Abstract
Abstract The beginning of the Neolithic in the Adriatic region dates back to approximately 6000 cal BC, and the appearance of Impressed Ware pottery marks its generic development. By combining lithic, economic, and paleoenvironmental data, we propose a new arrhythmic model for the chronology of Neolithisation in the Adriatic. On the one hand, the available data suggest that in the south-central part of the basin (Dalmatia and Apulia) the transition to farming was relatively quick, resulting from the colonisation of an open landscape (seemingly linked to the “8.2 ka event” and the onset of a drier climate). These newcomers mostly settled in the fertile plains of the Dalmatian and Apulian hinterlands, basing their subsistence almost exclusively on agriculture and livestock, while lithic blade production in cherts from Gargano (southern Italy) indicates important social aspects and complex management strategies (mining activities, more complex modes of pressure flaking, and specialised distribution networks). However, on the other hand, in the northern Adriatic (Istria, Karst, eastern Po Plain, and Marches), the Neolithic emerged somewhat later, possibly as a result of some form of acculturation. Although available data are still scarce, some evidence suggests that the last Mesolithic groups played an active role in the process of Neolithisation in these areas, where certain Castelnovian traditions have been identified in the lithic production accompanying Impressed Ware (the use of local cherts, lamellar production by indirect percussion, and “simpler” forms of pressure flaking) and in the economy, e.g. importance of fishing.
Highlights
The beginning of the Neolithic in the Adriatic region dates back to approximately 6000 cal BC, and the appearance of Impressed Ware pottery marks its generic development
Theinterpretation of available data, together with new evidence collected during our own studies, suggests that the transition to farming was relatively rapid in the south-central part of the Adriatic basin (Dalmatia and Apulia), as a result of the colonisation of an open landscape (Figure 5)
These newcomers settled mostly in the fertile plains of the Dalmatian and Apulian hinterland, basing their subsistence almost exclusively on agriculture and livestock, while lithic blade production made from exogenous cherts from Gargano attests to important social aspects and complex management strategies
Summary
Prior to the arrival of Neolithic settlers, between the seventh and sixth millennia cal BC, the central-western Mediterranean was inhabited by the last indigenous groups of hunter–fisher–gatherer They belong to the Castelnovian techno-complex, which is considered to be a regionalised manifestation of the greater Blade and Trapeze phenomenon that developed between the eighth and sixth millennia BC in Greater Eurasia (Biagi & Kiosak, 2010; Binder, 2000; Clark, 1958; Inizan, 2012; Kozłowski, 2009; Marchand & Perrin, 2017; Perrin et al, 2020). It is possible that certain sociocultural transformations affected the last hunter–gatherer societies in such a way that they became “ready” for the important changes that characterise Neolithisation (cf. Braidwood & Willey, 1962, p. 332)
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