Neolithic Period
Farming villages
5th – mid-4th millennia B.C.
The numerous finds in the Modena area cover the entire chronological period of the Neolithic and come mainly from domestic contexts, which document the transition from a nomadic to a semi-nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle. The changing relationship between humans and their environment, which during this period is characterized by the practices of farming and breeding animals for food production, also brings about significant social and technological changes.
The earliest Neolithic artifacts in the territory of Modena belong to the Fiorano culture (5600-4800 B.C.): in addition to numerous ceramic finds, there are also bone implements and both chipped and polished stone tools, such as axes, chisels and large rings.
One of the most thorough examples of the Square Mouthed Pottery Culture (5000-4200 B.C.) can be found at the Pescale site in Prignano, examined by Fernando Malavolti (link to the publication of the Diaries). The wide plateau, strategically located at the confluence of Rio Pescarolo and the Secchia river, has represented since early antiquity a favored place for human settlement. Here there is evidence of a human presence, albeit discontinuous, from the Upper Paleolithic (about 35,000 years ago) until the late Bronze Age (12th century B.C.).
From the same site there is also evidence of the last phase of the Neolithic (4300-4000 B.C), characterized by the progressive affirmation of western aspects belonging to the French Chassey culture.
The burial of an adult individual in a shaft tomb, discovered in Formigine-Cave Gazzuoli, is ascribed to the Middle Neolithic.