Call for papers 

Settlement, economy and society from the 6th to the 3rd millennium BCE in the Alpine arc

The Neolithic period, with its procession of technical innovations and social changes, is one of the best-known periods in European prehistory. This is largely due to the boom in preventive archaeology over the last thirty years. However, while this activity has developed extensively in the lowlands of Western Europe, it has affected mountainous regions – and the Alpine massif in particular – only to a very limited extent and on an ad hoc basis. This situation has gradually reinforced the impression of less densely populated regions, forming a barrier or “buffer zone” between the major cultural areas. Today, the Alpine regions are often perceived as back-up areas, sparsely populated, mostly traversed or dedicated to specialised activities such as hunting or the exploitation of raw materials. 

In the light of the archaeological discoveries made over the last three decades in the French, Swiss, Italian, Austrian, German and Slovenian Alps, it is now relevant to question this point of view, by taking a closer look at how Neolithic populations were rooted in the diversity of Alpine territories (major valleys, side valleys and high-altitude areas). The latter must no longer be considered solely as areas of passage and occasional exploitation, but also as real terroirs. 

The NeoAlps26 international conference, to be held in Sion in October 2026, aims to address these issues by proposing regional and/or diachronic summaries based on three main themes: settlement dynamics / economy and territory / society and ideology. 

Call for papers from the NeoAlps26 organising committee

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Themes

  • Settlement dynamics

    This theme will deal mainly with questions relating to neolithisation, the definition of cultural areas and their evolution, using both traditional approaches based on material cultures and tools such as palaeogenomics, isotope analysis and demography studies. The theme will be developed in three sessions: diachronic cultural approaches / human archaeobiology / settlement modelling.

  • Economy and territory

    This theme will cover anthropization, the establishment of habitats and terroirs, plant and animal economy, exploitation of mineral resources, as well as questions of mobility and circulation. There will be three sessions: anthropization / economic systems / circulation of goods, ideas and people.

  • Society and ideology

    This theme will address data relating to the social organisation of Neolithic communities, as well as their funerary and symbolic practices, with particular emphasis on megalithic monumentalism. It will be covered in three sessions: social structures / funerary practices / standing stones, decorated rocks, monumental landscape.

Each thematic block will be followed by a synthesis and discussion. 
The posters and papers will be published in the conference proceedings.