Over two hundred thousand years ago the territory where Riccione now stands was arid, cold and populated by big animals, such as mammoths. The most ancient traces of human settlements in Neolithic farm villages were discovered throughout the years in some areas which are currently included in the municipality of Misano, south of Riccione: they were ruins of built-up areas dating back to the end of the II millennium B.C. (Copper Age).
Via Flaminia, which had already been used during the Bronze Age as a way of transit, hosted small groups of men and women belonging to the Adriatic stock. The historical importance of this road is also confirmed by the recent discovery of a 4000-square-metre large urban settlement made up of rectangular-shaped houses, ditches and drainage-holes that clearly testifies to the highly developed structure of this social and economical community.
By the beginning of the Iron Age, the Villanovian civilization, which revolved around Verucchio, began to settle in the surrounding area. It was based on private property and the division of the population into classes. The decline of Verucchio favoured the arrival of the first Celtic populations, later ostracized by the population of Rome. Around 295 B.C a complete renewal of the area began.
Since the birth of the Roman colony of Ariminium (the current city of Rimini), many Roman families began settling around this area. Along Via Flaminia, the most important road of the area, are many evidences bearing witness to the fact it was an attraction and motivating force for the settlement of productive activities.
The main changes were caused by the Barbarian invasions of the IIIrd century. The fall of the Western Roman Empire overlapped with an unfavourable climatic period that, being particularly cold, determined environmental variations that caused the steady decrease of settlements starting from the beginning of the Middle Ages.
