Neolítico

L’archeologo del XXI secolo non vive più di solo studio e scavo. Oggi la moderna ricerca impone di affiancare al lavoro in cantiere e ai libri in biblioteca modi sempre nuovi di indagare, comunicare e gestire l’antico. Bastano un po’ di fantasia, versatilità e intraprendenza per dare vita, da archeologo, alle attività più disparate. Come hanno fatto i 34 professionisti che si raccontano in Archeostorie: c’è chi cura un museo e chi gestisce un’area archeologica, chi narra il passato ai bambini e chi lo “fa vedere” ai ciechi, chi usa nel racconto le tecnologie e i linguaggi più diversi e persino i videogame; c’è poi chi ricostruisce l’antico in 3D e chi lo sperimenta dal vivo, chi organizza i dati di scavo e chi li rende disponibili per tutti; c’è chi scrive sui giornali e chi parla di archeologia alla radio o in tivù, chi realizza documentari e chi racconta l’archeologia sui social network; c’è ancora chi punta sul marketing e chi sul crowdfunding, chi fa dell’archeologia un’esperienza per tutti e chi difende le bellezze da furti e scempi. C’è anche chi studia e scava, e nel libro descrive la vita vera di studio e scavo al di là dei miti e dei sogni.
Il risultato è un manuale non convenzionale che offre spunti originali e concreti agli archeologi del futuro in cerca di reali possibilità di occupazione. Una sorta di bottega artigiana dove apprendere i segreti del mestiere, o meglio dei mestieri, che un’archeologia nuova, pragmatica e ancorata nel presente può ispirare.

The Jebel al-Ma'taradh and its surroundings contain exceptional deposits of lithic raw materials, including flint and chert, but especially chalcedony, agate, carnelian, and chrysoprase. These deposits were intensively exploited during the Neolithic, and some of the artefacts produced entered the trade network that included settlements on the coast and inland, sometimes as far as 300 km. During earlier periods, probably as early as the Pleistocene, only flint was used. Between the sixth and the fourth millennia, carnelian and agate were exploited to make beads, which are found in the necropolises and settlements of the UAE.

This new contribution aims to provide an overview of the scientific and popular activities carried out, during 2016, by Sezione Archeologica of Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA. of Palermo. In relation to the previous contribution about the activities of 2015, we have tried to create more extensive forms, also correlated with an essential bibliography. Once again, above all the daily work of protecting the territory and the interventions of preventive archaeology (both public and private) have allowed to highlight significant results and archaeological innovations that concern the entire territory of the province of Palermo; of course, the contributions are preliminary reports, however we believe it is right to make available to the scientific community the new data collected, even if still in the study phase. Moreover, the Unità Operativa Beni Archeologici has been engaged – as it has been previously – in activities of scientific valorisation and communication, also with important repercussions in the field of social commitment, confirming the role of cultural "control" that this Institute plays, in spite of everything.

"Because of its design and scale, Menga is an outstanding megalithic monument. As such, it has also had a remarkable biography, dating back to the early part of the 4th millennium BC and spanning all prehistoric and historic periods since then. This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive review of the evidence available to understand Menga’s journey through time. The data presented here help understand issues such as the chronology of the building of the monument, its frequentation and use throughout Late Prehistory or its re-use as burial ground in Roman and Medieval times. To date, no other Iberian megalithic monument has shown such pervasiveness as a place filled with long-term ideological significance for memory and identity."

Proceedings of the 2nd European Megalithic Studies Group Meeting (Seville, Spain, November 2008). The meeting of the European Megalithic Studies Group at Seville in November 2008 brought an international group of researchers together to consider two themes: the presence and significance of rare rocks, and the chronology of these monuments. While megalithic monuments are known to have been built mostly of locally available stone, their builders occasionally incorporated blocks that had been brought from a distance. These instances of ‘megalithic transport’ provide insight into the significance of both the stones themselves and their sources. Neolithic monuments may also contain ‘exotic’ stone in the form of special materials deposited with the dead, indicators of social and symbolic values. The second theme of the meeting, chronology, explored the temporal framework within which individual groups of monuments were built and the insights provided by recent dating programmes. Among these is the realisation that the construction of particular categories of monument may have been more limited in time than had previously been supposed. Papers in both themes address key issues of scale, cultural tradition and cultural exchange.

Actas de la Segunda Reunión del Grupo Europeo de Estudios Megalíticos (Sevilla, España, noviembre 2008). El encuentro del Grupo Europeo de Estudios Megalíticos celebrado en Sevilla en noviembre de 2008 reunió a un grupo internacional de especialistas para examinar dos temas: la presencia y significación de rocas raras, y la cronología de estos monumentos. Aunque se sabe que los monumentos megalíticos fueron construidos básicamente con piedras localmente disponibles, sus constructores incorporaron ocasionalmente bloques que habían sido traídos de más distancia. Estos ejemplos de “transporte megalítico” proporcionan datos respecto al significado tanto de las piedras en sí mismas como de sus fuentes de abastecimiento. Los monumentos neolíticos pueden también contener piedra “exótica” en forma de materiales especiales depositados con los muertos, indicadores de valores sociales y simbólicos. El segundo tema del encuentro, la cronología, trató del marco temporal en el que se construyeron los grupos individuales de monumentos así como de las perspectivas posibilitadas por programas de datación recientes. Entre estas perspectivas se encuentra el descubrimiento de que la construcción de ciertas categorías específicas de monumentos pudo haber estado más limitada en el tiempo de lo que se había supuesto previamente. Las colaboraciones relativas a ambos temas tratan cuestiones clave de escala, tradición cultural e intercambio cultural.

The Pena d’Água Rock-shelter (Torres Novas, Portugal) was excavated in 1992–2000, revealing a long stratigraphic and cultural sequence including Middle Neolithic occupations. A preliminary study on its fauna was published by Valente (1998) based on the 1992–1994 material, but the 1997–2000 campaigns remained unstudied. The aim of this study is to present the full fauna analysis of the layer Db, dated from the earlier phases of that period.
Like other assemblages from the same time frame in the area, the fauna collection understudy is small. Its bones showed several surface and chemical alterations due to sediment pressure, exposure to fire and water percolation. Regarding the taxonomical abundances, most remains were classified as rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and sheep and/or goat (Ovis aries/Capra hircus). A few specimens of cervid, fox (Vulpes vulpes) and bird were also identified.
The other fauna assemblages from the region show either the prevalence of the caprine component (as in Pena d’Água) or a higher abundance of cervids. This trend may reflect a specialized animal exploitation and we propose that the Middle Neolithic human communities in the Limestone Massif had a subsistence strategy based on caprine exploration, supplemented by some cervid (red deer) hunting. These hunter-herders groups were probably highly mobile and may have practiced some kind of transhumance (or itinerant pastoralism), for which the details are still unknown.

ABSTRACT An early-to mid-Holocene humid phase has been identified in various Arabian geo-archives, although significant regional heterogeneity has been reported in the onset, duration and stability of this period. A multi-proxy lake and dune record from Wahalah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) documents significant variations in hydrology, biological productivity and landscape stability during the first half of the Holocene. These data reveal that post-Last Glacial Maximum dune emplacement continued into the earliest part of the Holocene, with the onset of permanent lacustrine sedimentation at the site commencing ~8.5 ka cal. BP. A long-term shift towards more arid conditions is inferred between ~7.8 and
5.9 ka cal. BP, with intermittent flooding of the basin and distinct phases of instability throughout the catchment area. This transition is linked to the southwards migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and associated weakening of monsoon rains. A peak in landscape instability is recorded between ~5.9 and 5.3 ka cal. BP and is marked by a pronounced increase in regional dune emplacement. These variations are considered alongside the record of human settlement raising important questions about the interactions between population demographics, climate and environment in southeast Arabia during the Neolithic.

Découvert il y a une quarantaine d’années, le Monti Barbatu domine la rive nord du golfe du Valincu de ses 515 m. Le site accueille plusieurs occupations entre le milieu du Néolithique et la fin du Moyen Âge. Il a fait l’objet de plusieurs prospections et de quelques sondages menés dans les années 1980 par O. Jehasse. En 2013, une première fouille d’ampleur limitée avait été menée contre l’enceinte cyclopéenne installée sous le sommet. Ces travaux avait mis en évidence des niveaux d’occupation du Néolithique récent endommagés par les aménagements successifs, un niveau de l’âge du Bronze moyen et un remblai d’époque médiévale. L’opération avait en outre consisté à réaliser des relevés topographiques et architecturaux, ainsi qu’à décrire la statue-menhir MBI, découverte quelques années auparavant sur le plateau inférieur du site.
En 2017, il s’agissait de poursuivre les investigations sur la zone subsommitale (secteur C). L’excavation, d’une surface originelle de 9 m², a atteint une aire de près de 30 m², toujours contre l’enceinte mais en direction du centre du plateau. L’analyse de la stratigraphie montre que la première occupation est datable du début du IVe millénaire et rattachable au faciès basien. La zone investiguée correspond vraisemblablement à la limite d’un espace habité, matérialisée par un mur en pierre sèche, structure inédite à l’échelle insulaire pour cette phase. Au début du Bronze moyen, un rempart en gros blocs est aménagé juste à l’ouest de la terrasse formée par ce mur et un remblai-dépotoir est constitué à ses pieds afin d’aplanir les aspérités du terrain. Monti Barbatu devient alors un imposant casteddu non pourvu de torra, à moins que celle-ci n’ait été démantelée à l’époque médiévale. L’enceinte protège des habitations dont la forme n’a pu être approchée. Les mobiliers associés illustrent d’importantes connexions économiques et culturelles avec la basse vallée du Taravu et un impact stylistique de l’Italie septentrionale et centrale. Un nouveau chapitre d’occupation s’écrit au Bronze final. Cette phase, mal documentée, caractérise peut-être un repli sur les zones supérieures du site, là où se trouve une enceinte en petit appareil qui date de cette époque et/ou du Moyen Âge. Sur le niveau d’abandon protohistorique est posé un sol équipé d’un foyer, daté au radiocarbone du Xe siècle apr. J.-C., percé plus tard par des fosses non datées. Ultérieurement, un important remblai constituant vraisemblablement le niveau d’implantation du village et de la chapelle du castrum, est édifié sur ces vestiges. Son sédiment inclut une grande quantité de mobilier du Néolithique récent et du Bronze moyen, preuve que le sédiment a été pris sur le site, mais également des ensembles terriniens, campaniformes, Bronze ancien, antiques et médiévaux, qui attestent de la longue perduration de l’occupation et donc du caractère stratégique du site.
La campagne a également consisté à fouiller un aménagement à l’origine considéré comme un coffre sépulcral, situé sur le plateau inférieur (secteur B). Très vite, il a été possible d’observer qu’il s’agissait en réalité d’un double mur de dalles constituant la limite d’une grande habitation subrectangulaire implantée au pied du massif rocheux du secteur C. Ces sondages ont révélé un colmatage essentiellement alimenté par les colluvionnements. Néanmoins, l’homogénéité du mobilier sur le secteur a permis de reconnaître une chronologie de fonctionnement placée entre le Néolithique moyen 2 et le Néolithique récent. L’individualisation d’une telle structure pour ces époques constitue une nouveauté pour les zones littorales du sud de la Corse et offre un contrepoint aux habitats de Fuata, Monte Revincu, Guaita ou Presa.
Les prospections réalisées sur le secteur B ont également permis de recenser la statue-menhir MBII, un tronçon mésial portant une épée disposée en oblique. Un sondage sera pratiqué en 2018 dans cette zone. En limite méridionale du site, deux structures interprétées comme des habitations de l’âge du Bronze, de forme subrectangulaire à elliptique, matérialisées par des solins de gros blocs. L’une d’entre elles, la structure A, fera l’objet d’une fouille partielle en 2018.

SUMMARY - The settlement of Lugo di Grezzana in the framework of the Early Neolithic Po vall ey - The Lugo di Grezzana
(Verona) deposit is located in the Lessini Mountains and represents one of the key sites to decipher the occupation and raw
material exploitation strategies between the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. The results of the research
directed by the University of Trento in collaboration with the Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici del Veneto (Archaeological
Heritage of Veneto Region) are presented in this paper. The study of the stratigraphy and material culture supported by 14C datings
(tab. I, fig. 3) suggest an increasing occupation of the area with some lack or shift stressed by alluvial lenticular layers. A
single date is attributable to mid 6th millennium cal BC and can be interpreted as the first early occupation of the area. The artefact
complex (figg. 4-7) found at the bottom of the large pit ES 116/03 (units 260/03, 259/03, 256/03) are attributed to this phase
and characterised by the absence of the Ripabianca burin and of the Fiorano carenated beaker. The main occupation is dated
5300-5000 cal BC which is the period of the maximum diffusion of the Lessini chart all over Northern Italy. Around 5000 cal
BC the occupation of the settlement seems to show a temporary interruption and alluvial events are evident in all the pits. The
last Neolithic occupation is attested between the 4900 and 4800/4700 cal BC when the early geometric-linear style of Square Mouthed Pottery culture is already widespread. This phase is scanty represented by chipping areas and simple round fire places.

Agriculture in Lugo di Grezzana (Northern Italy, Verona): preliminary observations - Recent analyses on charred remains from Lugo di Grezzana (VR), especially from ES 235 (area IX) infillings attributed to the Fiorano culture
phase, enriched the framework of the Early Neolithic Northeastern Italy. These analyses have also confirmed the existence of significant diversities related to cultural facies and geographic areas. The comparison with the data from Friuli region, and specifically from Sammardenchia, suggested important differences to be attributed to a different production organization (tab. II).
The most exploited species are barley and emmer, and secondarily the naked wheat. The main difference with Sammardenchia is the complete lack (as far as we know) of the new glume wheat and the very limited exploitation of einkorn. The harvest of fruits is important in the settlement: acorns and hazelnuts are the most exploited.
The presence of the barley is similar in the two settlements. The lack of leguminous plants in the Lugo di Grezzana samples does not enable any comparison between the two.

La continuación en 2013 de los trabajos de documentación de programas gráficos en los monumentos de Antequera ha revelado la espectacular decoración del dolmen de Viera. Pinturas, grabados y estelas convierten este sepulcro en uno de los más importantes del arte megalítico del sur de Europa. Este género de documentación incrementa el conocimiento sobre las cadenas operativas de la construcción de los megalitos. Presentamos un avance de resultados con algunas líneas de análisis de una investigación que está en su fase inicial.

The documentation of graphic programs on the Antequera monuments has revealed the spectacular decoration of the Viera dolmen. Paintings, engravings and stelae make this sepulchre one of the most important monuments of Southern European megalithic art. This kind of documentation increases the knowledge about the “chaines operatoires” of the European megaliths. This paper presents a preliminary description of some of the lines of analysis of a research project that is currently in its initial phase.

The results of the intervention at the megalithic tomb of Godinhos (Redondo) are presented here.
These are discussed within the regional human occupation, namely its funerary and settlement dynamics during the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE. Also, spacial focus is given to some findings, particularly the trapezoid microliths, compared with those collected in other tombs such as Cabeço da Areia and Rabuje 5. To be noted is the very likely foundation act in the tomb mound with three rock spheres. Finally, the reuse of the tomb in the late 3rd millennium is motif for some reflections, namely about a golden element.

Entre 1998 e 2007, desenvolveu-se em Alcoutim um importante conjunto de iniciativas de índole arqueológica que, realizadas em estreita colaboração entre os dois signatários, conduziu a notável acervo de informações sobre o passado mais longínquo desta vasta e bela região da zona oriental da serra algarvia.
O início desta colaboração começou em Setembro de 1998, com a realização de escavações no notável menir do Lavajo situado perto do monte de Afonso Vicente, o qual recebeu a designação do topónimo mais próximo. A intervenção, sob orientação científica do primeiro signatário, contou com o apoio da Câmara Municipal de Alcoutim, nela participando activamente a segunda signatária desta obra, que, pouco tempo antes, havia sido nomeada arqueóloga da Câmara Municipal de Alcoutim.

Primer volumen de una obra que nace como resultado de cuatro años de investigación desarrollados bajo el proyecto «Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas del NE peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias» (HAR2011-23149), financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Un amplio equipo, formado por 95 investigadores procedentes de diversas universidades, empresas privadas de arqueología y centros de investigación, abordan de manera conjunta las prácticas funerarias de los grupos de agricultores y pastores del Neolítico que habitaron el noreste de la península ibérica entre inicios del v y mediados del iv milenio a. de C. analizando el registro de 40 yacimientos y aportando abundante información inédita acompañado de una amplio número de ilustraciones (541 solo en el primer volumen). Así, el presente volumen, en el que participan 33 autores, arranca con los cuatro yacimientos estudiados para la provincia de Girona (Puig d’enRoca, Sant Julià de Ramis, Can Gelats y Cova de l’Avellaner) y recoge el gran núcleo formado por la Bòbila de Madurell-Can Gambús-Mas Duran en la provincia de Barcelona.

The archaeological excavation at the site El Prado has documented an Early Neolithic open air settlement and has discovered almost thirty negative structures that were part of an habitat belonging to the early vth millennium cal bc. Its location on a valley bottom beside the gorge of Pancorbo  natural corridor exploited from prehistory times to connect the Ebro valley and the Meseta–, partly explains the location of the settlement. Amongst the documented structures are several storage pits she athed with clay, a well pit and two burials. The latter are both for their structural characteristics and for their ritual, an important contribution to the knowledge of funerary practices during the Early Neolithic, and they will supplement the meagre map and the unequal distribution of findings documented in the peninsula until the end of the vth millennium cal bc. The palynological study provides interesting data on bioclimatic characteristics and anthropization of the environment, and the archaeological material recovered shows clear connections with the contexts of the Ebro valley, but also showing the cultural peculiarities of the Duero basin.

Analysis of the fish bones from the 5th millennium BC settlement on Akab Island in Umm al-Qaiwain emirate in the United Arab Emirates provides evidence of open ocean fishing. The discovery of numerous bones of tuna, as well as the presence of shell fish hooks at the site, suggests that fishing was at least part of the time carried out from boats in the open sea, beyond the shallow waters of the local lagoon. Some fishing was also carried on in these sheltered waters, and analysis of the molluscan and crab remains indicates that mangrove areas were also exploited. Some comments are made concerning the presence of shell fish hooks at the site, as well as certain types of beads and jewellery, which reinforce the idea of a coherent regional cultural entity during the 5th–4th millennia within this region.

Il sito di Lugo di Grezzana, ubicato nella media Valpantena e attribuito al Neolitico antico, cultura di Fiorano (5300 – 4900 a. C. cal), ha restituito delle interessanti fosse di combustione. Si tratta di buche dalle pareti verticali rubefatte e fondo piatto. Il riempimento inferiore è costituito da travi in quercia carbonizzate e quello superiore da sedimento misto e manufatti. La combustione avvenuta all’interno è piuttosto evidente: sono presenti infatti tutte quelle tracce considerate identificative di processi di combustione (alterazioni termiche del suolo, presenza di carboni, ceneri, concotti e travi carbonizzate), l’oggetto e le finalità di tale processo sono molto meno chiare. Nel lavoro si discute la possibilità che esse siano potenzialmente adatte per cuocere i diversi tipi di ceramica attestati nel sito.     

FIRING PITS AT LUGO DI GREZZANA (VR)
At the early Neolithic site of Lugo di Grezzana (VR), Northern Italy, which relates to Fiorano culture (5300 – 4900/4700 cal BC) several firing pits have been found and recently studied.
The five firing pits investigated are morphometrically similar, with a circular or squared shape, often associated with vertical walls and a flat base. Dimensions are different and vary in diameter and deep. They present well defined characteristics that could be connected to fire use: infillings rich in charcoal and ash remains, strong rubefaction of the walls, oxidized sediments, artifacts and ecofacts modified by fire such as burnt clay, burnt beams, flint tools and small sherds. A possible function as pits used to fire pottery has been proposed.

Se aborda el análisis del desarrollo de las primeras formaciones sociales productoras de alimentos en la región andaluza que tiene lugar, a partir de los yacimientos con cronologías más precisas, entre la segunda mitad del VI y primer cuarto del V milenios. Igualmente, se analiza cómo estas comunidades activarán un modelo de ocupación estacional y/o periódico, con importantes diferencias entre los distintos entornos biogeográficos. Esto, unido a las estrategias de explotación de sus recursos, dará lugar a una variabilidad de mayor complejidad de lo tradicionalmente reconocido. El alto nivel de desarrollo tecnológico y su economía agrícola y pastoril han sido esgrimidos para explicar un origen foráneo, mientras el control exhaustivo del terreno circundante y la pervivencia de algunas tradiciones técnicas, han servido para defender la fuerza de las poblaciones de sustrato epipaleolíticas-mesolíticas.

We address the development of the first food-producing social formations of Andalusia, which, according to the currently best-dated sites, emerged between the second half of the 6th and the first quarter of the 5th millennia BC. Likewise, we discuss how these communities developed a seasonal settlement pattern with major differences according to bio-geographic environments. This, together with strategies for resource exploitation, gives place to a greater variability than hitherto acknowledged. The high technological development and the agro-pastoral economy have been argued to explain their foreign origin, whereas the exhaustive control of the surrounding territory and the continuity of certain technical traditions have been used to advocate the strength of the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic substrate.

In the present communication are disclosed two descriptive findings close together that come to assume the link of Early and Late Neolithic sites in this natural corri¬dor connecting the upper reaches of the Ebro and Duero, completing the scarce regional mosaic in outdoor sites with absolute dating. We offer some novel features in the patterns of open air settlement and funeral about nearby sites, with some links from other sites in this plateau border.