Artefacts, outils ou supports épuisés? Une nouvelle approche pour l'étude des industries du Paléolithique ancien: le cas d'Isernia La Pineta (Molise, Italie centrale)

Isernia La Pineta is one of the most important European Middle Pleistocene site. This paper focuses on the results of the experimental program compared with the data gathered during the study of the archaeological materials consisting in raw material analyses, lithic technology and functional analyses. Therefore the scenario which is proposed in this paper is extremely interesting and suggests a new and very different interpretation of the lithic assemblage of Isernia La Pineta which is viewed not only from a morphological standpoint, but is placed in a more articulate ecological context, probably closer to the living style of the human beings who first colonized Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene. The reconstruction of the lithic technological chain, from the choice of raw material and its procurement to production and use of the artifacts, seems to be suitable to open a new behavioural approach for a more ecological interpretation of the lithic assemblages meaning which belong to such an early phase of human evolution.