tion of the same type as that on the mainland.

*The Ligurians probably a Neolithic people.* It is highly probable that
one of the historic peoples of Italy was a direct survival from the
Neolithic period. This was the people called the Ligures (Ligurians), who
to a late date maintained themselves in the mountainous district around
the Gulf of Genoa. In support of this view it may be urged (1) that
tradition regarded them as one of the oldest peoples of Italy, (2) that
even when Rome was the dominant state in Italy they occupied the whole
western portion of the Po valley and extended southward almost to Pisa,
while they were believed to have held at one time a much wider territory,
(3) that at the opening of our own era they were still in a comparatively
barbarous state, living in caves and rude huts, and (4) that the Neolithic
culture survived longest in this region, which was unaffected by the
migrations of subsequent ages.

*The Aeneolithic Age.* The introduction of the use of copper marks the
transition from the Neolithic period to that called the Aeneolithic, or
Stone and Copper Age. This itself is but a prelude to the true Bronze Age.
Apparently copper first found its way into Italy along the trade routes
from the Danube valley and from the eastern Mediterranean, while the local
deposits were as yet unworked. In other respects there is no great
difference between the Neolithic civilization and the Aeneolithic, and
there is no evidence to place the entrance of a new race into Italy at
this time.

*The Bronze Age.* The Bronze Age proper in Italy is marked by the
appearance of a new type of civilization--that of the builders of the pile
villages. There are two distinct forms of pile village. The one, called
_palafitte_, is a true lake village, raised on a pile structure above the
waters of the surrounding lake or marsh. The other, called _terramare_, is
a pile village constructed on solid ground and surrounded by an artificial
moat.

*The palafitte.* The traces of the _palafitte_ are fairly closely confined
to the Alpine lake region of Italy from Lake Maggiore to Lake Garda. In
general, these lake villages date from an early stage of Bronze Age
culture, for later on, in most cases, their inhabitants seem to have
abandoned them for sites on dry land further to the south. The
lake-dwellers were hunters and herdsmen, but they practised agriculture as
well, raising corn and millet. In addition to their bronze implemen