The limits of short refitted sequences in detecting knapping skills from a Middle Palaeolithic assemblage

• Lithic refitting reveals site dynamics and knappers’ technical behaviours. • Refits help identify differences in knapping skill levels. • Experimental and Middle Palaeolithic refits inform on prehistoric social structure. • Short refitted sequences limit assessment of skill variability. Refitting is a key-tool for researchers to understand past knapping behaviours, technological strategies, and decision-making processes. The longer the reconstructed lithic reduction sequences, the more complete the understanding of knapping behaviour becomes. Yet, due to taphonomic constraints that often affect the archaeological record, not all sites yield the same quantity of lithic refits, therefore the completeness of the information can vary significantly. In this paper we present lithic refitting conducted on a primarily Quina lithic assemblage from the Middle Palaeolithic site of De Nadale cave. The goal was to assess potential variability in knapping skill levels within the assemblage. However, the limited number of refits recovered, and the brevity of reduction sequences posed significant challenges to our analysis. Nonetheless, we maximized the information by running comparative analyses with experimental Quina assemblages produced by knappers of varying skill levels. Outcomes indicate that short refitting sequences may not provide reliable insights into individual knapping skills or knapper variability, underscoring the limitations of this approach in contexts with fragmentary refit data.