The Rio Secco Cave, a New Final Middlepaleolithic Site in North-Eastern Italy
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Eurasian Prehistory, 5 (I): 85-94. THE RIO SECCO CAVE, A NEW FINAL MIDDLEPALEOLITHIC SITE IN NORTH-EASTERN ITALY Marco Peresani and Fabio Gurioli Universityof Ferrara, Dipartimento delle Risorse Naturali e Cutturali, Corso Ercole 1d 'Este 32 1-44100 Ferrara, Italy; marco.peresanuiisunife.u .fabio.guriolitiisunife. it Abstract . This article describes Rio Secco Cave, a newly discovered Middle Paleolithic site in the eastern Italian Pre-Alps. Sedimentarysuccession, faunal remains, lithic assemblages and one 14C date define a chronological range from OIS 3 to theHolocenewith evidence of human presence at the end of the Middle Paleolithic. This site shows for the first time the presenceof the last Mousterians in the central northern Adriatic region between the Venetian Alps and Dalmatia. INTRODUCTION some cases can be related to tool production tasks, Thefinal phase of the Middle Paleolithic in due to their very close proximity to lithic raw ma- northeastern Italy is documented through numer- terial sources. In other cases these short-term ousshelteredsites and open-air settlements that camps were simply used as waypoints in a logisti- showevidenceof short-term occupations or re- cal system of mobility. Segmented tool produc- pea.t~duse for complex tasks mostly aimed at ex- tion sequences like those recorded in the lithic as- ploItingmineral,non-mineral and food resources. semblages are the most useful indicators for largeamountsoflithic raw material as well as the predicting human behavior and variability in the physical-geographicaland ecological variability way these items circulated (Peresani and Porraz, atthe belt between the upper Venetian-Friulian 2004). The settlement system spans from the Ve- .11 . I I . UVI~P am and the Pre-Alps depict the context netian Pre-Alps to the neighboring western and ; w~lchNeand~rthalgroups lived, occupied ter- eastern regions, where sites are exclusively tones and migrated according to seasonal ephemeral and reveal limited and specific evi- ythmswith low residential mobility (Fiore et dence that can infer Neanderthal exploitation at 1.,2004; Pcresani,200 I; Porraz, 2005). Accord- the edge of the mountain context (i.e., Caverna ng.to their topographic position, some of the Generosa, Bona et al., in press) or to specific amcavesin the Venetian Pre-Alps (Grotta di situations in availability of mineral resources. umane:RiparoTagliente, Riparo Mezzena) can To this backdrop a recently discovered site conSIderedreference sites for sites that have stands out: Rio Secco Cave on the Pradis plateau, ensubjectedto frequent, complex and intense with its rich scientific evidence that shows human J.\uma~~ccupation where the lithic productions mobility indexes, territory occupation, and collec- erem.hmatelyintegrated with the acquisition, tion and exploitation of mineral and non-mineral ;?Cessmgand consumption of animal resources resources in the key region situated in the plain- tore et al., 2004; Peresani 2001' Thun Hohen- alpine contact region. Including the neighboring lemandPeretto, 2005). These" contexts were as- Piedmontese transect, the Pradis plateau is located 'atedwith various ephemeral camps that in between distinct morphological and ecological 86 M. Pcrcsnni & F. Gurioh The Rio Secco Cave, Italy 87 mhlgherthantbeplateau it is possible to enter the Corai, 1980; Peresani, in prep), The Grotte Verdi narrow ArzinoStream valley, a tributary of the caves were almost totally emptied by uncon- Tagliamentorunning southward from the inner trolled excavations during the 1960s and were in- Pre·Alpsto the plain, To the west, the Chiarza vestigated by research teams in 1970-1971 that ltreamvalleyconnects with the Meduna Stream recovered several Mousterian lithic artifacts from ill theTramontina Valley, crossing the Pre-Alps the lowermost deposit in Riparo I (sections 7-13): uptorueuppercourseof the Tagliamento. Due to few sidescrapers, one sidescraper on a thinned i,geographicsetting between the upper Friulian blank, various flakes partly affected by pseudo- plainandIbeCarnicPre-Alps, the Pradis Plateau retouches. From the same shelter, just a few side- standsata strategicposition, which may have fa- scrapers and flakes damaged by pseudo-retouches cilitatedhumanpenetration into the alpine region were recovered in sections 3, 4 and 5. Additional Adriatic Sea andtheupperTagliamento basin, Middle Paleolithic artifacts were found in sec- ThePradis Plateau has a gentle undulating tions 4 and 5 at Riparo II and in a reworked de- Fig .. 1. Northeastern Italy and the position of the landscapederivingmainly from the lightly sloped posit. Pradis Plateau In the Carnic Pre-Alps carbonaticfonnations (Rudist Limestones and ScagliaRossa- Cretaceous) and partly from the flysch(UpperPaleocene-M iddle Eocene) over LITHIC RESOURCES one thirdof the total surface (De Nardo, 1999, The stratigraphic series spanning from the areas: on the west the Venetian area rich ' h I 10 caves !hehmestonebedrocks were affected by karst Upper Triassic to the Miocene in the Carnic Pre- s e tel'S and open-air sites Some of I' h ' ~------- L'-":L ~egradationprocessesproducing an uneven rm- , W uc are --'I Alps is complex due to the various sedimentary relevant to Mousterian culture- at rh G I' . ,e east the crotopograpbywith isolated blocks brattices and settings (platform, basins, etc.) and as a result of III ran Alps. with Divje Babe 1 cave (Turk I"gd I' I' , eo mes ined up along the main fractures or intense tectonic activity in this area since the 1~97), the Trieste Karst with several sites inosr: ' F' 2 ' ,C l~.. Sketch map of the Pradis PI3Ieau showmgu.' tectonicdiscontinuities.The bedrock is perme- Mesozoic. Rocks are mostly carbonatic - dolo- stl~.lundated (Tozzi, 1994) Or reported to the Earl Y maIn morphological features and the positionofR~ ,tedbya densesystemof more than 200 explored mites and micritic, oolitic or bioclastic lime- Wurm (Grotta degli Orsi - Boschian 2003 y Secco Cave and Verdi caves: I _verysteppedslopes) northwestem Croatia and Dalmatian ' t ), r~vities,Someof which penetrate some kilome- stones, marls and marly limestones - o~erlain by II' . caas where - stepped slopes, gentle slopes 4 _ sinkholes, 5-maro we -known srtes and a few recently di stream cuts, 6 - Paleolithic cave '" deepandvaryin altitude by a few dozen me- the Claut and Clauzetto Flysch respectively and . tscovere.j arc In ves are reported (Karavanic, 2001). lers(CuccbiandFinocchiaro 1981), The few wa- b the molassic succession (Carulli et aI., 2000), te,,,ySdi ' o IsSectmgthe plateau run through the T~ese formations have variable cher: cont~nt: the ,~ttlomofdeepand narrow gorges with several dolomites of the Monticello Formation, With.rar~ PRESENTATION OF THE SITE lie lefS andc ' steep slope tl . Th avesopemng on the walls, nodules and/or black flint lenses; the Dolomia ?I Slat are sometimes inaccessible. Rio Secco cave was discovered in 2002 d The pi t ' ~d eFlyschoutcropson the northwestern side Forni, the most important a~d extended ba.sm . U~ . a eau IS enclosed by the followin~ lllg a survey aimed to explore archaeological evj., mountams' lh p M COnnectsto the karst plateau to the Pala it with frequent flint levels m the lower portion the R ,e ala Mount (I 231 rn) to thee.1 unr , L' tone dence and to reconstruct the earliest human his- OSsa Mo' , OuntDue t 't ' h of the sequence; the Chiampomano Ime~ , Ciaurlec M Unt ndge (1,369111) to the north,thedrogm' h' 0 IS Impenneability, a surface y- tory of the western Friulian region It II' 'th dark flint nodules and beds sporadically . es at an the soutll 't OUnt (1, 148 m) to the west (Fig, 2), To 'a P IC systemdeveloped draining toward the altItude of580 m on the Pradis Plateau in the east- rSI sector h '. WI t d becoming more frequent at the top; ern part of the Carnic Pre-Alps (Fig I) Which ru 1 terminates above the Cosa streamcui ~rbd ' w ere It IS almost completely ab- presen an . f:' d '· 2 . , an oro- ns South d" . d ,/ I In Ibesubstrate, The landscape assumes the Soverzene Formation in carbonatlc a~les an grap hIC unit 850 km bounded to the north b th scape, a system fiwar dlssectlllg the hdly Ian· ' h Y e a in dolomitic facies, in which dark!?lack tlmt nod- h Ig water~course of the Tagliamento Rive t crests betw ormed by WSW-ENE orient~ "'''d flUVIalfeatureswith several valleys, ter- h h b ' r, 0 , een 250 e surface d' . I and beds abound, flint sometImes has a yel- t e sout y the hIgh western Friulian plain, to the S,vely deere' 111 and 500 III with progres-~dR San thill allUVialsheets, The Cosa aSll1g elev . ~ es. h color in the dolomitic facle~; the V~rzeg- east by the eastern bank of the Cavazzo Lake and COntact to th atlon until they reach aclear ~de10 S~c.cos.treamsrun in gorges almost 1,000 tl e upper Po 'd " T ~WIS .. t Mount containing fllOt beds In the to the west approximately by the meridian passing 1e SOuthwest, the I eJ~one allUVial plaill. ,0 ~liftep~ngmatmgfrom a combination of tectonic ms Encflm es, . the Igne through. the Claut Village. Altitudes range from (367m) ridge r' Col Palis (374 Ill)-Col V"t, ~d"h~lthkarstand alluvial erosion processes ··f calcarenites lower portIOn, . th' Ises frOm tl " iCh d' , enCflDl .IC . hich dark flint beds abound dls- 310 m 111 the Tagliamento valley at the extreme e Claurlec IV 1e MedUlla fan and from sl., f IVldethe plateau from the western b OUnt a d C Fon~atlOn, I~ w Va'ont Limestone, with rare northeastern sector of the area to 2,479 m at Mt. Ounds to the north h n astelnuovo hills, and ""'"S theC"JaurIec Mount. a few in . Otnecaves . II contmuOu~~'re~;ish hint nodules and flint beds Pramaggiore. Several N-S and W-E oriented val- Ity of Which ~~lSeq~aJs marsh proxim- \I~,"I Openillgat the base ofrockwa s leys with 400 to 800 m elevations and high crests Covered from the lstenan artifacts were re- surfac ~t~etgecollapseddolines or in the gorges cut ~~~I~I~~the lower a~d :~t~~~o;:~':;'n o:r~;:~:~ (2,000-2,300111) between them dissect the region Almost 6 km2.