A synthesis of Italian prehistory spanning more than 600,000 years beginning with the Lower Paleolithic and ending with the last hunter-gatherers. The author treats such issues as the development of social structure, the rise and fall of specific cultural traditions, climate change, and environmental adaptation and exploitation and includes detailed descriptions of the most important sites and a comprehensive list of bibliographic references to original sources.

Prepublication praise:
"This comprehensive volume on Italian prehistory provides a wealth of information that will improve readers' access to the archaeological and faunal records which have been gathered by several generations of Italian researchers and will undoubtedly serve many scholars and students who are either not at all or only partially familiar with Italian prehistory. The author produces a most interesting picture of Paleolithic Italy."
*(Ofer Bar-Yosef, Harvard University)
"A must for college and university programs offering undergraduate and graduate courses in the Paleolithic[...]"
(Choice, 39:9, 2002)
"Magnifico! Bravissimo! Margherita Mussi has done the virtually "impossible" and done it very well (and in a language that is not her native tongue): a book that thoroughly, intelligently synthesizes the Pleistocene prehistory of Italy.[...] This is a landmark book.[...] If you read one work on the Italian Paleolithic, Mussi's magnus opus is it."
(Journal of Anthropological Research, 58, 2002)*

Inhalt
The Land and the Scientists.- The Earliest Settlement.- Real Colonization.- On Neandertals and Caves.- Modems versus Neandertals.- Fully Equipped Hunter-Gatherers.- The Great Shift.