The earliest human settlements within the territory of present-day Italy date almost certainly to the initial phase of the Quaternary era (Pleistocene). This period was characterized by frequent alternation in climatic conditions, with consequent phases of expansion and retreat in the Alpine and Apennine glaciers and relative variations in sea level.
These settlements were generally situated in coastal caves, in shelters at the base of rock walls or near lake shores. They date to around 500 000 years ago and correspond to the Lower Palaeolithic, the longest period of human prehistory, which was dominated by the notable diffusion of tools made from flaked stone and ended some 10 000 years ago. Among the earliest sites of this period are Pineta di