  Defining the processes involved in the technical/cultural shifts from the
Late Middle to the Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe (~50-39 thousand years
BP) is one of the most important tasks facing prehistoric studies. In this
debate Italy plays a pivotal role, due to its geographical position between
eastern and western Mediterranean Europe as well as to it being the location of
several sites showing Late Mousterian, Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian evidence
distributed across the Peninsula. Our study aims to provide a synthesis of the
available lithic evidence from this key area through a review of the evidence
collected from a number of reference sites. The main technical features of the
Late Mousterian, the Uluzzian and the Protoaurignacian traditions are examined
from a diachronic and spatial perspective. Our overview allows the
identification of major differences in the technological behaviour of these
populations, making it possible to propose a number of specific working
hypotheses on the basis of which further studies can be carried out. This study
presents a detailed comparative study of the whole corpus of the lithic
production strategies documented during this interval, and crucial element thus
emerge.These data are of primary importance in order to assess the nature of
the "transition" phenomenon in Italy, thus contributing to the larger debate
about the disappearance of Neandertals and the arrival of early Modern Humans
in Europe.
