The geographical, ethnical and environmental diversity of Cisalpine Gaul before Roman conquest – starting with the foundation of the Latin colony of Ariminum in 268 BC – makes synthetic approaches to the Padan region difficult, if not impossible. Raffaele C. De Marinis’ 1984 hypothesis of regional settlement patterns characterized by scattered villages and farmsteads (often only identified through their associated cemeteries) remains largely valid. In the light of these observations, the data base used in this article can only be considered incomplete and the scope of this research, sub-regional. The objective of this paper is to propose a historiographical synthesis on pre-Roman habitation sites in Cisalpine Gaul. This is illustrated by archaeological examples from the Po Plain and the Val Camonica and Friuli regions. Late Iron Age Cisalpine habitation sites show common morphological and technical features that can be defined as multicultural due to their common occurrence in Venetian, Ligurian, Rhaetian, Celtic and Etruscan contexts. This observation limits the value of habitation sites as cultural markers. Consequently, the concepts of métissage (hybridization), integration and cohabitation will form the basis of this archaeological inquiry.