"The Magic of the Flute" (available in Italian)

This story is set at Riparo Gaban (Martignano, Trento), a site inhabited almost continuously from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. The story of Lin and Intaro takes place at the transition point between the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, when traditional hunting and gathering activities were gradually replaced by agriculture and livestock farming, likely due to the arrival of outside groups with new habits and technologies. The inhabitants of Riparo lived by hunting, fishing, trapping birds, and gathering wild fruits and freshwater mollusks. The first domesticated animals appeared relatively late. Many artistic objects have been found at the site, including shells, a fish-shaped bone plaque, a deer-headed figurine, and a female figurine ("Venus"), likely linked to an agrarian cult. Other finds include a ceramic pintadera (stamp) and a human bone, pierced and decorated with incisions, interpreted as a musical instrument (the famous "Gaban flute," a type of trumpet).

Texts by Giorgia Cappelletti

Illustrations by Erica Patauner

MUSE Publishing Project, Science Museum