In 2002 a series of trial trenches were dug with the aim of ascertaining the presence of dwellings at the well known site of Rivanazzano, on the Padovan plain, which is important for its outcrop of eclogites (metamorphic rocks) and the production of ‘green stone’ hatchets.
The dating of the atelier was, until now, only presumed on the basis of finds of axes made of the same type of stone on the early Neolithic sites of Godiasco and Cecina (PV) and Brignano Frascata (AL), but no dating evidence had been found on this site.
The trenches produced pottery fragments, flint tools and nodules of ‘green stone’ that were found together within a structure dug into the ground. This means that the exploitation of the ‘green stone’ deposit at Rivanazzano can be dated to the early Neolithic period. (Laura Simone Zopfi)