Grotta Mora Cavorso, from Protohistory to Present Times
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Grotta Mora Cavorso, from Protohistory to Present Times Grotta Mora Cavorso, from Protohistory to Present Times By Mario Federico Rolfo, Katia Francesca Achino, Maurizio Gatta and Letizia Silvestri Grotta Mora Cavorso, from Protohistory to Present Times By Mario Federico Rolfo, Katia Francesca Achino, Maurizio Gatta and Letizia Silvestri This book first published 2021 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2021 by Mario Federico Rolfo, Katia Francesca Achino, Maurizio Gatta and Letizia Silvestri All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-6217-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-6217-2 To the Cappa Family, Angelo “Nerone” Procaccianti and Elia Mariano, discoverers of the cave. To the almost ninety students that have worked hard with us, whether for just one campaign or for many years, allowing us to accomplish the goal of completing this long-lasting mission of archaeological investigation. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations .................................................................................... ix List of Tables ........................................................................................... xiii Foreword .................................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements ................................................................................ xvii Chapter I ..................................................................................................... 1 Grotta Mora Cavorso and the Aniene Valley Cave Survey Project: A Decade-Long Journey 1.1 - Aims and objectives of the Grotta Mora Cavorso volume series ................................................................................................ 1 1.2 - Aims and objectives of Grotta Mora Cavorso - Volume 1 ........... 2 1.3 - The Aniene Valley Survey Project (with the contribution of P. Ceruleo) .................................................................................. 3 1.3.1 - Lower Aniene Valley ............................................................ 9 1.3.2 - Middle Aniene Valley ......................................................... 10 1.3.3 - Upper Aniene Valley .......................................................... 18 1.4 - Grotta Mora Cavorso: an introductory overview ........................ 23 Chapter II .................................................................................................. 30 Historical Age 2.1 - Ethnoarchaeology and historical memory .................................. 30 2.2 - Archaeology of the senses .......................................................... 34 2.3 - Living and feeling the cave ......................................................... 36 2.4 - Modern Age ................................................................................ 37 2.5 - Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ................................. 41 2.6 - The historical pottery assemblage (by J. Russo) ......................... 43 2.7 - The historical faunal assemblage ................................................ 52 2.8 - Modern DNA research ................................................................ 55 viii Table of Contents Chapter III ................................................................................................ 59 Protohistory 3.1 – Human remains (by F. De Angelis & F. Cortese) ...................... 59 3.2 - Anthropic structures ................................................................... 64 3.3 - Pottery ........................................................................................ 67 3.4 - Lithic industry ............................................................................ 73 3.5 - Bone Industry ............................................................................. 75 3.6 - Faunal remains ............................................................................ 75 3.7 – Stable isotope analyses (by F. De Angelis & F. Cortese) .......... 82 3.8 - Analysing the spatial distribution of material evidence and potential correlations .............................................................. 85 3.9 - Sediment micromorphology (by A. Prijatelj) ............................. 92 3.10 - Multidisciplinarity in action: a discussion on the protohistoric deposit of GMC ........................................................................... 101 Chapter IV .............................................................................................. 108 Conclusions Bibliography ........................................................................................... 116 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Chapter I – Grotta Mora Cavorso and the Aniene Valley Cave Survey Project: a decade-long journey Fig. 1-1.A. Grotta Mora Cavorso. A) Location of the cave in central Italy; B) External view of the cave's entrance; C) View of the Entrance Room from Dig B1, before the start of excavations. Fig. 1-1.B. Spatial location of all the caves involved in the Aniene Valley Survey Project. 1) Grotta Mora Cavorso; 2) Grotta del Focone; 3) Grotta Gramaldoli; 4) Balze del Portellone; 5) Mora Gallina; 6) Grotta di Santa Scolastica; 7) Grotta Morritana; 8) Morra di Colecchia; 9) Grotta 1 and Riparo di Anticoli Corrado; 10) Grotta 2 di Anticoli Corrado; 11) Grotta del Convento di San Giorgio; 12) Grotta Polesini. Fig. 1-2. Grotta Polesini. A-B) Views of the cave. Fig. 1-3. Morra di Colecchia. A) Cave entrance; B) Reproduction of Morra di Colecchia’s rock art (Mattioli, 2007); C) Photo of Morra di Colecchia’s rock art. Fig. 1-4. Grotta 1, Grotta 2 and Riparo di Anticoli Corrado. A) Entrance chamber of Grotta 1; B) View of the Riparo; C) View of Grotta 2. Fig. 1-5. A-B-C) Grotta 2 di Anticoli Corrado’s incisions and drawing; D- E) Riparo di Anticoli Corrado’s incisions and drawing. Fig. 1-6. Grotta del Convento di San Giorgio. A) Entrance to the cave; B) Surface remains of the cave. Fig. 1-7. Grotta di Santa Scolastica and Mora Gallina. A) View of Grotta di Santa Scolastica’s entrance; B-F) Views of Mora Gallina. C-D) Black charcoal drawings found at Grotta di Santa Scolastica; E) The Aniene River. Fig. 1-8. Mora Gallina’s selected finds. A) 18th century metal buckle; B) Fragment of protohistoric spindle-whorls; C) Apennine decorated potsherd; D) Bronze Age decorated handle. x List of Illustrations Fig. 1-9. Grotta Gramaldoli. A) The entrance chamber of the cave; B) External view of the cave’s entrance. Fig. 1-10. Balze del Portellone. A) View from the valley bottom; B) Entrance to “Grotta Piccola”; C) External view of “Grotta Grande”. Fig. 1-11. Map of GMC and location of the investigated digs; B) Reconstructed stratigraphy of all the investigated digs. Chapter II – Historical Age Fig. 2-1. Grotta Mora Cavorso - Dig A. A) The present-day drywall; B) The foundations of the early drywall; C) Drawings of the present-day drywall and the foundations of the earlier wall; D) Location of the foundations of the walls (wall “A” coloured in orange). Fig. 2-2. 18th century coins (A-B-C) and votive medal (D) found in Dig A. Fig 2-3. Total percentages of the Historical ceramic finds by dig. Fig. 2-4. A) Bottom of “spotted” glaze cooking pot; B) Fragment of open form decorated with concentric lines and possible flower motif in the centre; C-D-E) Fragments of majolica; F) Fragment of a pipe found in Dig A; G) Late Antique oil lamp from Dig B. Fig. 2-5. A-B) Modern glazed kitchenware; C) Large bowl decorated with concentric lines. Drawings by J. Russo. Fig. 2-6. A) Unglazed Medieval kitchen jar; B) Decorated warmer. Drawings by J. Russo. Fig. 2-7. Location of the seven sites where modern DNA samples were collected (satellite image from Google Maps). Chapter III – Protohistory Fig. 3-1. Location of the human remains identified in Digs B1-D. Fig. 3-2. Photos of some human remains found in Digs B1-D. A, C) Body and ramus of a mandible with features suggesting the attribution to a female individual and teeth showing strong dental wear, useful for age estimation; B) Distal limb segments (proximal hand phalanx and metacarpal (II) ); D) Ribs; E) Tibia with an occupational marker (squatting facet on the distal Grotta Mora Cavorso, from Protohistory to Present Times xi articular surface) which could derive from a repeated crouched position during life. Fig. 3-3. A) The discovery of the upside-down intact carinated bowl inside the pit in Dig B2; B) Intact carinated bowl (MBA 1-2a); C-D-E) Protohistoric spindle-whorls from Dig B2; F-G) Flint arrowheads from Dig B2. Fig. 3-4. A-B) The entrance to Dig D in two different excavation phases; C- D) Views of Dig B2. Fig. 3-5. Reconstructed protohistoric jar forms (from Rolfo et al. 2013). Fig. 3-6. Percent distribution of pottery forms found in the protohistoric level of GMC, by functional use. It should be noted that these distinctions might not have been used originally at the site, given the ritual context of retrieval and the possible defunctionalisation undergone by at least some of the artefacts found here. Fig. 3-7. Reconstructed protohistoric forms. A) Handle; B) Long-necked vase; C) Bowl; D) Large bowl; E) Tongue-shaped-handled pan (from Rolfo et al. 2013). Fig. 3-8. Flint artefacts