Potential interactions between Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in the Western Mediterranean: The geochronological data revisited

Abstract

In the Western Mediterranean, the Neolithic mainly developed and expanded during the sixth millennium BCE. In these early phases, it generally spread through the displacement of human groups, sometimes over long distances, as shown, for example, by the Impressa sites documented on the northern shores. These groups then settled new territories which they gradually appropriated and exploited. The question of their potential interaction with groups of Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers living in the area prior to their arrival is therefore crucial. Were their encounters based on conflict and resistance or, on the contrary, on exchange and reciprocity? Many hypotheses have been put forward on this matter and many papers written. Before we can consider these potential interactions however, we must first ascertain that these different human groups really did meet—an implicit assumption in all these studies, which is, in reality, much less certain than one might think. The population density of the Late Mesolithic groups varied greatly throughout the Mediterranean, and it is possible that some areas were relatively devoid of human presence. Before any Neolithization scenarios can be considered, we must therefore first determine exactly which human groups were present in a given territory at a given time. The precise mapping of sites and the chronological modeling of their occupation enriches our understanding of the Neolithization process by allowing high-resolution regional models to be developed, which alone can determine the timing of potential interactions between Mesolithic and Neolithic groups. Various international research programs have recently produced several hundred new radiocarbon dates, based on selected samples from controlled contexts. The geochronological modelling of these data at the scale of the Western Mediterranean shows contrasting situations, probably related to different social and environmental processes. These results suggest that we should consider a varied range of Neolithization mechanisms, rather than uniform or even binary models.

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

“…The ditched villages of the Apulian Tavoliere have traditionally defined the Neolithic of southern Italy (Delano Smith, 1978;Pessina & Tinè, 2018). Whilst it is clear that the ditched villages were not all occupied at once, the Tavoliere represents the densest area of settlement anywhere in Neolithic Europe (Brown, 2003), which peaked in the mid sixth millennium BC (Fiorentino et al, 2013;, representing a major demographic event in an area with no Mesolithic presence in the preceding centuries (Perrin et al, 2021). This archaeological evidence for population increase and dense settlement activity is clearly reflected in the KDE models (Fig.…”

“…In Sardinia, the arrival of the Neolithic around 5800-5600 cal. BC also saw complete genetic and cultural discontinuity with the preceding Mesolithic, as attested by stratigraphic information from Grotta Su Coloru (Lugliè, 2009b(Lugliè, , 2018, radiocarbon data (Perrin et al, 2021), and aDNA studies (Modi et al, 2017). Together with the suggestion that Mesolithic activity on Sardinia and Corsica may have been restricted to occasional visits by groups from the Italian mainland (see above), this may therefore indicate that the Tyrrhenian islands were largely-if not entirely-depopulated by the time the earliest Neolithic settlers arrived.…”

“…The end of the Mesolithic was also regionally varied. In southern and central Italy, there appears to be a clearer chronological gap between the last Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and the arrival of the first Neolithic farmers (Perrin & Manen, 2021;Pluciennik, 1997), while the situation is considerably more varied in the north. Along the northern cost of the Tyrrhenian Sea, an area without any late Mesolithic sites spanning western Liguria and eastern Provence lies between the Rhône valley and the eastern Ligurian Apennines where later Mesolithic sites are documented (Battentier, 2018;Biagi et al, 1988;Maggi et al, 2020).…”

“…In the rest of northern Italy, along the Po and northern Apennines, the available radiocarbon data reveal a much murkier picture, and it is difficult to prise apart the relationship-and potential interactions-between the earliest farmers and last hunter-gatherers in the region (Martínez-Grau et al, 2020;Pearce, 2013, pp. 159, 204-207;Perrin & Manen, 2021).…”

The Spread of Farming Economy in the Western Mediterranean: A Short Reply to Ammerman (2021)

“…• The geochronological data available for the last hunter-gatherers and the first farmers, as well as detailed and critical analyses of their potential interactions, illustrate the diversity of regional interaction scenarios (Perrin and Manen 2021) that are likely in part responsible for the cultural, economic, and biological mosaic (Rivollat et al 2020) that characterizes the societies of the 6th millennium BCE.…”