Out of Africa: The first evidence of Italian peninsula occupation

The recent years of research has better defined the conditions of the first peopling of Europe thanks to the discovery of numerous new sites dated between about 1 and 1.5 Ma. In this context, Italy supplied one of the most ancient indirect indications of human presence thanks to the lithic industries founded in 2006 in the Pirro Nord site, dated between 1.3 and 1.6 Ma on the bichronological base. The evidence of an ancient occupation of Italy is also supported by the Monte Poggiolo site, dated to 1 Ma by ESR and paleomagnetism. All those sites are perfectly coherent, from the technological production point of view, with the first lithic complexes found in Europe since 1.8 Ma (short reduction sequences finalized to the flake production) and with the African Mode 1.