The Neolithisation of the Alpine Region
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15 188N 0390-6639 MUSEO CIVICO DI SCIENZE NATURALI DI BRESC IA THE NEOLITHISATION OF THE ALPINE REGION PAOLO BIAGI (ed.) the neolithisation or the alpine region MONOGRAFIE DI «NATURA BRESCIANA» N. 13 - 1990 ISSN 0390-6639 MUSEO CIVICO DI SCIENZE NATURALI DI BRESCIA THE NEOLITHISATION OF THE ALPINE REGION PAOLO BIAGI (ed.) the neollrhisn( ìon or (Il(' nlpilU" r('~ioll MONOGRAFIE DI «NATURA BRESCIANA» N. 13 - 1990 International Round Table «The Neolithisation of the Alpine Region» Brescia, 29 Aprii - 1 May 1988 SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Antonio M. Radmilli (President) Bernardino Bagolini, Lawrence H. Barfield, Paolo Biagi, Lanfredo Castelletti (Members) Edited by Paolo Biagi Under the Patronage of The Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria The Soprintendenza Archeologica della Lombardia "NATURA BRESCIANA" Direttore responsabile UGO VAGLIA Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Brescia n. 233 del IO.V.l965 Stampa: Società Editrice Vannini s.r.l. Brescia - 1990 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION page 5 NANDRIS J.G. - Practical and theoretical considerations in highland zone exploitation from ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in south-east Europe . » 7 GALLAY A. - La piace dcs Alpes dans la Néolithisation de l'Europe . » 23 BARONI C,; BIAGI P., NISBET R. and SCAIFE R.G. - Laghetti del Crestoso: a high altitude Ca- stelnovian camp in its environmental setting (Brescia - northern Italy) . » 43 BROGLIO A. e LANZINGER M. - Considerazioni sulla distribuzione dei siti tra la fine del Paleo- litico superiore e l'inizio del Neolitico nell'Italia nord-orientale . » 53 CREMASCHI M. - Pedogenesi medio olocenica ed uso dei suoli durante il Neolitico in Italia settentrionale . » 71 DRESCHER-SCHNEIDER R. - L'influsso umano sulla vegetazione neolitica nel territorio di Va- rese dedotto dai diagrammi pollinici . » 91 BARKER G., BIAGI P., CLARK G., MAGGI R. and NISBET R. - From hunting to herding in the Val Pennavaira (Liguria - northern Italy) . » 99 CLARK R. - The beginnings of agriculture in sub-alpine Italy: some theoretical considerations » 123 RIEDEL A. - Remarks on some neolithic faunas of north-eastern Italy and on the neolithisa- tion process . » 139 BARFIELD L.H. - The lithic factor: a study of the relationship between stone sources and hu- man settlement in the Monti Lessini and the southern Alps . » 147 BAUDAIS D., CURDY P., DAvID-EL BIALI M. et MAY O. - La Néolithisation du Valais: modèles de peuplement et premier bilan de la prospection archéologique du Valais (Suisse) ... » 159 BAGOLINI B. e BRESSAN F. - Aspetti ambientali nei siti neolitici del Friuli .. » 175 BAGOLINI B. - Il Neolitico nelle Prealpi varesine . » 187 BANCHIERI D. - Il Neolitico del Pizzo di Bodio nelle Prealpi varesine . » 191 GUERRESCHI G. - Nuovi dati sulla stratigrafia dell'Isolino di Varese .. » 197 CASTELLETTI L. - Relazione preliminare sui resti macroscopici vegetali dell'Isolino di Varese: scavi 1977-1985 . » 207 PEDROTTI A. - L'insediamento di Kanzianiberg: rapporti culturali fra Carinzia ed Italia set- tentrionale durante il Neolitico . » 213 BAGOLINI B. - Nuovi aspetti sepolcrali della Cultura dei Vasi a Bocca Quadrata a La Vela di Trento . » 227 INTRODUCTION The articles presented in this volume are revised versions of the papers delivered at the International Round Table on «The Neolithisation of the Alpine Region» held at the Natural History Museum of Brescia between ApriI 29th and May 1st 1988. The papers were devided into four sessions, the first of which, on «General the mes» was chaired by L,H. Barfield. The four articles of this session include an intro ductory paper on the ethnoarchaeology of the highland zones of south-east Europe by J. G. Nandris, dealing with his originai research carried out in many years of fieldwork in the Yugoslav, Romanian and Greek mountain chains, coneerned with the exploita tion of the mountain resources in both prehistoric and historic times. A. Gallay propo ses an originai model for a better understanding of the economie and social factors of the prehistoric settlement of the alpine region, based on a new chronological frame work of calibrated dates. The following two papers are dealing with the last hunter-gatherers of the Alps. That of Baroni et al. presents the excavation of a high altitude Castelnovian hunting camp in the Brescian Alps in its environmental setting, and that of A. Broglio and M. Lanzinger discusses the more recent data on the distribution of the Late Palaeolithic/Ear ly Neolithic sites of north-eastern Italy in an attempt to understand the seasonal move ments and the subsistence strategy of the first Holocene settlers of the region. Session two, «Environmental studies», ehaired by G. Barker, also includes four papers. M. Cremaschi provides a generai picture of soil exploitation and Early Neoli thic agriculture in north-central Italy, mainly based on new data from the centrai Po Valley and the Reggio Emilia Apennines. R. Drescher-Schneider presents the results of the archaeobotanical investigations conducted in the province of Varese where at both Lago di Ganna and Biandronno the first farmers left traces of forest clearence visible in the pollen diagrams. Two papers on Neolithic subsistence and settlement were delive red by R. Clark and A. Riedel. The first based on the re-examination of the bones from the better known Adige Valley sequences, namely Romagnano III, Pradestel and Vatte di Zambana. Important faetors, including population pressure and social organisation, are considered of primary importance for a better understanding of the beginning of the Neolithic in the Adige Valley. A. Riedel in examining the bones from several Neoli thic sites of north-eastern Italy, concludes that the transition from hunting-gathering to herding in this region is strongly affected by eastern and southern cultural influences. The third session, «Regional studies», ehaired by A. Gallay consisted of four pa pers, one of which, on the Late Mesolithic burial of Mondeval de Sora, in the Venetian Alps, is not included in this volume. Barker et al. give a summary report on the settle ment system and the exploitation of the Pennavaira Valley (Liguria) between the Late Glacial and the end of the Neolithic. L,H. Barfield presents the results of his research -5 on the Lessini Hills in the Veronese, where the presence of good flint outcrops exploi ted by prehistoric communities strongly affected the peopling of the area through the ages, while Baudais et al. give a preliminary report of three years of archaeological sur veys carried out in the Valais (Switzerland), where Neolithic finds are recorded up to an altitude of more than 2500 metres asl. The fourth session concerning «Local excavations», presents the results of recent fieldwork mainly carried out in northern Italy. One more article, on the excavation of Castelgrande at Bellinzona, is not included in the proceedings. Four papers, by B. Ba golini, D. Banchieri, G. Guerreschi and L. Castelletti respectively, deal with various aspects of the research carried out around Lake Varese, mainly at the site of Isolino. B. Bagolini and F. Bressan discuss the catchment areas of the Neolithic settlements, recently discovered and partly excavated, in Friuli. A. Pedrotti presents the material from the Carinthian site of Kanzianiberg which shows evidence of relationships with northern Italy during the Neolithic Square Mouthed Pottery Culture. Finally B. Bagoli ni discusses the Neolithic tombs of La Vela di Trento in the more generai pattern of the Square Mouthed Pottery cemeteries of northern Italy. The eighteen papers included in this volume give a very articulated picture of the peopling of the southern and centrai alpine are throughout the period comprised bet ween the twelfth and the fifth millennium BP. This Round Table completes the results obtained from the previous meeting on the Mesolithic in the Alps held in Trento in 1983. Paolo Biagi University of Venice 30 January 1990 Radiocarbon dates: throughout the text, BP refers to uncalibrated radiocarbon dates. BC is used to indicate calibrated radiocarbon dates and calendric dates. Note: the final date for revision by Authors of their contributions to this volume was lO May 1990. 6- Vannini srl • Brescia BIAGI P. (ed.) The Neolithisation of the Alpine Region MONOGRAFIE DI «NATURA BRESCIANA», 13, 1990: 7-22 JOHN G. NANDRIS* PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HIGHLAND ZONE EXPWITATION FROM ETHNOARCHAEOWGICAL FIELDWORK IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE RIASSUNTO - Considerazioni pratiche e teoriche sullo sfruttamento montano sulla base di osservazioni di campagna condotte nel sud-est europeo. Il progetto etnoarcheologico montano riguarda il problema dello sfruttamento delle zone d'alta quota sia durante la preistoria che nei periodi attuali. Fra le componenti da prendere in considerazione vi sono contenuto e metodologia, oltre ehe problemi di logistica e di sfruttamento stagionale delle aree montane. Quest'ultimo fattore viene spesso genericamente indicato con il termine re strittivo di transumanza preistorica, mentre oggi sappiamo che lo sfruttamento stagionale delle risorse mon tane fu rivolto verso diversi tipi di materiali, quali il sale, affioramenti di materia prima, ghiaccio ecc. L'Au tore presenta inoltre una sua lista di schedatura dei siti o Sitrep. In order to understand the emergence of the Neolithic in the Alps, or in any other European highlands, it is necessary to clarify both what is meant by «neolithisation: in this context, and how the concept applies to the exploitation of the highland zone'. This paper considers