• cost-based analysis
• Ebro
• geostatistical analysis
• Neolithic
• Po
• predictive analysis
• Rhone
• rivers
• spatial analysis
• statistical analyses

An unresolved issue within the debates on Neolithization processes concerns the role
played by rivers. It is known that farmers and herders were capable of navigating, even
over long distances. Still, it raises questions about the extent to which this ability was
exploited in penetration processes. This thesis investigates the relationship of early Neolithic farmers with the Ebro, Rhône, and Po rivers. The underlying question of the
research is to what extent waterways could have played a facilitating or hindering role in
movement from coastal areas to the inland regions of the basins. To answer this question,
predictive, spatial, cost-based, geostatistical, and statistical analyses were employed.
The first phase of the work involved exploratory analyses that investigated the pattern of
early Neolithic sites in the three basins. Subsequently, starting from the study of the
composition of the moving Neolithic group, consisting of humans, animals, and food, a
movement function based on the characteristics of the cattle was developed, which
determined the pace of the entire group. Then, conclusions were drawn through the
computation of cost maps and statistical analyses