Figure 1.--This AI-genrated image depicts a scene in a Neolithic pile-dwelling village (around 5000 BC). Pottery had appered (about 6500 BC). Some of the earlist Italian potery was found at La Porta di Positano cave along the Amalfi Coast in southern Iatly. Archaeological remains have been discovered in various northern lakes as well as in the central region. People lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering. Evolving modernity also resulted in rudimentary forms of livestock raising and the beginning of agriculture. This is a summer scene. Heavier clothing was needed for the winter, especially in northern Italy. Basic weaving in Italy was developing, but would not be refined until about 1000 BC. The pile-dwelling villages continued for millennia until the Bronze Age. Source: Italian AI Project.

The Paleolithic Era or Stone Age lasted some 3.3 million years, the vast course of human history. It was notable for the development of stone tools and the evolution of hunter-gatherer culture. Very little archeological evidence of this period exists beyond stone tools. In Italy this includes both Neanderthals and subsequently modern Homo sapiens. The first evidence of human presence in Italy dates to about 700,000 BP. There were many varied groups which settled Italy and Sicily. The area of modern Italy was settled by a variety of different people. The earliest findings in Italy are the Altamura Man in Puglia and the Toirano caves in Liguria have evidence of human habitation and tool usage. Only with the Neolithic era to we have important archeological evidence. During the end of the Paleolithic era, humans began to produce the works of art and to demonstrate spiritual behavior including burials providing valuable artifacts. The Neolithic or New Stone Age as a result of remarkable advances resulted in the appearance of extensive archeological evidence, This began in Asia, Europe, and Africa (about 12,000 BC). We have what is now referred to as the 'Neolithic package' included the invention of agriculture, domestication of animals, and gradual evolution from wandering hunter-gathering to a more settled life style. All of this of course originated outside of Italy in the Near East, especially the great River Valley civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Rock Engravings of Val Camonica north of Milan depict scenes of daily life, animals, and abstract symbols are perhaps the best evidence of Neolithic life in Italy (about 10,000 BC). 【Arcà】 They are recognized as one of the most important concentrations of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. This population survived as nomadic hunter-gatherers. They fashioned stone tools to hunt animals and gather and process plants. Archeological evidence such as the Venus figurines and cave paintings (such as in Valcamonica area, provide important evidence as to their culture and daily life. Agriculture reached Italy as a result of the migration of Neolithic farmers from Anatolia (modern Turkey) across the Mediterranean, bringing domesticated crops and animals to southern Italy, Sicily, and Puglia (around 6000 BC). These new arrivals, often called Impressed Ware culture, introduced sheep, goats, and grains like emmer wheat and barley to existing hunter-gatherer populations. 【Radi and Pannocchia】 Agriculture gradually spread north up the peninsula (5500 BC). Evidence suggests a mix of new arrivals (carrying distinctive pottery and domesticated crops) and local Mesolithic hunter-gatherers acquiring these methods. The Neolithic Era lasted in the Near East until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) (4500 BC), a little longer in Western Europe being with the development of metallurgy to the Bronze Age. From the beginning, there were destinations between northern and southern Italy. Two distinct cultures developed, the Terramaricoli people in the north (Po valley) and the Apennie in central and southern Italy. This is about the time of the appearance Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman (about 3200 BC). The Remedello, Rinaldone, and Gaudo cultures are late-Neolithic cultures of Italy, traces of which are primarily found in the present-day regions of Lombardy, Tuscany, Latium, and Campania. They are sometimes described as Eneolithic cultures, due to their use of primitive copper tools.

Sources

Arcà, Andrea."Chronology and interpretation of the 'Praying figures' in Valcamonica rock-art," in "Archeologia e arte rupestre: l’Europa – le Alpi – la Valcamonica, secondo convegno internazionale di archeologia rupestre,". Atti del Convegno di studi (Oottobre 2-5, 1997) Darfo Boario terme Milano, pp. 185-98)

Radi, Giovanna and Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia. "The beginning of the Neolithic Era in Central Italy," Quaternarty Interrnational Vol. 470 (2017)

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Created: 10:43 PM 4/24/2026
Last updated: 10:43 PM 4/24/2026