The circle and the square: steatite exploitation for personal ornaments manufacturing during the middle neolithic in northern Italy

The paper offers an analysis of the employment of steatite in western Emilia during the Middle Neolithic connected with personal ornaments manufacturing. Steatite is a soft rock easy to work outcropping in the ophiolitic masses of the northern Apennines mountain range. The study presents the archaeological remains recovered in Square Mouth Pottery culture settlements and graves dated between 5000/4900 and 4300 BC. The steatite artefacts comprise mainly beads and pendants, as well as waste remains, rough-outs and blanks. The analysis focuses on types diffusion, manufacturing remains
and working techniques.