apply Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to assess patterns of reduction processes, technological variability, and inter-assemblage homogeneity across technocomplexes. Using the comprehensive dataset provided in this paper, we analyse variability by grouping it into three domains: platform preparation, convexity management, and retouch. Solutrean Upper Palaeolithic assemblages from the Iberian Peninsula are used as an outgroup. We selected blanks, retouched and unmodified ones, and we focused on blades and bladelets, which are the typical end-product of the Upper Palaeolithic knapping. We excluded cores to avoid pitfalls of late or early reduction patterns, as our blanks cover most of the knapping sequence. We applied MCA to Early Upper Palaeolithic blanks for the first time, providing a geographically widespread comparison. Our results show that the MCA of blank attributes, particularly those describing the preparation of convexities, is sufficiently robust to reveal the distinctiveness of Early Upper Palaeolithic technologies relative to Solutrean ones. Our analysis also confirms technological similarities between the Southern Ahmarian and the Protoaurignacian, particularly in bladelet production, reinforcing the interpretation of bladelets as a primary production target in Early Upper Palaeolithic lithic technology. This study contributes laying the foundation for open-access databases, standardised analytical protocols, and MCA to support efforts in understanding hominin dispersal and interaction during this pivotal phase of prehistory.

New radiocarbon, lithic, faunal, and documentary analyses of two sites, Buca della Iena and Grotta del Capriolo, located in Tuscany (Central Italy) and excavated in the late 1960s’, are presented. The new analyses significance will be evaluated within the late Neanderthal occupation in the northwestern Italian peninsula and provide insights into their demise. Reassessment of stratigraphical and fieldwork documentation identified areas of stratigraphic reliability, supporting robust interpretations. Radiocarbon dating reveals broadly contemporaneous occupations at both sites between 50–40 ka cal BP, with Buca della Iena showing occupation from approximately 47 to 42.5 ka cal BP. Lithic analyses demonstrate the consistent application of the same chaîne opératoire across both sites. Faunal analyses indicate that carnivores, particularly Crocuta spelaea, were the dominant accumulating agents in Buca della Iena, while limited preservation at Grotta del Capriolo prevents detailed taxonomic determination. However, hominin presence at both sites is evidenced by cut-marked bones. This study provides new perspectives on the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the northwestern Italian peninsula.

New radiocarbon, lithic, faunal, and documentary analyses of two sites, Buca della Iena and Grotta del Capriolo, excavated in the 1970s, enhance our understanding of late Neanderthal settlement in the northwestern Italian peninsula and provide insights into their demise. Reassessment of stratigraphical and fieldwork documentation identified areas of stratigraphic reliability, supporting robust interpretations. Radiocarbon dating reveals broadly contemporaneous occupations at both sites between 50–40 ka cal BP, with Buca della Iena showing occupation from approximately 47 to 42.5 ka cal BP. Lithic analyses demonstrate the consistent application of the same chaîne opératoire across both sites. Faunal analyses indicate that carnivores, particularly Crocuta spelaea , were the dominant accumulating agents in Buca della Iena, while limited preservation at Grotta del Capriolo prevents detailed taxonomic determination. However, hominin presence at both sites is evidenced by cut-marked bones. This study provides new perspectives on the Middle-to- Upper Palaeolithic transition in the northwestern Italian peninsula.

Background The Mousterian technocomplex is commonly associated with Neanderthals and therefore serves as a proxy for their presence across Europe. Stratified archaeological sites are the most informative because they can yield information about artefacts' spatial distribution and dating. Only a few of the Mousterian sites in Tuscany (Italy) met these conditions and most of these sites are concentrated in the North-Western area, with three specific sites situated in proximity to the village of Piano di Mommio, on the slopes of a small river canyon. Nevertheless, research on the sites stopped early on due to their small extent and complete excavation, which does not allow for additional fieldwork. Methods This article presents previously unpublished field notes, reports, and images, which are then correlated with recent archaeological surveys. Results This combination of historical and contemporary data aims to provide a more detailed understanding of the context in which the assemblages at these sites were found. The insights gained from this research shed light on the arrangement and positioning of artefacts at these locations, offering valuable information to guide future investigations on the assemblages. Conclusions The proposed stratigraphical interpretation adheres to the available information and therefore contributes to a future baseline for new research on the sites and on Neanderthal presence in the area.

Background The Mousterian technocomplex is commonly associated with Neanderthals and therefore serves as a proxy for their presence across Europe. Stratified archaeological sites are the most informative because they can yield information about artefacts' spatial distribution and dating. Only a few of the Mousterian sites in Tuscany (Italy) met these conditions and most of these sites are concentrated in the North-Western region, with three specific sites situated in proximity to the village of Piano di Mommio, on the slopes of a small river canyon. Nevertheless, research on the sites stopped early on due to their small extent and complete excavation, which does not allow for additional fieldwork. Methods This article presents previously unpublished field notes, reports, and images, which are then correlated with recent archaeological surveys. Results This combination of historical and contemporary data aims to provide a more detailed understanding of the context in which the assemblages at these sites were found. The insights gained from this research shed light on the arrangement and positioning of artefacts at these locations, offering valuable information to guide future investigations on the assemblages. Conclusions By enhancing our knowledge of Neanderthal presence in this region through this interdisciplinary approach, this study contributes to a better understanding of the Mousterian culture and the broader narrative of human prehistory in Italy. It underscores the importance of integrating historical field data with modern archaeological techniques to advance our understanding of human history.

The Ahmarian is the earliest fully fledged Upper Palaeolithic Levantine industry, and its hallmark is the el-Wad point, assumed to be a projectile implement. The Ahmarian is a blade-bladelet volumetric industry; however, bladelet production has frequently been portrayed as undifferentiated or secondary to blade production. El-Wad points are blades or bladelets with a fine to steep lateral retouch, often further shaping the tip. The role of bladelets and blades, both in the retouched and unretouched assemblages, is highly debated in order to refine Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) taxonomical and technological issues. Here, we use data coming from our excavations at the southern Ahmarian site of Al-Ansab 1 to reconsider the role of bladelets and el-Wad points in the assemblage. We show that bladelet production was key, and blades were mostly used to shape the convexities to produce convergent bladelets. El-Wad point blanks mostly stemmed from an early stage of the reduction sequence, being conventionally classified as small blades or big bladelets. Modification of these blanks likely improved their suboptimal shape, while smaller bladelets were not modified. Our detailed review of the existing literature produced corresponding evidence regarding lithic technology, while the exact function of el-Wad points is still pending on complementary use-wear analyses. With our new data, we expect to provoke a reconsideration of the Ahmarian technological system. As bladelets attract more and more attention in EUP research, we propose that the southern Ahmarian had already fully completed the technological and cultural shift to the preferred use of small projectile inserts.