The process by which Palaeolithic Europe was transformed from a Neanderthal-dominated region to one occupied exclusively by Homo sapiens has proven challenging to diagnose. A blurred chronology has made it difficult to determine when Neanderthals disappeared and whether modern humans overlapped with them. Italy is a crucial region because here we can identify not only Late Mousterian industries, assumed to be associated with Neanderthals, but also early Upper Palaeolithic industries linked with the appearance of early H. sapiens, such as the Uluzzian and the Aurignacian. Here, we present a chronometric dataset of 105 new determinations (74 radiocarbon and 31 luminescence ages) from four key southern Italian sites: Cavallo, Castelcivita, Cala, and Oscurusciuto. We built Bayesian-based chronometric models incorporating these results alongside the relative stratigraphic sequences at each site. The results suggest; 1) that the disappearance of Neanderthals probably pre-dated the appearance of early modern humans in the region and; 2) that there was a partial overlap in the chronology of the Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian, suggesting that these industries may have been produced by different human groups in Europe.

This paper investigates core reduction intensity in the early Protoaurignacian lithic assemblage from Fumane Cave in northeastern Italy. Reduction intensity serves as a key tool to characterize blank selection strategies, raw material management, and the variability of knapping strategies throughout the reduction sequence by reconstructing the operatory field of core assemblages. Finally, it also aids in addressing the relationship between blades and bladelets, providing valuable insights into the behavioral and chrono-cultural significance of laminar productions within the Aurignacian technocomplex. To achieve these research goals, experimental work employing 3D scanning technology was conducted. This facilitated the comparison of different methods and variables for measuring reduction intensity, including the percentage of non-cortical surface, the Scar Density Index (SDI), and a novel adaptation of the Volumetric Reconstruction Method (VRM). Results demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of adapting the VRM for the study of reduction intensity in Upper Paleolithic laminar cores, and the provided R scripts and datasets will enable this method to be applied to other contexts with minimal need for modification to the workflow. Analysis of reduction intensity measures applied to the Protoaurignacian assemblage from Fumane Cave reveals slight variations based on factors such as the abundance and proximity of selected raw materials for blank production. Notably, the most prevalent raw material variety, the Maiolica, yields a higher number of less reduced cores, while reduction levels across all cores discarded at the site remain relatively high. The observed variability in the operatory field and the interrelation between blade and bladelet productions underscore the complexity and flexibility of Protoaurignacian behavior. This inherent complexity challenges any definitive separation between the operatory fields of blade and bladelet productions. These findings are particularly important to emphasize the importance of considering reduction intensity when examining technological variability and human behavior in Aurignacian studies. The proposed adaptation of the VRM and the effective combination with other measures of reduction, promises to allow future research to incorporate reduction intensity as a vital temporal component within studies on stone tool production. This integration offers a pathway to enhancing our understanding of the adaptive behaviors exhibited by Homo sapiens across diverse ecological settings and provides a clearer framework for better framing the development of the Upper Paleolithic.