The transition between the Neolithic and Copper Age is an important opportunity for economic and social change, because there was the discovery and spread of copper metallurgy between European and Italian prehistoric groups. The final phase of the Neolithic period, which can be attributed to the remains of the village of Palù di Livenza, is dated between 4300 and about 3800-3700 BC.

This stage is characterized by the final aspects of the culture of Square Mouth Jars, so called by the particular form of the vessels. This culture spread during the fifth millennium BC over most of the territories of northern Italy, forming one of the most important Neolithic cultural events of the Italian peninsula. It was divided into three phases, based on the differences recorded in the decoration of the vessels.

To the phase III should be reported several items of pottery and stone tools found among the materials collected at Palù.
Connections with the Balkan area are evident during the II phase in the type of decorative vases, in the presence of female figurines and pintaderas, a kind of clay stamps. The contacts with the transalpine countries are documented in the subsequent phase III, when relations with the Balkan world are broken. The western Friuli represents the easternmost limit reached by this culture in its last phase.
From 4,300 BC groups and cultural traditions of the Western type similar to those of Chassey of southern France, began to emerge in Liguria.
During the first centuries of the fourth millennium BC, began in western Lombardy the culture of Lagozza, thanks to the contribution of these influences. The culture of Lagozza marks the end of the Neolithic in northern Italy between 3700 and 3500 BC, when it was replaced by various cultural groups that led to the introduction of metallurgy.

In northern Italy, the knowledge about the end of the Neolithic and the beginning of the Copper Age are unfortunately not many. The Palù is a site of particular interest to understand the final stage of the Neolithic and the next step to the Copper Age.

The wetland of Palù di Livenza was formed in a natural depression produced by the surrounding limestone hills that demarcate the boundaries. To limit the extension of the dwelling village and collect geological information many cores have been conducted with similar methodology as applied in wetlands in Switzerland.

We are talking about perforations that allow us to pull out stratigraphic columns called cores.
Perfectly preserving the sequence of layers in the subsurface, cores are samples of great importance for the understanding of the evolution of the sedimentary deposit and the reconstruction of the ancient environment through the study of pollen. Each core documents a stratigraphic sequence well localized, but thanks to the correlation of multiple cores it’s possible to reconstruct the evolution of the layers even over large extensions.

The geological data available are very numerous, but we still have some gaps in the chronological development. During the Late Glacial, between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago, the area was occupied by a lake. At this stage, the surrounding area was a forest of fir and alder , while the banks of the lake were covered with plants. With the end of the Ice Age and the beginning of the Holocene, about 10,000 years ago, a more temperate climatic phase began with the spread of tree species that led to the gradual drying up of the lake.

The evolution of the landscape from lake to bog can be read on the stratigraphic columns recorded in the cores.

The blue clays are the oldest deposit located approximately 5-6 meters deep. They represent the lacustrine sediments that were deposited in deep water with low oxygen during the Ice Age, as a result of periodic erosion of the slopes surrounding the basin.
Then we have the green silt, which also represent a deposition of mud in a lake. The subsequent organic silts constitute a more complex stratigraphic event, rich in plant remains and thin layers of peat, and represent an environment with increased presence of oxygen, which documents a phase of transition to the next stage of marsh.
This phase likely documents the situation of lake shores, which are subject to periodic submergence and subsequent exposure with the development of peat. In addition, it is possible that during this phase a complex and dynamic environment was established, divided between marshy and lacustrine areas and other more fluvial. The last stratigraphic sequence show a series of peat and silt that correspond to the last recent stage.

Underwater explorations in the Molinetto / Livenzetta allowed us to find flint tools dating back to the last phase of the Italian Upper Paleolithic, between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago.

These remains are related to the presence during the Late Glacial of a lake in the center of the basin.

The wetlands provide a high productivity of plant biomass that attracts a large number of animals, providing a place of great importance for the survival of prehistoric man dedicated to hunting and gathering. The presence of the lake and of abundant natural resources favored the presence of bands of hunters-gatherers practicing the hunting.

The tools used for hunting that were founded in Palù are about 50: pointed tools, spikes and some parting and grooving blades that were used for arming the tip of arrows, harpoons and javelins.
Perhaps the same groups of Palù also lived in Mount Cansiglio , as confirmed by the materials found in the locality of the Bus de la Lum.
The presence of other settlements in the mountain area of Pordenone reveals a pattern of exploitation of the land and its resources, already known in Veneto and Trentino, which included mid-mountain seasonal camps during the summer, complementary to sites of longer duration, placed in valleys or, as in the case of Palù, in the foothills during the winter months.

With the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, a more temperate phase began, leading to the gradual drying up of the lake.
The few flint tools, attributable to the Mesolithic, come from the same south-central area of the basin.
The tools include geometric trapezoidal blades and grooves that attest a new attendance of groups of hunters-gatherers during the recent phase of the Mesolithic, known as Castelnovian, and dated between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago.

The construction elements made ​​of wood are of various types. The poles are made from whole logs or portions of the trunk. Their use can be explained on the basis of size in order from larger items into smaller ones:
1) Pillars of structural timber decks;
2) supports or reinforcements to the support structure;
3) Supports for walls or partitions;
4) Elements of land reclamation.

The structural elements include horizontal beams of large dimensions, axes and smaller beams that, associated with poles, form the structures, partially intersecting and built with different building techniques. Studies have identified two main types of wooden structures: load-bearing piles with the function of pillar and platform axes.
Although it is not currently possible to define the complete plant of the huts of the village or their development into high, it is established that the numerous wooden structures identified are the remains of houses built in an area where there was a low level of water. Research made ​​it possible to recognize at least three different types of construction, relevant to different moments of the life of the town:
1) An anchoring system consisting of horizontal wooden boards;
2) A pavement structure consisting of several overlapping layers of beams and branches covered by a wooden plank;
3) A fence of which the perimeter was recognized thanks to dendrochronology.

Among the materials collected there are also small remnants of land which preserve vegetable remains.
You can tell from the remains preserved in these materials the structure that formed the skeleton of the walls, usually consisting of twisted branches. The use of raw land for the plaster was a terrific way to isolate the huts, keeping them warm in winter and cool in summer.

The plant remains found in Palu di Livenza during archaeological surveys provide us with a fairly detailed picture of the environment in prehistory and of human activities associated with it.

These data are derived mainly from the study of tree species used as construction elements of the huts of the village, from the study of the remains of charred wood and of fossil pollen.

The available data indicate that the water has always been a key element in influencing the vegetation of the basin. Depending on the season, the level could rise or fall and the village could be more or less out of the water.

The bank surrounding the village could be almost without trees, but covered with herbaceous plants, while the land side, for much of the year was muddy or swampy. The forest environment was a ” mixed forest of oaks”.

The most common tree species were deciduous oaks and hazel, although there were also beech, maple and alder.
The species that represent the groups of trees at the edge of flooded or swampy areas (elm, willow, poplar and alder) are not attested among the remains found, despite the interesting qualities that those woods could provide for the creation of objects.
Among the many trees of which we found the remains, the hazel is certainly the best documented. The great predominance of this tree is unusual information for those dealing with the environment during the Neolithic in northern Italy. The hazel may indicate deforested areas for the expansion of agricultural practices or to provide new space for grazing and farming related activities; however, the reduced presence of other tree species characteristic of open habitats such as apple, pear, hawthorn or dogwood, leads to thinking about other causes for this presence.