A reconstruction of geomorphological and environmental transformations and the peopling of the territory south-east of Rome during Recent Prehistory

The eastern part of the suburbs of Rome up to the Alban Hills was the focus of extensive archaeological investigations that demonstrated the presence of recent/fi nal Neolithic and Eneolithic settlements as well as of numerous Eneolithic necropolises. Geological studies led to a revision of our understanding of Holocene primary volcanic deposits and lahar fl ows coming from the crater of the Alban Lake. The lack of early Neolithic settlements where lahar deposits occur in the investigated area agrees with the dates taken immediately below the most impressive lahar deposits, which are referable to a period corresponding to the recent/fi nal Neolithic. Geological and palaeoenvironmental investigations are currently being carried out with the aim of identifying the extent of the lahar flows as well as the timing and the modes of the occupation of the territory immediately above these. These studies are linked to a study of the variations in the vegetation during the Neolithic and the Eneolithic.