Approaching Cave Archaeology 22 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Durham E-Theses Caves and human lifeways in Middle Bronze Age Central Italy: a social bioarchaeology approach SILVESTRI, LETIZIA How to cite: SILVESTRI, LETIZIA (2017) Caves and human lifeways in Middle Bronze Age Central Italy: a social bioarchaeology approach, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12226/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract Letizia Silvestri Caves and human lifeways in Middle Bronze Age Central Italy: a social bioarchaeology approach This thesis is about the Middle Bronze Age (MBA: 1750-1450 BC) caves of central Italy, and the faunal and plant remains found inside them using the combined approach of contextual archaeology and social bioarchaeology. I draw new inferences from these ecofactual remains, which are crucial to improving our understanding of human lifeways in the Apennine region of the Italian peninsula. This work is much needed both in the field of cave archaeology (especially in relation to the Italian area) and in that of bioarchaeology. Here, traditional methodological issues, such as a tendency to ignore the ritual aspects of cave deposits, have produced substantial biases in the interpretations of the subsistence strategies. In addition, such traditional approaches based on Higgs’ (1975) palaeoeconomy have prevented bioarchaeological disciplines such as zooarchaeology and palaeoethnobotany from being productively used in several fields of application, notably in social archaeology. By analysing the data published over the last 35 years, as well as four archival collections and the new data from the newly excavated deposits at Mora Cavorso, Pastena and Collepardo caves, I have been able to: 1) recognise cave datasets as biased sources for the direct reconstruction of palaeoeconomy; 2) identify significant evidence pointing to the coexistence of agriculture and sheep farming even at the same sites, and to infer new information about seasonality and transhumance in the study area; 3) isolate recurrent trends in animal and plant selection in the sampled caves. This evidence points to specific ritual choices that must have been integrated into the religious framework of the communities that used these caves. This highlights both the variability of human practices undertaken at these sites, and the similarities between them, shedding more light on the nature and – in some cases – the possible significance of such rituals. In sum, I demonstrate how complex the use of caves in MBA central Italy was, and that a strict categorisation of such uses (as domestic, ritual, burial) is misleading. Caves and human lifeways in Middle Bronze Age Central Italy: a social bioarchaeology approach Letizia Silvestri PhD thesis Department of Archaeology Durham University 2016 Declaration The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations 7 List of Tables 12 Acknowledgements 14 Chapter 1 – Introduction 16 Chapter 2 - Approaching cave archaeology 22 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2. Archaeologies of caves: overstudied but misunderstood 22 2.3. Case-studies of caves and schools of thought 26 2.4. Geology, soil sedimentology and micromorphology 28 2.5. Ethnoarchaeology and environmental sciences 33 2.5.1. Zooarchaeology 34 2.5.2. Archaeobotany 37 2.6. Combining landscape and spatial analyses with material remains: functions and symbolism of caves 39 2.7 Funerary caves: when the easiest thing to see becomes the hardest thing to understand 42 2.8. Conclusion 46 Chapter 3 - The Middle Bronze Age in Central Italy 47 3.1 Introduction 47 3.2 The theoretical ‘pluriverse’ of Italian Bronze Age archaeology 47 3.3 The slow surrender of culture history: alternative approaches to the Italian Bronze Age 49 3.4 Salvatore Puglisi and the Apennine culture: a first step towards innovation …………………………………………………………………………………….50 3.5 The contribution of international scholars and the ‘revolution’ of Graeme Barker 51 3.6 Environmental sciences and the Italian Middle Bronze Age: pros and cons of a delayed adoption 54 3.7 Ethnoarchaeology, phenomenology and other post-processual approaches to Italian Protohistoric sites 56 3.8 The dangers of generalisations 59 3.9. From theory to practice: a focus on existing data about the Middle Bronze Age sites in Central Italy 59 3.9.1. Open sites: a controversial topic 60 3.9.2. The role of MBA caves in Central Italy 66 3.9.3. The open discussion of the ‘other sites’ 73 3.10. Putting the Central Italian Bronze Age in context: the real challenge 74 1 3.11. The real archaeological potential of caves 77 Chapter 4 - Theory, Methods and Materials 79 4.1. Aims and purposes of the chapter 79 4.2. Theoretical perspective – social zooarchaeology and social palaeobotany 79 4.2.1. What is social bioarchaeology? 79 4.2.2. Towards a social bioarchaeology: a critical literature review 81 4.2.2.1. 1960-‘70s: Paleoeconomy 81 4.2.2.2. 1980s- ‘90s: Critique of paleoeconomy, rise and fall of post- processualism 83 4.2.2.3. 2000s-2010s - part1: First appearances of the definition and of the approach 86 4.2.2.4. 2000s-2010s - part2: A matter of definition - ecofacts vs artefacts 88 4.3. Bioarchaeological methodologies: zooarchaeology and palaeobotany 89 4.3.1. Aims of the analyses 90 4.3.2. Zooarchaeological analyses 91 4.3.3. Palaeobotanical analyses 94 4.3.4. Contextual analyses of other material classes 96 4.3.5. Study of published sources 96 4.4. Bioarchaeology in context 100 Chapter 5 - The Bronze Age contexts of Grotta Mora Cavorso 101 5.1. Introduction and aims of the chapter 101 5.2. History of the discovery 102 5.3. Detailed description of the cave 105 5.4. History of studies 106 5.5. Mora Cavorso Cave in the Bronze Age 108 5.5.1. Radiometric dates and stratigraphy 108 5.5.2. Structures - Pits 110 5.5.3. Artefacts 113 5.5.3.1. Pottery 113 5.5.3.2. Bone artefacts 116 5.5.3.3. Lithic artefacts 117 5.5.4. Human bones 118 5.5.5. Animal bones: environmental, economic and ritual information 120 5.5.5.1. Ovicaprine 122 5.5.5.2. Pigs 126 5.5.5.3. Cattle, dog and wild taxa 128 5.5.5.4. Ritual aspects 130 5.5.5.5. Spatial patterns and chronological sequence 132 2 5.5.6. What were the most likely uses of this cave? 133 5.5.7. What was the frequency and intensity of occupation? 134 5.6. The cave in the archaeological landscape 135 5.6.1. The Upper Aniene Valley and the Simbruini Mountains 135 5.6.2. Relation with other sites 135 5.7. Experiences 137 Chapter 6 - The Middle Bronze Age of Grotta di Pastena 142 6.1. Introduction: aims and methodology 142 6.2. Background 142 6.2.1. Description of the cave and the archeological chambers 143 6.2.2. History of studies 144 6.3. Pastena Cave in the Bronze Age 147 6.3.1. Description of the chamber and stratigraphy 147 6.4 Structures 150 6.4.1. Stone floors and structures 150 6.4.2. Hearths 152 6.4.3. Pits 154 6.4.4. Limestone pools 155 6.5. Artefacts 155 6.5.1. Pottery 155 6.5.2. Bronze 158 6.5.3. Faїence 160 6.5.4. Stone 163 6.6. Ecofacts 165 6.6.1. Human bones 165 6.6.2. Animal bones 166 6.6.2.1. Methodological premise 166 6.6.2.2. Domestic species 169 6.6.2.3. Wild species – Lepus sp., Felis sylvestris, Martes sp. 170 6.6.2.4. Preliminary palaeoecological, economic and ritual observations 171 6.6.3. Botanical remains 173 6.6.3.1. Methodological premise 173 6.6.3.2. Preliminary palaeoecological, economic and ritual observations 175 6.7. Discussion 175 6.7.1. Combined data 175 6.7.2. Experiences and human perception 177 6.7.3. What were the most likely uses of this cave? 177 3 6.7.4. What was the frequency and intensity of occupation? 178 6.7.5. The cave in the archaeological landscape 179 6.7.6. Preliminary conclusions 180 Chapter 7 - The Bronze Age of Grotta Regina Margherita di Collepardo 182 7.1. Introduction and aims of the chapter 182 7.2. The archaeological background 183 7.2.1. The cave in the natural landscape 183 7.2.3. History of studies 183 7.3. The stratigraphy 185 7.4. The human bones 186 7.5. The artefacts 190 7.6. The faunal remains: re-analysis of the 2008 faunal remains and analysis of the 2014-2015 ones 192 7.6.1. Methodology 192 7.6.2. Faunal analysis results 196 7.6.2.1. Ovis aries vel Capra hircus 196 7.6.2.2. Bos taurus 198 7.6.2.3. Sus domesticus 198 7.6.2.4.