Editing Liguria (section)

=== Prehistory ===
[[File:Le caverne.jpg|thumb|left|The Balzi Rossi caves, located on a cliff about 100 meters high, show traces of human occupation from the Middle Palaeolithic ([[Pleistocene|300,000]] years) to the foundation of the ancient city of [[Ventimiglia]] in Liguria. This constitutes the longest human occupation in the world of a geographical site.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sitiarcheologiciditalia.it/en/balzi-rossi-caves/ | title=Balzi Rossi, one of the most important prehistoric shrines in Italy |website=www.sitiarcheologiciditalia.it | date=27 March 2018 }}</ref>]]

Evidence of human presence in Liguria dates back to prehistoric times. Near the port of Nice, in Terra Amata, traces of the oldest huts built by nomadic hunters, around [[Pleistocene|300,000]] years ago, have been found. The stratigraphy showed different settlement periods, with the remains of oval huts with a central hearth, chipped pebbles, scrapers and captured animals such as wild boar, turtles, Merk's rhinoceros, southern elephants, aurochs and various birds. Traces of Neanderthal Man have been found near Loano. In the caves of Toirano, signs of frequentation dating back to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic are visible. Remains reminiscent of Cro-Magnon Man have appeared in the Balzi Rossi cave in Ventimiglia. At the Arene Candide there is evidence of Neolithic and epigravettian strata dating between 20,000 and 18,700 years ago, while in the caves along the Pennavaira stream, in the valley of the same name in the Ingauno area, human remains have been found dating back as far as 7,000 BC.
[[File:Resti del principe delle arene candide.jpg|thumb|Burial of an adolescent from the Upper Palaeolithic (29,000 years), having led archaeologists to nickname him the "[[Arene Candide|young prince]]". About fifteen years old, he lay on his back on a layer of red ocher seven meters from the surface facing south, he wore a headgear decorated with shell beads and pierced deer teeth and squirrel tails on the thorax (Liguria region).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mudifinale.com/en/il-giovane-principe/ | title=The Young Prince of the Arene Candide |website=www.mudifinale.com }}</ref>]]

Copper begins to be mined from the middle of the [[4th millennium BC]] in Liguria with the Libiola and Monte Loreto mines dated to [[37th century BC|3700 BC]].
These are the oldest copper mines in the western Mediterranean basin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Monte-Loreto-Fourth-millennium-cal-BC-mineshaft-ML6_fig1_265409510 |title=Figure 3. Monte Loreto. Fourth-millennium cal BC mineshaft (ML6) |via=www.researchgate.net}}</ref>

From the 2nd millennium B.C. ([[Neolithic]]), there are records of the presence of Ligurians over a vast territory, corresponding to most of northern Italy.

It is commonly thought that the ancient Ligurians settled on the Mediterranean coastline, divided in several tribes, from the [[Rhône|Rhone]] to the [[Arno]] (so we are told by [[Polybius]]), pushing their presence as far as the Spanish Mediterranean coast to the west and the Tiber to the south-east, colonizing the coasts of major islands such as [[Corsica]], [[Sardinia]] and [[Sicily]]. Numerous ceramic artefacts remain of them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zamboni |first=Lorenzo |year=2022 |title=Ceramiche d'impasto decorate in Cisalpina tra seconda età del Ferro e romanizzazione - appunti per una ricerca (PDF) |url=https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/lanx/article/download/17090/15056 |website=Milano University Press}}</ref>