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A petrographic characterization has been used here, for the first time, in the study of lithic raw materials exploited in prehistoric Sicily. Our research interests one of the oldest archaeological sites with evidence of the early human peopling of the island (∼15kyr ago): San Teodoro Cave, in northeastern Sicily. Two geological Formations, Numidian and Monte Soro Flysch gave origin to well-rounded pebbly quartzite elements scattered in the marine terraces surrounding the cave and likely exploited as one of the sources of the raw materials for the production of lithic tools by the Epigravettian communities having settled the place. The preference for one of the two qualities of quartzite is hypothesized thanks to the results of the petrographic analysis and a naked eye recognition of the differences between the two varieties of sandstone by the Epigravettian groups is also speculated.

The process of Neolithization of Southern Italy and Sicily covers about 500 years (6200–5700 cal BC) and involves two cultural horizons: Archaic Impressed Ware or “Impresse Arcaiche” and Advanced Impressed Ware or “Impresse Evolute”. In Southern Italy the Neolithic peopling from the East is characterized by a “package” of plenty domesticated plants and livestock; in Sicily the adoption of the new economical system is apparently more slow and with no evidences of ruptures between the Mesolithic groups and first farmers. In this paper we present the chronological and cultural framework of the sixth millennium BC within the area of investigation, with an up-to-date bibliography about settlement and economic strategies, palaeoenvironment and climate. In Southern Italy several open air sites are known and well investigated, in Sicily researches have been concentrated along the shoreline caves. Both regions show similarities in settlement strategies on the long duration. From a cultural point of view, to a first homogeneity of the “Impresse Arcaiche” aspects, after 5800 cal BC, the emergence of original and distinctive features designs different geographical areas.

This paper discusses the Middle Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age phases of the occupation of a rock shelter at Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo) in Sicily. Vallone Inferno is a key site for studying the early establishment and development of pastoralism in the prehistoric mountainous environments of Sicily. Seasonal use of the site as a shelter is documented for the earliest pastoral communities that exploited the Madonie mountain range. The results of the analysis of pottery and lithic assemblages contribute to the definition of two chronocultural frameworks that were linked by the same economic subsistence base. The special role of obsidian emerges, while the mobility patterns of human groups are contextualized by the combination of archaeological and paleoenvironmental data with a focus on the 4.2 ka cal BP aridification climatic event broadly coincident with the final part of the local Copper Age and beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Moreover, since the transition between the Late Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age, mobility of pastoral groups is inferred to be one of the most important factors for the spread of cultural elements on the island.

The Archaeological Superintendency of Palermo (Sicily), with the chair of Anthropology at the University of Palermo, carried out a preliminary investigation in the Zubbio of Cozzo San Pietro (Bagheria) – a cave known so far only from a speleological point of view - which proved to be a funerary cave dating to the Copper/Bronze Age. In the course of archaeological work during the installation of the electricity grid in the Mondello area (Palermo), part of a necropolis consisting of three oven-shaped tombs was exposed. The tombs multiple depositions, whose remains were found in a very bad state of preservation. Based on the type of funerary structures and the equipment found in them, we hypothesize the existence of a necropolis datable to the Early Copper Age that occupies a large area. After an articulated presentation of both necropolises, thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, an attempt was made to re-read all the elements available for a reconstruction of the Conca d’Oro (Palermo, Italy), during the metal ages.