New perspectives on the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition in northern Italy.

International audienceFor a few years now, analysis of neolithisation processes has highlighted several cases of interactions between the last groups of hunters-gatherers and the first populations of farmers-stockbreeders. In northern Italy, the Gaban group was understood for a longish period as the result of the acculturation of Mesolithic hunters. New analyses of the excavations techniques and lithic industries from the Gaban rock shelter itself show that a re-evaluation of the Gaban group is supportable. However, one cannot deny the strong similarity of all the industries of the Early Neolithic of northern Italy with the practices of flint reduction of the last Mesolithic hunters. Confronted with the data of the radiocarbon datings, it is thus feasible to propose a new neolithisation model for northern Italy. This involves new thoughts on possible interactions between Mesolithic and Neolithic human groups