New insights into Final Mousterian lithic production in western Italy

Late Mousterian lithic technology remains poorly known in Italy. The traditional typological approach still permeates the literature, and most technological analyses focus on the “transition” to the Upper Palaeolithic. In this paper, we provide new data about the behavior of the last Neandertals who inhabited Tyrrhenian western Italy. Lithic assemblages from two well-known sites – Riparo Mochi (Grimaldi caves, Balzi Rossi area, Liguria) and Grotta Breuil (Monte Circeo, Lazio) – have been technologically and functionally analyzed. The results are discussed and compared to other data such as fauna, chronology, and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The data reveals a highly dynamic world where behavioral changes were rapid in time and characterized by strong differences in territorial exploitation.