Jump to content

Scaloria Cave

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scaloria Cave
Grotta Scaloria
LocationApulia, Italy
Altitude45 m (148 ft)
TypeCave
Length100 m (330 ft)
Width80 m (260 ft)
Height2 m (6.6 ft)
History
PeriodsUpper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic
Site notes
Discovered1931
Excavation dates1931, 1967, 1978–80
ArchaeologistsMarija Gimbutas, Santo Tinė
OwnershipState property

Scaloria Cave, also known as Grotta Scaloria, is a cave in the province of Foggia, Apulia between the Tavoliere delle Puglie and the Gargano mountain massif with archaeological evidence of human behavior dating to the Upper Paleolithic. It is 2 km (1 mi) inland, 1 km (1⁄2 mi) northeast of Manfredonia.[1][2]

Description[edit]

Discovered in 1931 and excavated in 1931, 1967, and 1978–80,[3] the karstic limestone Scaloria Cave is split into a Lower Chamber (Scaloria Bassa) and an Upper Chamber (Scaloria Alta), and sits 45 m (148 ft) above sea level.[4][5][2] The Lower Chamber is found after a steep, crawling descent, and had pottery stored in it by Neolithic people. The Upper Chamber is measured to be 100 m (330 ft) in length, 80 m (260 ft) in width, and 2 m (6.6 ft) high.[6] The usage of Scaloria Cave is largely concentrated in the Neolithic time period between 5500 and 5200 BC,[7] though evidence also shows activity from the Upper Paleolithic from 10840 to 10100 BC and the Mesolithic.[4] Animal bone analysis revealed origins in species extinct by the Neolithic.[8]

Lower Chamber[edit]

Within the Lower Chamber, over 40 specimens of figulina pottery were found,[9] with painted styles of white and red bands with black motifs painted on and of red bands with black bordering with chevron motifs. These styles were found in other sites such as in Abruzzo.[4] Over 40 vessels were found distributed within the Lower Chamber, which were found crusted over, as their original function was to collect dripping water from stalactites. Both stalactites and stalagmites are found within the Lower Chamber, as well as 70 middle Neolithic pottery pieces, some intact.[10][7] The Lower Chamber has access to a pool of water, 3 m (9.8 ft) deep.[2] The potsherds have origins in 1,500 vessels, and were painted with varying motifs such as eggs, snakes, and hourglasses.[10]

Upper Chamber[edit]

Within the Upper Chamber, the remains of at least 22 to 31 people were found, with a high amount of the remains being that of the youth, as a third to a half of the remains were of juvenile individuals. The Upper Chamber was used as a living (as evidenced by hearths with food remains) and herding space (of goat/sheep),[11] and as an area to collect the dead. Burials done in the Upper Chamber were of varying styles, including highly fragmented and gathered remains, burial without the cranium, burial with just the cranium on a stone, single burial without goods, and single burial with goods. The last two types are dated to be more recent (5322–5017 BC and the end of the sixth millennium BC respectively) and aligns with trends of the time period toward single burials with goods, while the first three are found across southern Italian Neolithic sites. Aside from burials in Trenches 2 and 6, remains were found to be disarticulated. Human remains were found mixed in with pottery, tools, and animal remains. After the Neolithic, the site was covered with a calcareous sheet. Some remains were exposed to fire in varying degrees, and fragmentation of remains are believed to have occurred within the first year of the individuals' death, around the time of or during deposition. Cut marks on remains were found to be in small pairs, suggesting a repeated motion at once without the use of high-force or high-impact tools such as anvils. On post-cranial body parts, crosswise marks in groups of five were nearly consistent across remains, largely concentrated around areas such as joints, and the technique seems consistent with the work of a person attempting to strip flesh in a downwards motion from the bone shaft. On the cranium itself, there were markings found inside skulls, which would mean the brain would have been removed. The cuts on the cranium seem consistent with attempting to take the tissue and flesh from the bone.[7] The tools themselves were found to largely be flint blades and flakes sourced from the northeast coast mines of Gargano; this source is at a distance from the site itself and has given insight into the groups the people who used the Scaloria Cave would have had to have interacted with to obtain these tools.[8] There were also obsidian blades found, a material rare in the area, as well as bone tools, marine shells, and land snail shells.[12] The defleshing has been called the first well-documented case of early Europeans doing as such.[13] Burials were done over a period of 600 years, as noted in the latest 1978–80 excavations done by Marija Gimbutas and Santo Tinė, in a joint effort between UCLA and University of Genoa, their respective universities.[14] In 1990, about ten volunteers worked under the direction of Gimbutas to create illustrations, study, and photography of what had been excavated, though she passed before completion.[15][16] The area was dubbed a necropolis due to copious burials.[16] The Upper Chamber is connected to the nearby Grotta di Occhipinto, whose opening is located 200 m (660 ft) southeast to the Scaloria opening.[2]

21st century research[edit]

In more recent times, the use of pseudo-3D electrical resistivity tomography, two-dimensional and three-dimensional synthetic data models, and bedrock drilling in 2014 by the Istituto Italiano di Archeologia Sperimentale have revealed cavities nearby the site which have not yet been explored.[2] Academic work also continues in the modern day, including a $40,000 grant in 2008 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to a UCLA project under Ernestine Elster the direction of for a technical and interpretive publication on the cave[17] and micro-morphological studies on exposed deposits of the cave as recently as 2018 through the University of Cambridge, Istituto Italiano per l’Archeologia Sperimentale-Genova, and Museo di Archeologia Ligure Genova.[18]

Dating[edit]

Systematic isotopic analysis was done by taking the stable carbon isotope and stable nitrogen isotope levels and taking the ratio. This showed the collagen quality of the human and animal remains, and revealed that the humans maintained a terrestrial diet in which they ate animal proteins, unlike other sites which revealed occupants who had marine influenced diets.[1] Collagen dating was done by the Oxford Radiation Laboratory, and in the 1980s dating was done by the La Jolla Laboratory from charcoal samples. Radiocarbon dating on carbon remains in the hearths two dates within the Upper Paleolithic (11,040 +/- 190 B.P. and 10,790 +/- 210 B.P.) and two from the Mesolithic (9560 +/- 140 B.P. and 9030 +/- 120 B.P.).[8] Radio carbon dating at the site dated ~9,000 to ~8,000 B.C. also revealed the disappearance of the wild horse and its replacement with Asinus hydruntinus, the remains of which made up 53.7% of the faunal assemblage found at the site.[19] Strontium isotope analysis was also done on the remains in Scaloria Cave in an effort to extract information from the dental enamel on the origin of the remains and how close their relationship is to the cave itself. The greater range at the cave suggested that the cave was used ritualistically by people not of the area, suggesting a funerary site.[20]

Proposed significance[edit]

Due to the continual use of the Upper Chamber as a burial site, and the lack of violence upon the remains prior to burial, it can be assumed that the disposal of remains in this way are not consistent with mass graves or cannibalism. The activity of the living upon the remains of the dead are proposed to be that of people who were attempting to ritualistically take the deceased from the realm of the living to that of the dead. Hypotheses were also made that perhaps remains were buried in the cave due to the visual similarity of bones and stalactites, or beliefs regarding the underground as a source of spiritual power.[7] Cult behavior has also been suggested, potentially in reverence to the water,[4] and perhaps as a plea for rain in the face of a climate crisis.[21] In short, the excarnation was a part of a multi-stage burial process, as was the mixing of the fragments into the other materials to possibly symbolize the passage into death,[22] though some do note the possibility of the consumption of the flesh.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Whittle, Alasdair; Bickle, Penny (2014). Early farmers: the view from archaeology and science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 143–158. ISBN 978-0197265758.
  2. ^ a b c d e Maerker, M.; Rellini, I.; Mucerino, L.; Torrese, P. (2 November 2023). "Cavity detection using a pseudo-3D electric resistivity tomography at the Palaeolithic/Neolithic site of Scaloria Cave, Apulia, Italy: integrated assessment of synthetic and field data sets". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 15 (11): 175. Bibcode:2023ArAnS..15..175M. doi:10.1007/s12520-023-01859-5. ISSN 1866-9565.
  3. ^ Newsroom, Archaeology (5 August 2016). "The Archaeology of Grotta Scaloria. Ritual in Neolithic Southeast Italy". Archaeology Wiki.
  4. ^ a b c d Visciola, Elvira. "Scaloria Cave – Manfredonia (FG) - Prehistory in Italy". Preistoria in Italia. Prehistory Association in Italy.
  5. ^ Rellini, Ivano; Firpo, Marco; Ciampalini, Andrea (May 2010). "Micropedological Study of Early Neolithic Deposit in Scaloria Cave (South Italy". Conference: EGU General Assembly 2010. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 12: 15482. Bibcode:2010EGUGA..1215482R.
  6. ^ Fowler, Chris; Harding, Jan; Hofmann, Daniela; Skeates, Robin (2015). The Oxford handbook of neolithic Europe (1st ed.). Oxford (GB): Oxford university press. pp. 895–910. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199545841.013.048. ISBN 9780199545841.
  7. ^ a b c d Robb, John; Elster, Ernestine S.; Isetti, Eugenia; Knüsel, Christopher J.; Tafuri, Mary Anne; Traverso, Antonella (February 2015). "Cleaning the dead: Neolithic ritual processing of human bone at Scaloria Cave, Italy". Antiquity. 89 (343): 39–54. doi:10.15184/aqy.2014.35. ISSN 0003-598X.
  8. ^ a b c Elster, Ernestine S. (2015). "Scaloria Cave: Found, Lost, and Found Again". Backdirt. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.1374.2802.
  9. ^ Guilaine, Jean (2015). The Oxford handbook of neolithic Europe (First ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 81–98. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199545841.013.064. ISBN 9780199545841.
  10. ^ a b Gimbutas, Marija (12 January 2001). The Living Goddesses. University of California Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-520-22915-0.
  11. ^ Rellini, I.; Firpo, M.; Isetti, E.; Rossi, G.; Robb, J.; Pian, D.; Traverso, A. (January 2020). "Micromorphological investigations at Scaloria Cave (Puglia, South-east Italy): new evidences of multifunctional use of the space during the Neolithic". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 12 (1): 28. Bibcode:2020ArAnS..12...28R. doi:10.1007/s12520-019-01005-0.
  12. ^ Elster, Ernestine S.; Isetti, Eugenia; Robb, John; Traverso, Antonella (2016). Archaeology of Grotta Scaloria: ritual in Neolithic Southeast Italy. Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. pp. 300–368. ISBN 9781938770074.
  13. ^ "Neolithic Bones in Italy's Scaloria Cave Were Defleshed - Archaeology Magazine". Archaeology Magazine. Archaeological Institute of America.
  14. ^ Voytek, Barbara (2 February 2017). "Tale of a Cave The Archaeology of Grotta Scaloria: Ritual in Neolithic Southeast Italy . Edited by Ernestine S. Elster, John Robb, Eugenia Isetti, and Antonella Traverso. Monumenta Archaeologica 35. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, 2016". Current Anthropology. 58 (1): 134–135. doi:10.1086/690136. ISSN 0011-3204.
  15. ^ Milišauskas, Šarūnas; Hudson, Kathryn (31 December 2021). "MARIJA GIMBUTAS (GIMBUTIENĖ): THE BALTIC GODDESS" (PDF). Lietuvos archeologija. Lietuvos archeologija T. 47: 55–89. doi:10.33918/25386514-047004.
  16. ^ a b Hamilton, Sue; Whitehouse, Ruth D.; Wright, Katherine I. (2007). ARCHAEOLOGY AND WOMEN: ANCIENT AND MODERN ISSUES. Left Coast Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-1-59874-224-4.
  17. ^ "NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES AWARDS AND OFFERS, JUNE 2008" (PDF). The National Endowment for the Humanities. Federal government of the United States.
  18. ^ Isetti, Eugenia; Traverso, Antonella. "FASTI - Record View Page: AIAC_3428". www.fastionline.org. The Italian Database.
  19. ^ Volterra, Vito; Small, Alastair; Small, Carola; Campbell, Ian; Disantarosa, Giacomo; Favia, Pasquale; Hayes, John; Kenrick, Philip; Portagnuolo, Angelica; Rossiter, Jeremy; Valenzano, Vincenzo; Vinson, Sterling P.; Cann, Sally; Taccogna, Franco (2022). "The Palaeolithic period". Archaeology on the Apulian – Lucanian Border. Archaeopress: 37. doi:10.2307/jj.15136060.6.
  20. ^ Tafuri, M. A.; Fullagar, P. D.; O'Connell, T. C.; Belcastro, M. G.; Iacumin, P.; Conati Barbaro, C.; Sanseverino, R.; Robb, J. (November 2016). "Life and Death in Neolithic Southeastern Italy: The Strontium Isotopic Evidence". International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 26 (6): 1045–1057. doi:10.1002/oa.2516.
  21. ^ Giannitrapani, E. (14 November 1993). "Some comments on "Underground Religion. Cult and Culture in Prehistoric Italy" by Ruth Whitehouse". Papers from the Institute of Archaeology (in None). 4: 94. doi:10.5334/pia.39. ISSN 2041-9015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  22. ^ Shaw, Garry. "Stone-age Italians defleshed their dead". Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  23. ^ Laffranchi, Zita; Milella, Marco; Vera Rodríguez, Juan Carlos; Martínez Fernández, María José; Bretones García, María Dolores; Jiménez Brobeil, Sylvia Alejandra; Brünig, Julia; López Flores, Inmaculada; Cámara Serrano, Juan Antonio; Martínez Sánchez, Rafael M. (20 September 2023). "As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE)". PLOS ONE. 18 (9): e0291152. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1891152L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0291152. PMC 10511113. PMID 37729133.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scaloria_Cave&oldid=1228088479"