The Sauveterrian of the Emilian Po plain: intra-site spatial organization face to face

The Sauveterrian occupation of the southern Po plain is known thanks to the discovery of five sites. Three of them are located near Bologna (INFS, Casalecchio and Cava Due Portoni), one in the Parma district (Collecchio) and the last one in the area of Piacenza (Le Mose). Although they have been excavated some time ago, between the ’80s and ’90s, the spatial position of the artefacts has been recorded for all of them except from Le Mose site. This has allowed an intra-site spatial analysis to be carried out. For this analysis only open source softwares have been used, namely Quantum GIS and Gvsig. In this paper authors will compare and contrast the spatial organization of the sites highlighting common features and differences. By defining a hierarchy between them the aim of the study is a critical re-examination of the sites in order to better understand their role within the settlement system that characterizes the southern Po plain area during the Early Mesolithic.