L’Italia circa 500.000 anni fa: centro o periferia nel Mediterraneo?

The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary re- sults yielded by the lithic industries from three sites dated between 650 and 450 ka (Cimitero di Atella in Basilicata, Ficoncella in Lazio and Valle Giumentina in Abruzzo). They provide an overview of the cultural landscape of Italy around 500 ka. Our goal is to question the definition of techno-cultural entities as it has been described to date for the Lower Palaeolithic in Italy. We intend to introduce new data and preliminary hypotheses on the settlement of the circum-Mediterra- nean area during that period.