Abstract
The Oscurusciuto rock shelter (Ginosa, Puglia, southern Italy) is a Middle Palaeolithic site characterized by a significant stratigraphy made up by several anthropic levels. The stratigraphic unit 13, consisting of a sandy compact deposit mixed with pyroclastic sediment, is a short palimpsest situated on a layer of tephra, identified as Mt. Epomeo green tuff (dated Ar/Ar ~ 55 ka BP).
 From a technological point of view, the aims of the production were backed flakes, convergent flakes, and other flakes obtained by means of a Levallois debitage, plus (less represented) bladelets produced by an additional volumetric reduction system.
 Our aim in this research was to examine a selection of the above-mentioned target objects produced by debitage in order to understand the manufacture and life-cycle of each single tool from a dynamic perspective.
 We integrated techno-functional and use-wear analyses: the first was implemented to globally comprehend each tool, identifying each single techno-functional unity (prehensile and transformative portions), whereas the second revealed the way in which these tools had been used, proceeding to identify the activity involved (e.g., piercing, cutting and/or scraping), and the type of material (vegetable/animal, soft/hard) on which these activities had been carried out.
 The combined use of these two approaches allows us to ascertain the intention of the prehistoric craftsmen, the gestures and procedures involved in making the tools, and the way they had been used. From one single object we are thus able to reconstruct a series of complex behaviours, encompassing the creation, the life-cycle and finally the ‘death’ or repurposing of the tool in question.
Highlights
The Oscurusciuto site is a Middle Palaeolithic rock shelter located in Southern Italy with a very rich record, essential for the definition of Neanderthals technical behaviour, as related both to the management of the raw material on the territory and the crafting and use of lithic tools
We wanted to test (1) if the target objects of a reduction sequence, were used by Neanderthals to perform their activities; (2) if each production-aim corresponded to a single functional-aim i.e. each tool was used solely for one activity, or, on the contrary, if it was used for a multitude of purposes; and (3) if tools used for a specific activity had a specific structure
The lithic material was entered into the site at different stages of debitage, which means in the form of rough objects, or as semi-finished items, and as finished tools
Summary
The Oscurusciuto site is a Middle Palaeolithic rock shelter located in Southern Italy with a very rich record, essential for the definition of Neanderthals technical behaviour, as related both to the management of the raw material on the territory and the crafting and use of lithic tools. We wanted to test (1) if the target objects of a reduction sequence (the production-aim), were used by Neanderthals to perform their activities (the functional-aim); (2) if each production-aim corresponded to a single functional-aim i.e. each tool was used solely for one activity, or, on the contrary, if it was used for a multitude of purposes; and (3) if tools used for a specific activity had a specific structure To accomplish these goals we integrated techno-functional and use-wear analyses: the first was implemented to globally comprehend each tool, identifying each single technofunctional unity (prehensile and transformative portions), whereas the second revealed the way in which these tools had been used, proceeding to identify the activity involved (e.g., piercing, cutting and/or scraping), and the type of material (vegetable/animal, soft/hard) on which these activities were carried out. In the case of the site of Ficoncella (Rome Italy; dated back to 500,000 years BP), the combined use of techno-functional and use-wear approaches was essential to determine the technical structure and the peculiarities of some active unities (trihedral, mini-rostrum and brute cutting edge) barely described before in lower Palaeolithic literature (Aureli et al, 2015; 2016). As a matter of fact our contribution with this paper is to demonstrate the complementarity and added value of combination of these approaches, which produce new and stimulating insights into “the ways of existing” of prehistoric technical objects (Du mode d’existence des objets techniques Simondon, 1958)
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