A.A.A. - CERCAN S-I 
In the territory of the Pozzuolo del Friuli municipality lies one of the largest and most important neolithic settlements in Northern Italy: the excavations - which have been carried out for more than fifteen years in the location of Sammardenchia - have brought to life hundreds of archaeological structures and recovered thousands of pieces of pottery, objects in polished stone and chipped flintstone. The Sammardenchia material highlights the contribution made to this process by the neolithic communities in Slovenia and Croatia. In this Friuli site, several pieces of pottery deriving from the eastern Dànilo culture have been found, together with statuettes and religious vases: this material proves the existence of a wide common cultural heritage in the whole Upper-Adriatic area at the beginning of the Neolithic period. In addition to archaeological research, other initiatives have been carried out in recent years at Pozzuolo; held in cooperation with local associations, these actions concern the local populations and schools and aim at enhancing the mentioned heritage and at experimenting educational activities. They include guided tours of the excavations, conferences, showing of films, experimental archaeology days, educational workshops. A documentation centre on the archaeology of the territory has also begun its work, which includes various educational activities taking place during the year. In this framework, the project aims at developing cooperation between the Italian archaeologists who work at the Sammardenchia site and the Slovenian ones who have studied the Sermin site (Koper-Capodistria), since the two sites are very similar. The aim is to identify the common cultural roots which, during the Neolithic period, linked Italy and Slovenia, together with the flows and exchanges of raw materials that took place in that age between the two regions.