Tracing Neolithic Pathways: Investigating Clay Resource Exploitation in Central Italy

The Neolithic period is characterised by significant socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural changes. Neolithic groups had to have varied degrees of mobility and adaptation to their surroundings. This research proposes a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the exploitation and circulation of clayey raw materials during the Neolithic using ceramic indicators. This will be achieved through the identification, mapping, and petrographic characterization of clay deposits between Sabina (Latium region) to Abruzzo. The study areas are the Grotta Battifratta site in Sabina and the Teramo area sites (Grotta S. Angelo, Ripoli), which share many ceramic features. The characterization analyses performed on the different classes of ceramic paste found at different sites combined with the landscape analysis allow us to understand the provenance of clay raw material between the late 6th and 5th millennia B.C. To date, the lack of Neolithic data and archaeometric investigations in this region poses a significant barrier to the understanding of resource exploitation practices and settlement dynamics of the Neolithic. This study is the first step towards reconstructing Neolithic transapenine pathways and possible interactions between different human communities in order to increase our understanding of social dynamics inside Neolithic societies.