Prehistoric occupation of the lower Pontine Plain (Lazio, Central Italy): the evidence from recent field surveys

Abstract

This contribution presents a study of 150 lithic artefacts from the lower Pontine Plain (Lazio, Central Italy), collected during field surveys carried out in the area between 2006 and 2014 by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology (GIA). Although these artefacts have no stratigraphic context, analyses of the composition of the survey assemblage and the distribution of the artefacts and previously recorded prehistoric materials allow us to make general observations on human occupation of the area between the Middle Palaeolithic and the Neolithic/Eneolithic. Thus this paper contributes to our understanding of how the wetland of the lower plain was exploited by hunter-gatherer groups and early farming communities.