Archaeology of Uplands on a Mediterranean Island

This book presents archaeological research conducted within the Highlands of Sicily. Results of an archaeological survey in the Madonie mountain range, in northern Sicily, supported by a chronological and cultural grid, drawn by the excavation of Vallone Inferno, deal with complex and fascinating problems of uplands and mountainous landscape. Settlement patterns, between the Late Pleistocene and the Medieval era, are investigated through the support of spatial analyses. A diversified use of the mountain is currently attested by this research, according to the different prehistoric and historical times.

This work is innovative for the Mediterranean area, where there are no similar examples of such extensive territorial research in a mountainous context. The research has been focused on particular aspects of ancient peopling: economic and social issues, human-environment interactions and the long term interest in the mountain range.

Auteur
Vincenza Forgia is an archaeologist specialized in prehistoric studies and expert of Ancient Topography and Landscape Archeology. After graduating in Ancient Topography at the University of Palermo, she achieved her specialization in Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Rome La Sapienza and obtained her PhD in Cultural Heritage Knowledge and Valorization at the Second University of Naples. Since the first years of academic formation, she has taken part in several Italian and international research activities (for example the excavation campaigns at Grotta Sant'Angelo di Saracena and Mangiapane di Scurati, in Italy, at Atapuerca, Trinchera Dolina, and Mirador in Spain or at Mesolithic researches on the field in Finland), having developed a wide range of interests in the Prehistory and Landscape Archeology of Europe and the Mediterranean area.
After a period of formation at University Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona and IPHES, she enhanced her skills in use wear analysis of stone tools and started a collaboration with different interdisciplinary research groups, engaged in archaeological Italian missions. Her scientific work, mainly focused on Neolithic times and the origin and development of production economy in the Mediterranean area, has been published in relevant journals (Quaternary International, CR Palevol). Trekking and caving interests (as an active member of Club Alpino Italiano), together with her scientific formation, contributed to the ideation of the archaeological research line on the Highlands of the Mediterranean area. Currently Vincenza Forgia coordinates (for the Department Culture e Società of the Università di Palermo) the second step of the research project on the Madonie mountains: HUMAnS (Human Upland Mobility in Ancient Sicily).

Contenu

1Introduction

1.1The Madonie mountains: a geographical introduction

1.2History of previous archaeological research

1.2.1The researches by Francesco Minà Palumbo and Marquis Antoine De Gregorio

1.2.2Discovering the antiquity of the human presence on the Madonie Mounts: the Chiusilla and Fico Caves

1.2.3Re-discovering the antiquity of the human presence on the Madonie Mountains in the Vecchiuzzo Cave

1.2.4Re-discovering the antiquity of the human presence on the Madonie Mountains in the Abisso del Vento: a new inspection

1.3The archeology of the Madonie in the museums

1.3.1Museo Minà Palumbo in Castelbuono

1.3.2Museo Civico Baldassare Romano in Termini Imerese

1.3.3Museo Antonino Collisani in Petralia Sottana 1.4The paleoecological framework

1.4.1The coastal ecozones

1.4.2The mountainous environments

References

2. Methods

2.1.Probabilistic Survey: the sampling design

2.1.1Stratified samples

2.1.2Sample areas: a brief description of physical features and natural environment

2.1.3The systematic survey within sample areas

2.1.4Prospection by focused inspections: a targeted survey

2.2The archival research

2.2.1Historic Cartography

2.2.2Current cartography

2.2.3Toponymy

2.3GPS and GIS

2.3.1GPS and mobile GIS 2.3.2GIS

2.4The paleoenvironmental reconstruction

2.5The excavation of a key site Vallone Inferno

References

3The Madonie: highlands in Sicily

3.1Results of the field survey within sample areas

3.2The Archaeological map

3.2.1SAMPLE AREA 1 - Carbonara environment (ROE IV) 3.2.1.1 UT 24 - Battaglietta - open air settlement

3.2.1.2 UT 7 - Monte Ferro - lithic scatter

3.2.1.3 UT 8 - Monte Ferro - sporadic

3.2.1.4 UT 25 - Zottafonda fences - open air site and coal places

3.2.2SAMPLE AREA 2 - Monte dei Cervi (ROE IV)

3.2.2.1 UT 9 - Piano Battaglia Sporadic finds

3.2.2.2 UT 6 - Monte dei Cervi Sporadic finds

3.2.2.3 UT 43 - Cozzo Cerasa - lithic scatter next rock shelter

3.2.2.4 UT 39 - Case di Mastro Peppino - open air site

3.2.2.5 UT 30 - Valle Nipitalva - Lithic scatter

3.2.2.6 UT 108 - Valle Nipitalva - Lithic scatter

3.2.2.7 UT 110 - Valle Nipitalva - Lithic scatter

3.2.2.8 UT 104 P.lla Colla, Quacella - open air site

3.2.3SAMPLE AREA 3 - Isnello valley (ROE II)

3.2.3.1 UT 10 - C.da e casa Mongerrati - potsherd scatter area

3.2.3.2 UT 1 and 2 - C.da San Nicola potsherds scatter area

3.2.3.3 UT 4 - C.da San Nicola - open air settlement

3.2.3.4 UT 14 - Abisso del Vento at Cozzo Balatelli - ritual and funerary cave contexts

3.2.3.5 UT 15 - C.da Farchio - sporadic lithic scatter

3.2.3.6 UT 12 - Monte Balatelli - Potsherds dispersion area

3.2.3.7 UT 72 - C.da Gallefina - Burial cave

3.2.3.8 UT 16 - C.da Aculeia - natural cave and sporadic lithics

3.2.3.9 UT 11 and 54 - C.da San Giovanni - Potsherds scatter area

3.2.4SAMPLE AREA 4 Imera river valley right bank (ROE II)

3.2.4.1 UT 47 - Vallone Inferno - open air site (rock shelter)

3.2.4.2 UT 53 - C.da Cava - Potsherds scatter area

3.2.4.3 UT 56 - Borgo Eras C - open air site

3.2.4.4 UT 57 - Borgo Eras C - open air site

3.2.4.5 UT 51 - 52 - C.da Cava - sporadic and potsherds scatter area

3.2.4.6 UT 58 - Acqua Cannata - settlement 3.2.4.7 UT 59 - Acqua Cannata Sporadic finds

3.2.4.8 UT 60 - Timpa dei Filici - Rock shelter

3.2.4.9 UT 61 - Portella di Mare - Settlement

3.2.4.10 UT 64 - Portella di Mare Settlement

3.2.4.11 UT 66 - Il Boschetto - Potsherds scattered area

3.2.5SAMPLE AREA 5 - S. Venera (ROE III)

3.2.5.1 UT 101 - C.da Salvatore, Costa Giulfaria - Scattered potsherds area

3.2.5.2 UT 102 - C.da Salvatore, Costa Giulfaria - rock shelter 3.2.5.3 UT 103 - C.da Salvatore, Costa Giulfaria sporadic finds</p&...