SESSION 2 – Ancient lithic trade and economics
Moving stones: first hypothesis about flint management in several Neolithic sites of Central Apulia (south-east Italy)

At Apulian Neolithic sites, the primary raw material used was flint, either “imported” or “local”, although obsidian, siliceous limestone, quartzite, chalcedony and greenstone are also present. All of these raw materials could have reached sites through different circulation modes, which are barely known due to the absence of investigation. In this context, the contribution of Gargano flint to these contexts may be overestimated, especially due to the lack of studies on alternative supply sources. Rather, the analysis of published data (Conati & Sivilli in press) suggests that, given the variety of raw materials and their processing technology, from the early phases of the Neolithic an “economy of raw materials” (sensu Perlés 1991) was in use.

This study is part of a PhD research project, which aims at demonstrating the variety of raw material circulation models between the 7th and 5th millennia BCE in south-eastern Italy. The presentation will show the first results of the technological study of a number of Neolithic lithic assemblages from sites in central Apulia and the initial hypotheses for the circulation models.