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Genetically-based reconstructions of the history of pig domestication in Europe are based on two major pillars: 1) the temporal changes of mitochondrial DNA lineages are related to domestication; 2) Near Eastern haplotypes which appeared and then disappeared in some sites across Europe are genetic markers of the first Near Eastern domestic pigs. We typed a small but informative fragment of the mitochondrial DNA in 23 Sus scrofa samples from a site in north eastern Italy (Biarzo shelter) which provides a continuous record across a ≈6,000 year time frame from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. We additionally carried out several radiocarbon dating. We found that a rapid mitochondrial DNA turnover occurred during the Mesolithic, suggesting that substantial changes in the composition of pig mitochondrial lineages can occur naturally across few millennia independently of domestication processes. Moreover, so-called Near Eastern haplotypes were present here at least two millennia before the arrival of Neolithic package in the same area. Consequently, we recommend a re-evaluation of the previous idea that Neolithic farmers introduced pigs domesticated in the Near East, and that Mesolithic communities acquired domestic pigs via cultural exchanges, to include the possibility of a more parsimonious hypothesis of local domestication in Europe.

V zadnjih letih so nam ponovno preučevanje starih najdb, nekaj slučajnih odkritij in nedavna izkopavanja omogočili prenovljen vpogled v najmlajše faze neolitika in eneolitika v Furlaniji. Obsežni podatki, ki so nam na voljo, nam za enkrat še ne omogočajo, da bi predstavili celovito sliko, vendar prikazujejo obsežno območje poselitve, ki ga v poznem neolitiku zaznamujejo padanski kulturni vplivi, medtem ko se v času eneolitika pojavijo značilni znaki povezav s čez alpskim in še posebej z balkanskim svetom. Ključne besede: pozni neolitik, eneolitik, naselbinska tipologija, keramika, industrija kamnitih odbitkovnih orodij, industrija glajenih orodij, kovinske najdbe, poselitev, kulturni vplivi In the last years, the re-examination of old finds, some casual discoveries and recent excavation works allowed us to update our knowledge on the latest phases of the Neolithic and Eneolithic in Friuli. The increasing data at our disposal do not allow to present an organic picture yet, but it depicts a vast occupation area characterised during the Late Neolithic by a Padan cultural influence, whilst during the Eneolithic significant signs of connections with the transalpine and especially the Balkan worlds have emerged.

Prehistoric monuments often constitute evident landmarks and sometimes, after falling into disuse, fascinated local people enough to stimulate speculations about their origin over time. According to legend, the Hill of Udine (NE Italy) was built by Attila the Hun’s soldiers, but its origin (natural or anthropogenic) has been debated until now. Our research analyzed five new 40-m long stratigraphic cores, investigating for the first time the total thickness of the hill and compared the data with the available archaeological information. Moreover, we considered other hills and mounds in northern Italy and other European regions where folklore traditions relate their origin to Attila. The geoarchaeological and ethnographic data prove that the Hill of Udine is a Bronze Age anthropogenic mound erected between 1400 and 1150 BCE and that, later, folklore has transformed the ancestral memory of its origin into legend. By measuring 30 m in height and over 400,000 m3 in volume, the flat-topped hill is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. This discovery reveals unprecedented skills in earth construction and confirms significant anthropogenic modifications of the environment during Bronze Age.

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