# Prehistoric Italy

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Prehistory of Italy

See also: [Prehistoric Europe](/source/Prehistoric_Europe)

Part of a series on the History of Italy Early Prehistoric Italy Nuragic civilization (18th–3rd c. BC) Etruscan civilization (12th–6th c. BC) Magna Graecia (8th–3rd c. BC) Ancient Rome Kingdom (753 BC–509 BC) Republic (509 BC–27 BC) Roman expansion in Italy Roman Italy Populares and Optimates Empire (27 BC–286 AD) Western Empire (286 AD–476 AD) Praetorian prefecture of Italy Romano-Barbarian Kingdoms Odoacer's 476–493 Ostrogothic 493–553 Vandal 435–534 Lombard 568–774 Frankish (Carolingian Empire) 774–962 Germanic (Holy Roman Empire) 962–1801 Medieval Italy in the Middle Ages Byzantine reconquest of Italy (6th–8th c.) Islam and Normans in southern Italy Maritime republics and Italian city-states Guelphs and Ghibellines Early modern Italian Renaissance (14th–16th c.) Italian Wars (1494–1559) Catholic revival (1545–1648) Mid-16th c. to early 19th c. Napoleonic Italy (1801–1814) Republic Kingdom Risorgimento (1815–1871) Young Italy Modern Monarchy (1861–1946) Colonial Empire (1882–1960) Italy in World War I (1914–1918) Fascism (1922–1943) Italy in World War II (1940–1945) Fascist Italian Social Republic, Partisans and Italian Civil War (1943–1945) Republic (1946–1994) Years of Lead (1970s–1980s) Maxi Trial (1986–1992) Mani pulite (1992–2001) Contemporary Second Republic (1994–2022) Great Recession (2007–2009) European migrant crisis (2014–2016) COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2023) Rinnovamento (2021–present) By topic Citizenship Currency and coinage Economy Fashion Flags Genetic Historic states Judaism LGBT Military Music Name Postage Railway Timeline Italy portal v t e

The **prehistory of Italy** began in the [Paleolithic](/source/Paleolithic) period, when members of the genus *[Homo](/source/Homo_species)* first inhabited what is now modern Italian territory, and ended in the [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age), when the first written records appeared in [Italy](/source/Insular_Italy).

## Paleolithic

[Venere di Chiozza](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venere_di_Chiozza), Upper Paleolithic

In prehistoric times, the landscape of the [Italian Peninsula](/source/Italian_Peninsula) was significantly different from its modern appearance. During [glaciations](/source/Glaciation), for example, the sea level was lower and the islands of [Elba](/source/Elba) and [Sicily](/source/Sicily) were connected to the mainland. The [Adriatic Sea](/source/Adriatic_Sea) began at what is now the [Gargano Peninsula](/source/Gargano), and what is now its surface up to [Venice](/source/Venice) was a fertile plain with a humid climate.

The arrival of the first known [hominins](/source/Hominins) was 850,000 years ago at [Monte Poggiolo](/source/Monte_Poggiolo).[1]

The presence of *[Homo neanderthalensis](/source/Homo_neanderthalensis)* has been demonstrated in archaeological findings dating to c. 50,000 years ago (late [Pleistocene](/source/Pleistocene)). There are about 20 unique sites, the most important being that of the Grotta Guattari at [San Felice Circeo](/source/San_Felice_Circeo), on the [Tyrrhenian Sea](/source/Tyrrhenian_Sea) south of Rome; another is at the *grotta di Fumane* ([province of Verona](/source/Province_of_Verona)) and the Breuil grotto, also in San Felice.

*[Homo sapiens sapiens](/source/Homo_sapiens_sapiens)* appeared in Italy during the upper [Palaeolithic](/source/Palaeolithic): the earliest site on the peninsula, dated to 48,000 years ago, is [Riparo Mochi](/source/Riparo_Mochi).[2] In November 2011, tests conducted at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit in England on what were previously thought to be Neanderthal baby teeth, which had been unearthed in 1964 from the [Grotta del Cavallo](/source/Grotta_del_Cavallo), dated the teeth to between 43,000 and 45,000 years ago.[3]

In 2011, the most ancient Sardinian complete human skeleton (called *Amsicora*) was discovered at *Pistoccu* in [Marina di Arbus](/source/Arbus%2C_Sardinia), dated to 8500 years ago during the transition period between the [Mesolithic](/source/Mesolithic) and [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic).[4]

## Neolithic

Further information: [Neolithic Italy](/source/Neolithic_Italy) and [Neolithic Europe](/source/Neolithic_Europe)

Circular graves of *Li Muri* at [Arzachena](/source/Arzachena), one of the oldest megalithic sites in Italy

[Serra d'Alto culture](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultura_di_Serra_d%27Alto) ceramic vessel, late 5th millennium BC

[Cardium pottery](/source/Cardium_pottery) is a [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) decorative style that gets its name from the practice of imprinting the clay with the shell of *[Cardium edulis](/source/Cardium_edulis)*, a marine [mollusk](/source/Mollusk). The alternative name *Impressed Ware* is used by some archaeologists to define this culture, because impressions can be with other sharp objects, such as a nail or comb.[5]

Cardium pottery is found in the zone "covering Italy to the Ligurian coast" as distinct from the more western Cardial beginning in [Provence](/source/Provence), France and extending to western Portugal. The main culture of the Mediterranean Neolithic, which eventually extended from the [Adriatic Sea](/source/Adriatic_Sea) to the Atlantic coasts of Portugal and south to [Morocco](/source/Morocco), is also referred to as "cardial ware".[6]

Since the Late Neolithic, [Aosta Valley](/source/Aosta_Valley), [Piedmont](/source/Piedmont), [Liguria](/source/Liguria), [Tuscany](/source/Tuscany) and [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia) in particular were involved in the pan-Western European [Megalithic](/source/Megalithic) phenomenon. Later, in the Bronze Age, megalithic structures were built also in Latium, Puglia and Sicily.[7] Around the end of the third millennium BCE, Sicily imported from Sardinia typical cultural aspects of the Atlantic world, including the construction of small dolmen-shaped structures that reached all over the Mediterranean basin.[8]

## Copper Age

Further information: [Chalcolithic Europe](/source/Chalcolithic_Europe) and [Metallurgy during the Copper Age in Europe](/source/Metallurgy_during_the_Copper_Age_in_Europe)

Gaudo culture pottery

[Anthropomorphic stele](/source/Kurgan_stele) from [Lunigiana](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statuenmenhire_der_Lunigiana), [Museo delle statue stele Lunigianesi](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_delle_statue_stele_lunigianesi)

The [Copper Age](/source/Copper_Age) arrived early in the [Italian geographical area](/source/Italy_(geographical_region)), in particular appearing first in [Liguria](/source/Liguria). Copper mining began in the middle of the [4th millennium BC](/source/4th_millennium_BC) in [Liguria](/source/Liguria) with the Libiola and Monte Loreto mines, which are dated to [3700 BCE.](/source/37th_century_BC) These are the oldest copper mines in the western Mediterranean basin.[9] The [Remedello](/source/Remedello_culture), [Rinaldone](/source/Rinaldone_culture) and [Gaudo cultures](/source/Gaudo_culture) are late Neolithic cultures of Italy, traces of which are primarily found in the present-day regions of [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy), [Tuscany](/source/Tuscany), [Latium](/source/Latium) and [Campania](/source/Campania). They are sometimes described as [Eneolithic](/source/Eneolithic) cultures, due to their use of primitive copper tools. Other important eneolithic cultures of the peninsula and the islands, often related to those previously mentioned, are the [Laterza culture](/source/Laterza_culture) in [Apulia](/source/Apulia) and [Basilicata](/source/Basilicata), the [Abealzu-Filigosa culture](/source/Abealzu-Filigosa_culture) in [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia), the [Conelle-Ortucchio culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conelle-Ortucchio_culture&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Abruzzo](/source/Abruzzo) and [Marche](/source/Marche), the [Serraferlicchio culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Serraferlicchio_culture&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Sicily](/source/Sicily), and the [Spilamberto group](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spilamberto_group&action=edit&redlink=1) in [Emilia-Romagna](/source/Emilia-Romagna).

The earliest [Statue menhirs](/source/Statue_menhir), frequently depicting weapons, were erected by the populations of [northern Italy](/source/Northern_Italy) and [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia) during this period. This sculptural tradition of possible [steppe](/source/Pontic%E2%80%93Caspian_steppe) origin ([Yamna culture](/source/Yamna_culture)),[10] lasted in some regions well into the Bronze Age and even into the Iron Age.[11]

The [Bell Beaker culture](/source/Bell_Beaker_culture) marks the transition between the Eneolithic and the early Bronze Age.

		- [Bell Beaker culture](/source/Bell_Beaker_culture#Italian_Peninsula) ceramic vessel

		- Anthropomorphic stele from [St-Martin-de-Corléans](/source/Saint-Martin-de-Corl%C3%A9ans_Megalithic_Area), Bell Beaker culture

		- Engravings of [Remedello](/source/Remedello_culture)-type daggers at [Valcamonica](/source/Rock_Drawings_in_Valcamonica)

		- Axe, [Rinaldone culture](/source/Rinaldone_culture)

		- Reconstruction of Copper Age houses from Quadrato di Torre Spaccata, Rome

## Bronze Age

Further information: [Bronze Age Europe](/source/Bronze_Age_Europe)

The Italian Bronze Age is conditionally divided into four periods:

The Early Bronze Age 2300–1700 B.C The Middle Bronze Age 1700–1350 B.C The Recent Bronze Age 1350–1150 B.C The Final Bronze Age 1150–950 B.C

Early Bronze Age dagger from Italy

The Early Bronze Age shows the beginning of a new culture in Northern Italy and is distinguished by the [Polada culture](/source/Polada_culture). Polada settlements were mainly widespread in wetland locations such as around the large lakes and hills along the Alpine margin. The cities of Toppo Daguzzo and La Starza were known as the center of the Proto-Apennine stage of Palma Campania culture spread in southern Italy at this time.[12]

The Middle Bronze Age known as the [Apennine Bronze Age](/source/Apennine_culture) in Central and [Southern Italy](/source/Southern_Italy) was the period when settlements were established both on lowland and upland areas. [Hierarchy](/source/Hierarchy) among the social groups was experienced during this period according to the evidence of the tombs. The two-tier grave found at Toppo Daguzzo is an example of elite groups growth. On the top level, nearly 10 fractured skeletons have been found without any grave objects, while at the lower level eleven burials were found accompanied by different valuable pieces: 6 males with bronze weapons, 4 females with beads and a child.[12][13] The Middle Bronze Age in Northern Italy was characterised by the [Terramare culture](/source/Terramare_culture).

The Recent Bronze Age, known as the Sub-Apennine period in [Central Italy](/source/Central_Italy), is a frame of time when sites relocated to defended locations. At this time settlement hierarchy obviously appeared in cities such as [Latium](/source/Latium) and [Tuscany](/source/Tuscany).[12]

The Final Bronze Age is the period during which the majority of the Italian peninsula was united in the [Proto-Villanovan culture](/source/Proto-Villanovan_culture). Pianello di Genga is an exception to the small cemeteries characterized for the Proto-Villanovan culture. More than 500 burials were found in this cemetery which is known for its two centuries of usage by different communities.[12][14]

### Polada culture

Main article: [Polada culture](/source/Polada_culture)

The Polada culture (Polada is a locality near [Brescia](/source/Brescia)) was a cultural horizon extended from eastern Lombardy and Veneto to Emilia and Romagna, formed in the first half of [2nd millennium BC](/source/2nd_millennium_BC) perhaps for the arrival of new people from the transalpine regions of Switzerland and Southern Germany.[15]

The settlements were usually made up of [stilt houses](/source/Stilt_houses); the economy was characterized by agricultural and pastoral activities, hunting and fishing were also practiced as well as the metallurgy of copper and bronze (axes, daggers, pins etc.). Pottery was coarse and blackish.[16]

It was followed in the Middle Bronze Age by the [facies of the pile dwellings and of the dammed settlements](/source/Facies_of_the_pile_dwellings_and_of_the_dammed_settlements).[17]

### Nuragic civilization

Main articles: [Nuragic civilization](/source/Nuragic_civilization) and [Torrean civilization](/source/Torrean_civilization)

Nuraghe village of [Su Nuraxi](/source/Su_Nuraxi)

A Sardinian bronze statuette, perhaps portraying a tribal chief. [Cagliari](/source/Cagliari), Museo Archeologico Nazionale.

Located in [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia) (with ramifications in southern [Corsica](/source/Corsica)), the [Nuragic civilization](/source/Nuragic_civilization), who lasted from the early [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) (18th century B.C.) to the second century A.D. when the island was already Romanized, evolved during the [Bonnanaro period](/source/Bonnanaro_culture) from the preexisting megalithic cultures that built [dolmens](/source/Dolmen), [menhirs](/source/Menhir), more than 2,400 [Domus de Janas](/source/Domus_de_Janas) and also the imponent altar of [Monte d'Accoddi](/source/Monte_d'Accoddi).

It takes its name from the characteristic [Nuraghe](/source/Nuraghe). The nuraghe towers are unanimously considered the best-preserved and largest megalithic remains in Europe. Their effective use is still debated; while most scholars considered them as fortresses, others see them as temples.

A warrior and mariner people, the ancient Sardinians held flourishing trades with the other Mediterranean peoples. This is shown by numerous remains contained in the nuraghe, such as amber coming from the [Baltic Sea](/source/Baltic_Sea), small bronze figures portraying African beasts, [oxhide ingots](/source/Oxhide_ingot) and weapons from Eastern Mediterranean, [Mycenaean](/source/Mycenae) ceramics. It has been hypothesized that the ancient Sardinians, or part of them, could be identified with the [Sherden](/source/Sherden), one of the so-called [People of the Sea](/source/Sea_Peoples) who attacked [ancient Egypt](/source/Ancient_Egypt) and other regions of eastern Mediterranean.[18]

Other original elements of the Sardinian civilization include the temples known as "[Holy wells](/source/Nuragic_holy_well)", dedicated to the cult of the [holy waters](/source/Holy_water), the [Giants' graves](/source/Giants'_grave),[19] the Megaron temples, several structures for juridical and leisure functions and numerous [bronze statuettes](/source/Nuragic_bronze_statuettes), which were discovered even in [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_civilization) tombs, suggesting a strong relationships between the two peoples. Another important element of this civilization are the [Giants of Mont'e Prama](/source/Giants_of_Mont'e_Prama),[20] perhaps the oldest [anthropomorphic](/source/Anthropomorphic) statues of the western Mediterranean sea.

### Sicily

Main articles: [Castelluccio culture](/source/Castelluccio_culture), [Thapsos culture](/source/Thapsos_culture), and [Capo Graziano culture](/source/Capo_Graziano_culture)

Thapsos culture pottery

Dolmen located in Monte Bubbonia [Sicily](/source/Sicily)

Among the most important cultural expressions born in Sicily during the Bronze Age the cultures of [Castelluccio](/source/Castelluccio_Culture) (Ancient Bronze Age) and of [Thapsos](/source/Thapsos_Culture) (Middle Bronze Age) are worth noting. Both originated in the southeastern part of the island. In these cultures, in particular in the Castelluccio phase, there are obvious influences from the [Aegean Sea](/source/Aegean_Sea), where the [Helladic civilization](/source/Helladic_period) was flourishing.

Village of Capo Graziano, [Filicudi](/source/Filicudi)

Some small monuments date back to this phase, used as tombs and found almost everywhere, both inland and along the coasts of this region.[21]

Belonging to a western (Iberian-Sardinian) type is the [Bell Beaker](/source/Bell_Beaker) culture known from sites on the northwestern and southwestern coasts of Sicily, previously occupied by the Conca d'Oro culture, while in the late Bronze Age there are signs in northeastern Sicily of cultural osmosis with the people of the peninsula that led to the appearance of Proto-Villanovan culture at [Milazzo](/source/Milazzo), perhaps linked to the arrival of [Sicels](/source/Sicels).[22]

The nearby [Aeolian Islands](/source/Aeolian_Islands) hosted the flourishing of the [Capo Graziano](/source/Capo_Graziano_culture) and Milazzo cultures in the Bronze Age, and subsequently that of Ausonio (divided into two phases, I and II).[23]

### Palma Campania culture

The Palma Campania culture took shape at the end of the third millennium BCE and represents the Early Bronze Age of [Campania](/source/Campania). It is named for the locality of [Palma Campania](/source/Palma_Campania) where the first findings were made.

Many villages belonging to this culture were buried under [volcanic ash](/source/Volcanic_ash) after [an eruption](/source/Avellino_eruption) of [Mount Vesuvius](/source/Mount_Vesuvius) that took place around or after 2000 BCE.[24]

### Apennine culture

Main article: [Apennine culture](/source/Apennine_culture)

Middle Bronze Age temple at [Roca Vecchia](/source/Roca_(archaeological_site)), [Apennine culture](/source/Apennine_culture)

The Apennine culture is a cultural complex of central and southern Italy that, in its broadest sense (including the preceding Protoapennine B and following Subapennine facies), spans the Bronze Age. In the narrower sense more commonly used today, it refers only to the later phase of the Middle Bronze Age in the 15th and 14th centuries BCE.[25]

The people of the Apennine culture were, at least in part, cattle herdsmen grazing their ungulates over the meadows and groves of mountainous central Italy, including on the [Capitoline Hill](/source/Capitoline_Hill) at [Rome](/source/Rome), as shown by the presence of their pottery in the earliest layers of occupation. The primary picture is of a population that lived in small hamlets located in defensible places. There is evidence that herdsmen, when traveling between summer pastures, built temporary camps or lived in caves and rock shelters. However, their range was not confined to the hills, nor was their culture confined to herding cattle, as shown by sites like [Coppa Nevigata](/source/Coppa_Nevigata), a well-defended and somewhat sizeable coastal site where a variety of subsistence strategies were practiced alongside advanced industries such as [dye production](/source/Murex).

### Terramare

Illustration of a [Terramare](/source/Terramare_culture) settlement

Main article: [Terramare](/source/Terramare)

The Terramare was a Middle and Recent [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) culture, between the 16th and the 12th centuries B.C., in the area of what is now [Pianura Padana](/source/Pianura_Padana) (specially along the [Panaro](/source/Panaro_(river)) river, between [Modena](/source/Modena) and [Bologna](/source/Bologna)).[26] Their total population probably reached an impressive peak of more than 120,000 individuals near the beginning of the Recent Bronze Age.[27] In the early period they lived in villages with an average population of about 130 people living in wooden [stilt houses](/source/Stilt_houses): they had a square shape, built on land but generally near a stream, with roads that crossed each other at [right angles](/source/Right_angles). Over the lifetime of the Terramare culture, these settlements developed into stratified zones with larger settlements of up to 15-20Ha (approximately 1500-2000 people) surrounded by smaller villages. Especially in the later period, the proportion of settlements that were fortified approaches 100%.

Around the 12th century BC, the Terramare system collapsed, the settlements were abandoned, and the populations moved southward, where they mingled with the Apennine peoples.[26] The influence of this population abandoning the Po valley and moving south may have formed the basis of the [Tyrrhenian culture](/source/Tyrrhenians), ultimately leading to the historic [Etruscans](/source/Etruscans), based on a surprising level of correspondence between archeological evidence and early legends recorded by the Greeks.[26]

### Castellieri

[Castelliere](/source/Castellieri_culture) of [Monkodonja](/source/Monkodonja)

Main article: [Castellieri culture](/source/Castellieri_culture)

The Castellieri culture developed in [Istria](/source/Istria) during the developed Early and Middle [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age), and later expanded into [Friuli](/source/Friuli), the modern [Venezia Giulia](/source/Venezia_Giulia), [Dalmatia](/source/Dalmatia) and the neighbouring areas.[28] It lasted for more than a millennium, from the 15th century BC until the Roman conquest in the third century BC. It takes its name from the fortified boroughs (*Castellieri*, [Friulian](/source/Friulian_language) *cjastelir*) which characterized the culture.

The ethnicity of the Castellieri civilization is uncertain, although it was most likely of Pre-Indoeuropean stock, coming from the sea. The first *Castellieri* were indeed built along the Istrian coast and show a similar [Cyclopean masonry](/source/Cyclopean_masonry) which is also characterizing in the [Mycenaean civilization](/source/Mycenaean_civilization) at the time.The best researched *Castelliere* in Istria is [Monkodonja](/source/Monkodonja) near Rovinj. Hypotheses about an [Illyrian](/source/Illyria) origin of the people are not confirmed.

The *Castellieri* were fortified settlements, usually located on hills or mountains or, more rarely (such as in Friuli), in plains. They were constituted by one or more concentric series of walls, of rounded or elliptical shape in Istria and Venezia Giulia, or quadrangular in Friuli, within which was the inhabited area.

Some hundred *Castellieri* have been discovered in Istria, Friuli, and Venezia Giulia, such as that of [Leme](/source/Lim_(Croatia)), in west-central Istria, of [Elerji](/source/Elerji), near [Muggia](/source/Muggia), of Monte Giove near Prosecco ([Trieste](/source/Trieste)) and San Polo, not far from [Monfalcone](/source/Monfalcone). However, the largest *castelliere* was perhaps that of *[Nesactium](/source/Nesactium)*, in southern Istria, not far from [Pula](/source/Pula).

### Canegrate culture

Main article: [Canegrate culture](/source/Canegrate_culture)

The [Canegrate culture](/source/Canegrate_culture) developed from the mid-Bronze Age (13th century BC) until the Iron Age in the [Pianura Padana](/source/Pianura_Padana), in what is now western [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy), eastern [Piedmont](/source/Piedmont) and [Ticino](/source/Canton_Ticino). It takes its name from the township of [Canegrate](/source/Canegrate) where, in the 20th century, some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects were found. It represents the first migratory wave of the proto-[Celtic](/source/Celts)[29] population from the northwest part of the Alps that, through the [Alpine passes](/source/Alpine_passes), had already penetrated and settled in the western [Po](/source/Po_River) valley between [Lake Maggiore](/source/Lake_Maggiore) and [Lake Como](/source/Lake_Como) ([Scamozzina culture](/source/Scamozzina_culture)). They brought a new [funerary](/source/Funerary) practice—[cremation](/source/Cremation)—which supplanted [inhumation](/source/Inhumation).[30]

Canegrate terracotta is very similar to that known from the same period north to the Alps (Provence, Savoy, Isère, [Valais](/source/Valais), the area of [Rhine](/source/Rhine)-Switzerland-eastern France). The members of the culture have been described as a warrior population who had descended to [Pianura Padana](/source/Pianura_Padana) from the Swiss Alps passes and the Ticino.

Proto-Villanovan cinerary urn from [Allumiere](/source/Allumiere)

### Proto-Villanovan culture

Main article: [Proto-Villanovan culture](/source/Proto-Villanovan_culture)

It was a culture of the end of the Bronze Age (12th-10th century BC), widespread in much of the [Italian Peninsula](/source/Italian_Peninsula) and north-eastern [Sicily](/source/Sicily) (including the [Aeolian Islands](/source/Aeolian_Islands)), characterized by the funeral ritual of [incineration](/source/Incineration). The ashes of the deceased were placed into biconical urns decorated with geometric patterns. Their settlements were often located on the top of the hills and protected by stone walls.[31]

### Luco-Meluno culture

Main article: [Luco-Meluno culture](/source/Luco-Meluno_culture)

The Luco-Meluno culture emerged during the transitional period between the Bronze Age and Iron Age, and occupied [Trentino](/source/Trentino) and part of [South Tyrol](/source/South_Tyrol). It was succeeded in the Iron Age by the [Fritzens-Sanzeno culture](/source/Fritzens-Sanzeno_culture).

## Iron Age

Further information: [Iron Age Europe](/source/Iron_Age_Europe)

### Villanova culture

Villanovan Tomb from the ninth century BC.

Main article: [Villanova culture](/source/Villanova_culture)

The name of this [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) civilization derives from a locality in the *[frazione](/source/Frazione)* Villanova of [Castenaso](/source/Castenaso), Città metropolitana di [Bologna](/source/Bologna), in [Emilia](/source/Emilia_(region_of_Italy)), where a necropolis was discovered by [Giovanni Gozzadini](/source/Giovanni_Gozzadini) in 1853–1856. It succeeded the [Proto-Villanovan culture](/source/Proto-Villanovan_culture) during the Iron Age in the territory of Tuscany and northern Lazio and spread in parts of [Romagna](/source/Romagna), Campania and [Fermo](/source/Fermo) in the [Marche](/source/Marche).

The main characteristic of the Villanovans (with some similarities with the Proto-Villanovan period of the late Bronze Age) were cremation burials, in which the deceased's ashes were housed in bi-conical urns and buried. The burial characteristics relate the Villanovan culture to the Central European [Urnfield culture](/source/Urnfield_culture) (c. 1300–750 BCE) and the successive [Hallstatt culture](/source/Hallstatt_culture).

The Villanovans were initially devoted to agriculture and animal husbandry, with a simplified social order. Later, specialized craftsmanship activities such as metallurgy and ceramics caused the accumulation of wealth, which resembled the appearance of social stratification.

### Latial culture

Main article: [Latial culture](/source/Latial_culture)

The [Latial culture](/source/Latial_culture) ranged approximately over ancient [Old Latium](/source/Old_Latium). The [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) Latial culture coincided with the arrival in the region of a people who spoke [Old Latin](/source/Old_Latin). The culture was likely therefore to identify a phase of the socio-political self-consciousness of the [Latin tribe](/source/Latins_(Italic_tribe)), during the period of the [kings of Alba Longa](/source/Kings_of_Alba_Longa) and the foundation of the [Roman Kingdom](/source/Roman_Kingdom).

### Este culture

Main article: [Este culture](/source/Este_culture)

The [Este culture](/source/Este_culture) or Atestine culture was an [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age_Europe) [archaeological culture](/source/Archaeological_culture) existing from the late Italian [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) (10th-9th century BCE, proto-Venetic phase) to the [Roman period](/source/Ancient_Rome) (1st century BCE). It was located in the present territory of [Veneto](/source/Veneto) in Italy and derived from the earlier and more extensive [Proto-Villanovan culture](/source/Proto-Villanovan_culture).[32] It is also called "civilization of [situlas](/source/Situla_(vessel))", or paleo-Venetic.

### Golasecca culture

Funerary wagon, [Golasecca culture](/source/Golasecca_culture)

Main article: [Golasecca culture](/source/Golasecca_culture)

The Golasecca culture emerged during the early [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) in the northwestern [Po plain](/source/Po_plain). It takes its name from Golasecca, a locality next to the [Ticino](/source/Ticino) where, in the early 19th century, abbot Giovanni Battista Giani excavated its first findings (some fifty tombs with ceramics and metal objects). Remains of the Golasecca culture span an area of roughly 20,000 square kilometers south of the Alps and between the Po, [Sesia](/source/Sesia) and [Serio](/source/Serio_(river)) rivers, dating from the ninth to the fourth century BCE.

Their origins can be directly traced from that of Canegrate and to the so-called Proto-Golasecca culture (12th–10th centuries BC). The Golasecca culture traded with the [Etruscans](/source/Etruscans) and the [Hallstatt culture](/source/Hallstatt_culture) on the north, later reaching the Greek world (oil, wine, bronze objects, ceramics and others) and northern Europe (tin and amber from the [Baltic coast](/source/Baltic_Sea)).

In a Golasecca culture tomb in [Pombia](/source/Pombia), researchers found the oldest known remains of [common hop](/source/Common_hop) beer in the world.

[Rock drawings in Val Camonica](/source/Rock_drawings_in_Val_Camonica).

### Fritzens-Sanzeno culture

Main article: [Fritzens-Sanzeno culture](/source/Fritzens-Sanzeno_culture)

The [Fritzens-Sanzeno culture](/source/Fritzens-Sanzeno_culture) is attested in the late [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age), from the sixth to the first century BC, in the Alpine region of [Trentino](/source/Trentino) and [South Tyrol](/source/South_Tyrol); in the period of maximum expansion it reached into the [Engadin](/source/Engadin) region.

### The Camuni

The [Camuni](/source/Camuni) were an ancient people of uncertain origin (according to [Pliny the Elder](/source/Pliny_the_Elder), they were [Euganei](/source/Euganei); according to [Strabo](/source/Strabo), they were [Rhaetians](/source/Rhaetians)) who lived in [Val Camonica](/source/Val_Camonica) – in what is now northern [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy) – during the [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age), although human groups of hunters, shepherds and farmers are known to have lived in the area since the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic).

They reached the height of their power during the Iron Age due to the presence of numerous iron mills in Val Camonica. Their historical importance is, however, mostly due to their legacy of carved rocks, c. 300,000 in number, which date from the Palaeolithic to the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages).

## Pre-Roman period

Further information: [List of ancient peoples of Italy](/source/List_of_ancient_peoples_of_Italy), [Etruscan civilization](/source/Etruscan_civilization), [Magna Graecia](/source/Magna_Graecia), [Roman Kingdom](/source/Roman_Kingdom), and [Italic peoples](/source/Italic_peoples)

Etruscan fresco from [Tarquinia](/source/Tarquinia)

Etruscan mother and child, 500–450 BC

Among the populations of pre-Roman Italy, the most notable were the [Etruscans](/source/Etruscan_civilisation) who, starting from the eighth century BC, created a refined civilization which largely influenced Rome and the Latin world. The [origins of this non-Indo-European people](/source/Origins_of_the_Etruscans), which first settled on the [Tyrrhenian coast](/source/Tyrrhenian_Sea) of central Italy and later expanded to [northern Italy](/source/Northern_Italy) (Emilia in particular) and [Campania](/source/Campania), are uncertain.

Other peoples living in northern Italy included the [Ligurians](/source/Ligurians) (an Indo-European people who lived in what is now [Liguria](/source/Liguria), southern [Piedmont](/source/Piedmont) and the southern French coast), the [Lepontii](/source/Lepontii), [Insubres](/source/Insubres), [Orobii](/source/Orobii) and other [Celtic](/source/Celts) tribes in Piedmont and [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy), and the [Veneti](/source/Adriatic_Veneti) of north-eastern Italy. In the peninsula, alongside the Etruscans, lived numerous tribes, mostly of Indo-European origin:

- the Umbri in [Umbria](/source/Umbria) and northern [Abruzzo](/source/Abruzzo)

- The [Latins](/source/Latins_(Italic_tribe)), who created the [Roman civilization](/source/Roman_civilization)

- Sabellians, [Falisci](/source/Falisci), [Volsci](/source/Volsci) and [Aequi](/source/Aequi) in [Latium](/source/Latium)

- [Piceni](/source/Piceni) in the [Marche](/source/Marche) and north-east [Abruzzo](/source/Abruzzo)

- [Samnites](/source/Samnites) in southern Abruzzo, [Molise](/source/Molise) and Campania

- [Daunians](/source/Daunians), [Messapii](/source/Messapii) and [Peucetii](/source/Peucetii) (forming the Apulian or [Iapygian](/source/Iapygian) confederation) in [Apulia](/source/Apulia)

- [Lucani](/source/Lucanians) and [Bruttii](/source/Bruttii) in the southern tips of the peninsula

- The [Sicels](/source/Sicels), [Elymians](/source/Elymians) and [Sicani](/source/Sicani) in [Sicily](/source/Sicily)[33]

- The Nuragic peoples, still inhabiting [Sardinia](/source/Sardinia)

Later, other peoples settled in Italy, cohabiting with the previous inhabitants: new tribes of [Celts](/source/Celts) in the north ([Senones](/source/Senones), [Boii](/source/Boii), [Lingones](/source/Lingones) etc.), the [Greeks](/source/Greeks) in coastal southern Italy, and the [Phoenicians](/source/Phoenicians) in parts of Sicily and Sardinia.

## See also

- [Italic languages](/source/Italic_languages)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nationalgeographic.it_1-0)** ["Erano padani i primi abitanti d'Italia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190626220707/http://www.nationalgeographic.it/scienza/2012/01/20/news/erano_padani_iprimi_abitanti_ditalia-807204/). *National Geographic* (in Italian). 20 January 2012. Archived from [the original](http://www.nationalgeographic.it/scienza/2012/01/20/news/erano_padani_iprimi_abitanti_ditalia-807204/) on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** 42.7–41.5 ka ([1σ CI](/source/68%E2%80%9395%E2%80%9399.7_rule)). Katerina Douka et al., A new chronostratigraphic framework for the Upper Palaeolithic of Riparo Mochi (Italy), *Journal of Human Evolution* 62(2), 19 December 2011, 286–299, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.009](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jhevol.2011.11.009).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** John Noble, Wilford (2 November 2011). ["Fossil Teeth Put Humans in Europe Earlier Than Thought"](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/science/fossil-teeth-put-humans-in-europe-earlier-than-thought.html). *New York Times*. Retrieved 19 April 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Stonepages_4-0)** ["Stone Pages Archaeo News: Found Amsicora: the oldest Sardinian"](http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/004554.html). *www.stonepages.com*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Impressed Ware Culture"](http://www.enotes.com/arch-encyclopedia/impressed-ware-culture). *The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology*. Retrieved 11 May 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** A. Gilman, 1974, Neolithic of Northwest Africa, *Antiquity*, vol 48, no. 192, pp 273-282.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Artepreistorica.com | MEGALITISMO DOLMENICO DEL SUD-EST ITALIA NELL´ETA´ DEL BRONZO"](http://www.artepreistorica.com/2009/12/megalitismo-dolmenico-del-sud-est-italia-nell%c2%b4eta%c2%b4-del-bronzo/). Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** S. Piccolo, *Ancient Stones...*, op.cit., pp. 31 onwards.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Monte Loreto. Fourth-millennium cal BC mineshaft (ML6)"](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Monte-Loreto-Fourth-millennium-cal-BC-mineshaft-ML6_fig1_265409510). Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["La società dell'età del Rame nell'area alpina e prealpina. (2013)"](https://www.academia.edu/3811228). *www.academia.edu*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Museo delle Statue Stele Lunigianesi - Le statue stele in Italia e in Europa"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140513011037/http://www.statuestele.org/ita/140/1/statue-stele-in-italia-in-europa.htm). Archived from [the original](http://www.statuestele.org/ita/140/1/statue-stele-in-italia-in-europa.htm) on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_12-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_12-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_12-3) ANCIENT EUROPE 8000 B.C.–A.D. 1000, ANCIENT EUROPE 8000 B.C.–A.D. 1000 (2003). [*Ancient Europe 8000 B.C.-A.D.1000: Encyclopedia of the Barbarian World*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160109082658/http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf) (PDF). Charles Scribner's Sons. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0684806681](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0684806681). Archived from [the original](http://lukashevichus.info/knigi/ancient_europe_encycl_bogucki_crabtree_1.pdf) (PDF) on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2019.{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["The Italian Bronze Age | Encyclopedia.com"](https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/italian-bronze-age). *www.encyclopedia.com*. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["ITALIA"](http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/italia_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBietti_Sestieri201021_15-0)** [Bietti Sestieri 2010](#CITEREFBietti_Sestieri2010), p. 21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Treccani - La cultura italiana | Treccani, il portale del sapere"](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/polada_(Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica)/). *www.treccani.it*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBietti_Sestieri201031_17-0)** [Bietti Sestieri 2010](#CITEREFBietti_Sestieri2010), p. 31.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDelia_Guasco2006118_18-0)** [Delia Guasco 2006](#CITEREFDelia_Guasco2006), p. 118.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDelia_Guasco200666-67_19-0)** [Delia Guasco 2006](#CITEREFDelia_Guasco2006), p. 66-67.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDelia_Guasco200669_20-0)** [Delia Guasco 2006](#CITEREFDelia_Guasco2006), p. 69.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Piccolo, Salvatore. ["The Dolmens of Sicily"](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1148/the-dolmens-of-sicily/). *World History Encyclopedia*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Siculi nell'Enciclopedia Treccani"](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/siculi). *www.treccani.it*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["SICILIA in "Enciclopedia Italiana""](https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/sicilia_res-ee3fcb09-87e9-11dc-8e9d-0016357eee51_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)). *www.treccani.it*. Retrieved 14 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** [Facies culturale di Palma Campania](http://www.catalogomultimediale.unina.it/?p=193)(in Italian)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBietti_Sestieri2010128_25-0)** [Bietti Sestieri 2010](#CITEREFBietti_Sestieri2010), p. 128.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Cardarelli_26-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Cardarelli_26-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Cardarelli_26-2) Cardarelli, Andrea. ["The Collapse of the Terramare Culture and growth of new economic and social System during the late Bronze Age in Italy"](https://www.academia.edu/5808394). Retrieved 14 March 2023 – via www.academia.edu. {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBietti_Sestieri201078_27-0)** [Bietti Sestieri 2010](#CITEREFBietti_Sestieri2010), p. 78.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBietti_Sestieri201060_28-0)** [Bietti Sestieri 2010](#CITEREFBietti_Sestieri2010), p. 60.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Venceslas Kruta: *La grande storia dei celti. La nascita, l'affermazione e la decadenza*, Newton & Compton, 2003, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [88-8289-851-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/88-8289-851-2), [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-88-8289-851-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-8289-851-9)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-DiMaio8_30-0)** Di Maio, 1998.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** [Treccani, Protovillanoviano](http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/protovillanoviano/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** J.P.Mallory, D.Q. Adams - "Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture" pg.183-184 "Este culture".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDelia_Guasco200664_33-0)** [Delia Guasco 2006](#CITEREFDelia_Guasco2006), p. 64.

## Sources

- Armstrong, Jeremy; Rhodes-Schroder, Aaron (2023). *Adoption, adaptation, and innovation in pre-Roman Italy: paradigms for cultural change*. Turnhout: Brepols. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9782503602325](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9782503602325).

- [Anati, Emmanuel](/source/Emmanuel_Anati) (1964). *La civiltà di Val Camonica*. [Milan](/source/Milan): [Il Saggiatore (casa editrice)](/source/Il_Saggiatore).

- Buti, G. Gianna-[Devoto, Giacomo](/source/Giacomo_Devoto) (1974), *Preistoria e storia delle regioni d'Italia*, Sansoni Università.

- Bietti Sestieri, Anna Maria (2010). *L'Italia nell'età del bronzo e del ferro: dalle palafitte a Romolo (2200-700 a.C.)* (in Italian). Carocci. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-88-430-5207-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-430-5207-3).

- Guasco, Delia (2006). *Popoli italici: l'Italia prima di Roma* (in Italian). Giunti. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-88-09-04062-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-88-09-04062-5).

- Peroni, Renato (2004). *L'Italia alle soglie della Storia*, Editori Laterza, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9788842072409](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9788842072409).

- Piccolo, Salvatore (2013). *Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily*. Abingdon/GB, Brazen Head Publishing, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780956510624](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780956510624).

## External links

Media related to [Prehistoric Italy](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Prehistoric_Italy) at Wikimedia Commons

- [Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri - Protostoria, Enciclopedia Italiana - VI Appendice (2000)](http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/protostoria_%28Enciclopedia_Italiana%29/) (in Italian)

- [Salvatore Piccolo, The Dolmens of Sicily (World History Encyclopedia 2017)](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1148/the-dolmens-of-sicily/sicily_6.htm%7Ctitolo=) (in English)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Prehistoric Italy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Italy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Italy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.