The early onset of weaning in modern humans has been linked to the high nutritional demand of brain development that is intimately connected with infant physiology and growth rate. In Neanderthals, ontogenetic patterns in early life are still debated, with some studies suggesting an accelerated development and others indicating only subtle differences vs. modern humans. Here we report the onset of weaning and rates of enamel growth using an unprecedented sample set of three late (∼70 to 50 ka) Neanderthals and one Upper Paleolithic modern human from northeastern Italy via spatially resolved chemical/isotopic analyses and histomorphometry of deciduous teeth. Our results reveal that the modern human nursing strategy, with onset of weaning at 5 to 6 mo, was present among these Neanderthals. This evidence, combined with dental development akin to modern humans, highlights their similar metabolic constraints during early life and excludes late weaning as a factor contributing to Neanderthals’ demise.

In attempt to enlighten the debate on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, this work contributes new data from a yet unpublished site, Riparo Broion in the northeast of Italy. Studies confirm the presence of the Uluzzian technocomplex embedded in an archaeological sequence which includes Mousterian, Gravettian and Epigravettian. These layers have yielded finds of bone and lithic technology, shell beads, engraved portable art and the use of red mineral pigments, which make this archive a unique case for evaluating the implications of cultural dynamics in Northern Italy 44.0-42.4 ky BP. The diversity of the faunal assemblage recovered in layers 1f and 1g is representative of the different environments surrounding the site, with ungulates being targeted for hunting and consumption. The lithic assemblage records a high fragmentation rate due to the extensive use of the bipolar knapping technique, responsible for a large variety of splintered pieces and associated chips which also affected the backed pieces, lunates and end-scrapers. The features of the bone tools, as well as those of the marine and freshwater beads echo the technique used in the Uluzzian in the south of Italy, confirming the geographic spread of this technocomplex in the North-Adriatic region, as previously envisaged at Grotta Fumane. However, comparisons between these two sites stimulate a discussion around the possible driving forces responsible for the differences observed in technological, typological and structural lithic assemblages. A definitive scenario for the MP-UP transition in this region of Southern Europe is ongoing and Riparo Broion is adding key contributions.

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The final Middle Palaeolithic of northern Italy is almost exclusively known based on pluristratified sites in caves or rock shelter, which attest a certain technological variability within the Mousterian through the adoption of different knapping methods focused on the production of flakes or blades. The almost total lack of specialized and/or short-term open-air sites framed at this stage contributes to create a fragmentary and incomplete picture with regard to the last Neanderthal occupation of the area. For this reason, the Monte Netto site, an isolated hill at the northern margin of the Po Plain and at the foot of the Prealps, represents a key deposit to investigate this phase. Along the loess-palaeosoil sequence, investigated from a geochronological and pedological point of view, frequentations by Mousterian Neanderthal groups are attested at two different times, of which the most consistent is: associated to sediments dated to 44,400 ± 5.4 ky BP. The findings confirm the sporadic frequentation of marginal open areas during the cold, arid and highly fluctuating climate of the MIS 3, providing a more complete picture of the human occupation along the Po Plain Loess Basin (PPLB). An interregional comparison points out the clear intention, by the last Neanderthal groups of the Po Plain, of producing elongated supports by applying different methods, within a varied and organized system of resources exploitation evidenced by the selection of raw materials coming from more than 60 km.