Una lettura del dato archeologico di Mura Pregne attraverso le tecnologie GIS

The Madonie: Highlands in Sicily

This chapter presents the results of the archaeological survey of selected areas across the Madonie mountain range in Sicily, at different heights. Several archaeological features have been mapped, documenting the human presence on these highlands over different millennia and dating it back at least to the Middle Neolithic. Traces of ancient cultures of Sicily have been recognized in the area, emphasizing the importance of this mountainous territory.

Archaeology of Uplands on a Mediterranean Island. The Madonie Mountain Range In Sicily

The book presents an archaeological research conducted within the Highlands of Sicily. Results of the archaeological survey in the Madonie mountain range, in northern Sicily, supported by a chronological and cultural grid, drawn by the excavation of Vallone Inferno, deal with complex and fascinating problems of uplands and mountainous landscape. Settlement patterns, between the Late Pleistocene and the Medieval era, are investigated through the support of spatial analyses. A diversified use of the mountain is currently attested by this research, according to the different prehistoric and historical times. This work is innovative for the Mediterranean area, where there are no similar example…

Il popolamento umano della Sicilia: una revisione interdisciplinare

Riassunto — La questione del popolamento umano pleistocenico della Sicilia e delle coste del Mediterraneo occidentale implica la ricostruzione delle rotte migratorie seguite dall’uomo e dalle faune e delle complesse dinamiche geologiche del bacino del Mediterraneo centrale. Anche se la più accreditata via di migrazione comune di faune e uomo è quella settentrionale, che prevede il superamento dell’area dello stretto di Messina, diversi autori, sulla base di dati archeologici, hanno ipotizzato un popolamento precoce ed una direttrice meridionale, dall’Africa, attraverso momenti di percorribilità del Canale di Sicilia. Questa ipotesi è stata più volte esplorata per poi essere accantonata, anc…

The Arrival of Steppe and Iranian Related Ancestry in the Islands of the Western Mediterranean

A series of studies have documented how Steppe pastoralist-related ancestry reached central Europe by at least 2500 BCE, while Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 BCE. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean where they have contributed to many populations living today remains poorly understood. We generated genome-wide ancient DNA from the Balearic Islands, Sicily, and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from these islands from 3 to 52. We obtained data from the oldest skeleton excavated from the Balearic islands (dating to ∼2400 BCE), and show that this individual had substantial Steppe p…

Paesaggi montani e popolamento antico in Sicilia: una proposta metodologica

Mura Pregne: una revisione dei dati archeologici e una ricostruzione virtuale del sito

One of the most interesting long-term settlements in Sicily is Mura Pregne (Palermo). The site (400 m a.s.l.) is located on the northern coast of Sicily, between the last northwestern outcrops of the Madonie and the isolated relief of Monte San Calogero, in a close-up position on the Torto river valley. The earliest phases of the settlement are scarcely known and difcult to assess in their actual consistency, because a quarry has distorted the original appearance of the site. In the absence of new excavations, the purpose of this contribution is to offer a topographic description of the diferent areas, together with new archaeological considerations, based on feld survey and aerial photo an…

Animal husbandry in Sicilian prehistory: The zooarchaeological perspective from Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo)

Starting in the mid-6th millennium cal BCE, Neolithic groups occupied the midlands of Sicily. The economy of these groups was based primarily on livestock farming. Archaeological and archaeobotanical data indicate an intensification of livestock practices during the Early Bronze Age, leading to a change in the landscape in the form of more open forests. The Vallone Inferno rockshelter in the Madonie massif is one of the few sites that has been systematically excavated in these midlands, and has yielded evidence of Middle Neolithic and Early Bronze Age occupations. This work focuses on the study of prehistoric husbandry in the Sicilian midlands and highlands through the analysis of the Vallo…

The small mammals (insectivores, bats and rodents) from the Holocene site of Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Sicily)

The Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archeological site located at 770 m a.s.l. in the Madonie massif in Sicily. This massif is modeled into the Triassic and Oligocene sedimentary rocks of the Imerese Basin. Thearchaeological excavations conducted since 2008 have provided a long prehistoric and historic sequence from the Neolithic to the medieval period. From the four sedimentary complexes identified, only levels 3.4 to 3.1 from complex 3 and 4.2 from complex 4 have yielded small-mammal material. Level 4.2 is poor in remains and as yet without cultural ascription, though it has a radiocarbon age of 9450±50 years BP. Level 3.4 has yielded fragments of ceramic characteristic of the Middle N…

Obsidian from the Neolithic Layers of “Grotta di San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena” (Cosenza), Italy. A Preliminary Report

Abstract The paper presents the results obtained by techno-typological analysis of a lithic assemblage from the Neolithic layers of Grotta San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena (Cosenza) together with the results of micro-wear analysis obtained from a preliminary selection of obsidian artifacts with different provenances distinguished by pXRF analysis. The site provides one of the best preserved Neolithic sequences in the area, from the earliest Impressed Wares (or Impresse Arcaiche) (early sixth millennium BC) to the Spatarella pottery style (end fifth – early fourth millennium BC). Along the Neolithic sequence, it is possible to observe some major changes within lithic resources management. I…

New perspectives on the human occupation of the Gulf of Palermo during the Metal Ages: the funerary cave of Zubbio di Cozzo San Pietro (Bagheria) and the necropolis of Viale Venere (Mondello, Palermo)

Abstract The Archaeological Superintendency of Palermo (Sicily), with the chair of Anthropology at the University of Palermo, carried out a preliminary investigation in the Zubbio of Cozzo San Pietro (Bagheria) – a cave known so far only from a speleological point of view - which proved to be a funerary cave dating to the Copper/Bronze Age. In the course of archaeological work during the installation of the electricity grid in the Mondello area (Palermo), part of a necropolis consisting of three oven-shaped tombs was exposed. The tombs multiple depositions, whose remains were found in a very bad state of preservation. Based on the type of funerary structures and the equipment found in them,…

Within the symbolic world of the prehistoric hunters: A GIS-based and 3D model analysis of sites with complexes of linear incisions in western Sicily

Abstract The prehistoric peopling of Sicily has left scattered traces of symbolic activities through well-known rock art expressions in caves and rock shelters located all around the island (among the most significant, the sites of Addaura, Racchio and Genovese). A peculiar phenomenon is the incision of linear signs, often grouped on the same rocky walls, hidden in fissures or placed at the entrance of the underground chambers of caves. In this report, we investigate a sample of these graphic expressions from a spatial and technical point of view. A GIS-based approach presents the territorial pattern providing insight, on a macroscale, into the intentional positioning of the sign complexes.…

Grotta San Michele di Saracena (Cosenza): le campagne di scavo 2004 e 2005 - Appendice 1: L’industria litica delle facies Diana e Spatarella. Analisi tecno-tipologica e funzionale di un assemblaggio del neolitico finale

The spread of steppe and Iranian-related ancestry in the islands of the western Mediterranean

Steppe-pastoralist-related ancestry reached Central Europe by at least 2500 bc, whereas Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 bc. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean, where they have contributed to many populations that live today, remains poorly understood. Here, we generated genome-wide ancient-DNA data from the Balearic Islands, Sicily and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from 5 to 66. The oldest individual from the Balearic Islands (~2400 bc) carried ancestry from steppe pastoralists that probably derived from west-to-east migration from Iberia, although two later Balearic individ…

Baucina (Pa) - Monte Falcone 2014. Indagini nella necropoli

The aim of this report is to present the results of rescue excavations, executed in order to contrast illegal excavation at the necropolis at Baucina, in northwestern Sicily, where Punic, Greek and indigenous traditions coexisted. Their relationship is the focus of the ongoing research. The archaeological dataset demonstrates that the interaction between three different ethnicities resulted in an impressive variety of rituals.

Petrographic characterization of quartzite tools from the Palaeolithic site of San Teodoro cave (Sicily): Study on the provenance of lithic raw materials

A petrographic characterization has been used here, for the first time, in the study of lithic raw materials exploited in prehistoric Sicily. Our research interests one of the oldest archaeological sites with evidence of the early human peopling of the island (∼15kyr ago): San Teodoro Cave, in northeastern Sicily. Two geological Formations, Numidian and Monte Soro Flysch gave origin to well-rounded pebbly quartzite elements scattered in the marine terraces surrounding the cave and likely exploited as one of the sources of the raw materials for the production of lithic tools by the Epigravettian communities having settled the place. The preference for one of the two qualities of quartzite is…

New data on Sicilian prehistoric and historic evolution in a mountain context, Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Italy)

Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archaeological site located in the Madonie mountain range in Sicily. Archaeological excavation and research have provided a long prehistoric and historic sequence from the Neolithic to the medieval period, this being the most complete work in this area at present. In this paper we present the preliminary data provided by a multidisciplinary study based on pottery, lithic, human, faunal and plant remains. Stratigraphic studies have identified four complexes, of which complex 3 has provided almost all the archaeological remains. 14C AMS dates, obtained from four samples, place the human activities between 2601 cal BC and 644 cal AD. These dates are coherent …

Prehistoric Settlement and Population in the Madonie Mountains. New Data from the Archaeological Survey

The aim of the Madonie research project is to analyse mobility strategies and the use of a mountainous territory by relating geomorphologic features, raw material sources and landscape to the prehistoric settlement. For this purpose we planned an intensive and systematic survey of sample areas, selected on geo-morphological, altimetric and archaeological criteria, correlated to a palaeoenvironmental investigation based on the study of palynological sequence samples coming from wet areas of the Madonie territory and from archaeological deposits. Le projet de recherche sur la Madonie analyse les stratégies de mobilité et l’exploitation du territoire de montagne, en reliant les caractéristique…

Early pastoral communities in the mountains of Sicily. Prehistoric evidence from Vallone Inferno (Scillato) in the palaeoenvironmental framework of the Madonie mountain range

Abstract This paper discusses the Middle Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age phases of the occupation of a rock shelter at Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo) in Sicily. Vallone Inferno is a key site for studying the early establishment and development of pastoralism in the prehistoric mountainous environments of Sicily. Seasonal use of the site as a shelter is documented for the earliest pastoral communities that exploited the Madonie mountain range. The results of the analysis of pottery and lithic assemblages contribute to the definition of two chronocultural frameworks that were linked by the same economic subsistence base. The special role of obsidian emerges, while the mobility pattern…

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF PASTORALISM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA: THE CASE OF VALLONE INFERNO, SCILLATO (PALERMO), SICILY

Mountain Environment and Landscape in prehistoric Sicily: The Madonie region (Palermo, Italy)

The present paper would like to show a research project still in progress, presenting the first preliminary archaeological data. The aim of the Madonie project is to analyse mobility strategies and the use of a mountain territory by prehistoric and historic age population, relating geomorphological features, raw material sources and landscape to settlements. In this occurence we are going to discuss about the prehistoric periods.

Strategie d'insediamento nella Sicilia pre-protostorica. Un esempio dal sistema montuoso delle Madonie

The Madonie research project analyzes mobility strategies and the use of a mountainous territory by relating geomorphologic features, raw material sources and landscape to the prehistoric settlement. To that end an intensive and systematic survey of sample areas was planned. Areas were selected on geo-morphological, altimetric and archaeological criteria. The palaeoenvironmental investigation is based on the study of palynological sequence samples coming from wet areas of the Madonie territory and from archaeological deposits. Madonie Natural Park lies on the northern coast of Sicily, near Palermo, in the surrounding of the Greek colony of Himera. The Madonie survey is the next stage of a l…

Nuovi rinvenimenti di età preistorica a Cozzo Rocca del Drago

Pastoral paths and the herding world: the routes of the shepherds from antiquity to modern age across the mountains of Sicily.

I livelli neolitici della Grotta San Michele di Saracena (CS)

The cave of San Michele lies on the right side of the narrow Garga valley, facing the modern settlement of Saracena (Cosenza) at an altitude of 750 m.a.s.l. Research conducted from 1998 to 2009 revealed an uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Studies of material from the Neolithic levels and the availability of radiocarbon dating allow for a reconstruction of the history of the Calabrian Sibaritide-Pollino populations in this period, highlighting the area as a meeting point of different cultural influences coming from south-east and south-west of Southern Italy.

Termini Imerese: rilettura topografica per un’ipotesi restitutiva dell’impianto urbano

I risultati che si presentano in questa sede sono frutto di una rivisitazione dello stato dell’arte, facilitata dall’informatizzazione dei dati topografici, dall’implementazione di una piattaforma GIS e dalla reperibilità di supporti cartografici a dettagli sempre maggiori. La rilettura topografica dell’edito si è posta come obiettivo la ricostruzione virtuale della potenziale maglia urbana dell’antica Thermae, quello che viene definito in genere il piano programmatico, in attesa che nuovi rinvenimenti contribuiscano a ridefinire le dimensioni del modulo di base e soprattutto quelle reali degli isolati abitativi. Il confronto con fondazioni coeve e culturalmente affini (Solunto, in primo lu…

Obsidian from the Site of Piano dei Cardoni, Ustica (Palermo, Italy): Preliminary Results on the First Occupation of the Island

Abstract New investigations on Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) originated from the need to improve our knowledge of the island’s archaeological and environmental heritage. Through field surveys, particular attention was paid to human occupation in the Neolithic phases and focused on the less investigated southern side of the island. The systematic survey of the area of Piano dei Cardoni in 2018 brought to light a new Middle/Late Neolithic site, already partially documented in the literature. The island was settled for the first time during these phases, as also testified from the area of Punta Spalmatore. The presence of Serra d’Alto, incised dark burnished, and Diana styles suggests that the site…

The GIS Platform and the Spatial Analyses

Spatial analyses, carried out using a GIS (Geographic Information System) platform, investigated the relationship between different environments (from the coast to the highlands) and human settlement and mobility strategies, in a diachronic perspective. Mobility strategies of the last hunter-gatherers in Sicily, the origin and first development of husbandry, the debated question about territorial relationships between indigenous people and Greek colonists, the birth of an articulated territorial exploitation system in Medieval times are some of the main topics discussed in this chapter.

Una cerva nella grotta del Tuono a Marettimo. Recupero, analisi e significato scientifico

The Egadi archipelago includes three islands: Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo. The island of Favignana is the closest to Sicily, about 7 km from the mainland coast and about 13 km from Trapani. Levanzo and Marettimo are roughly 13 and 36 km from Trapani, respectively. During the last glacial, Favignana and Levanzo were reachable by land since they were joined to the mainland as a result of glacial marine regression. On the other hand, Marettimo was never connected to Sicily, even during the last glacial maximum, due to a sea channel about 1.8 km wide and very deep. According to the most recent and reliable reconstructions, the island of Favignana was separated from Sicily around 7.35 thous…

The beginning of the Neolithic in Southern Italy and Sicily

Abstract The process of Neolithization of Southern Italy and Sicily covers about 500 years (6200–5700 cal BC) and involves two cultural horizons: Archaic Impressed Ware or “Impresse Arcaiche” and Advanced Impressed Ware or “Impresse Evolute”. In Southern Italy the Neolithic peopling from the East is characterized by a “package” of plenty domesticated plants and livestock; in Sicily the adoption of the new economical system is apparently more slow and with no evidences of ruptures between the Mesolithic groups and first farmers. In this paper we present the chronological and cultural framework of the sixth millennium BC within the area of investigation, with an up-to-date bibliography about …

Conclusions and Research Perspectives

This chapter is dedicated to the conclusions and the research perspectives. The former are strictly linked to the results of the spatial analysis discussed in the previous chapter. Since this topographic approach embraces both a wide territory, at a subregional scale, and a wide chronological range, several research perspectives and new projects may stem from it in the future.

HUMAN PEOPLING OF SICILY DURING QUATERNARY

ABSTRACT The early human peopling of Sicily and Western Mediterranean shores is one of the debated topic in the archaeological and anthropological literature over the twentieth century. This discussion involves not only the specific issue of the peopling of the continental island, but fundamentally the reconstruction of human migration routes and dispersals across the Mediterranean area during Early and Middle Pleistocene. Even if the common route of faunal and human movement is considered from North, and relative to the Messina strait crossing, several authors, on the base of archaeological evidences, hypothesized an early peopling and an African provenance through the Sicilian Channel. Th…

Indagini archeologiche nelle terme romane di Termini Imerese, Sicilia

Preliminary report of the archaeological samples conducted inside the eighteenth century thermal baths inTermini Imerese, which brought to light strucures of the Roman calidarium and the central pool for warmest baths.

Indagine del comprensorio madonita per la ricostruzione del popolamento antico e la valorizzazione dei percorsi e delle aree di interesse archeologico.

Oggetto di studio della ricerca è il comprensorio montano delle Madonie, localizzato sulla costa settentrionale della Sicilia. L’indagine topografica sta rivelando l’interesse archeologico dell’area, evidenziandone in particolar modo le dinamiche insediative per un periodo cronologico inquadrabile tra le fasi finali del Pleistocene ed il primo Olocene. L'indagine è condotta su aree campione che vengono prospettate in maniera intensiva e sistematica. Tali aree sono state preventivamente selezionate in base a criteri geologici, geomorfologici ed altitudinali. Grande importanza è stata data alle analisi paleo-ambientali, tuttora in corso; i primi risultati, di prossima pubblicazione, provengon…