The Archaeological Excavations in the Castel Corno Caves
presents the results of two different excavation campaigns in a
prehistoric archaeological site in a deep cave in Trentino Alto
Adige (Castel ...Corno, Isera, Trento, Italy). The excavations
uncovered a number of tombs deep in the cave and, outside, the
remains of a settlement. The site is significant for the excellent
preservation of the artefacts and of the animal and human bones, a
result of the depth of the cave. Despite damage caused by grave
robbers, a considerable quantity of data was recovered enabling the
partial reconstruction of human activity in this area. In the tombs
the remains of seven individuals were excavated. Radiocarbon dating
indicates that the tombs can be dated between the end of the Copper
Age and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (25th-21st centuries
BC), but the occupation of the site, for ritual and settlement
purposes, continued at least until the end of the Early Bronze Age
(18th-17th centuries BC).
The archaeological site of Salorno-Dos de la Forca (Bozen, Alto Adige) provides one of the rarest and most significant documentations of cremated human remains preserved from an ancient cremation ...platform (ustrinum). The pyre area, located along the upper Adige valley, is dated to the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1150-950 BCE) and has yielded an unprecedented quantity of cremated human remains (about 63.5 kg), along with burnt animal bone fragments, shards of pottery, and other grave goods made in bronze and animal bone/antler. This study focuses on the bioanthropological analysis of the human remains and discusses the formation of the unusual burnt deposits at Salorno through comparisons with modern practices and protohistoric and contemporaneous archaeological deposits. The patterning of bone fragmentation and commingling was investigated using spatial data recorded during excavation which, along with the bioanthropological and archaeological data, are used to model and test two hypotheses: Salorno-Dos de la Forca would be the result of A) repeated primary cremations left in situ; or B) of residual material remaining after select elements were removed for internment in urns or burials to unknown depositional sites. By modelling bone weight and demographic data borrowed from regional affine contexts, the authors suggest that this cremation site may have been used over several generations by a small community-perhaps a local elite. With a quantity of human remains that exceeds that of any other coeval contexts interpreted as ustrina, Salorno may be the product of a complex series of rituals in which the human cremains did not receive individual burial, but were left in situ, in a collective/communal place of primary combustion, defining an area of repeated funeral ceremonies involving offerings and libations across a few generations. This would represent a new typological and functional category that adds to the variability of mortuary customs at the end of the Bronze Age in the Alpine are, at a time in which "globalising" social trends may have stimulated the definition of more private identities.
Animal remains are a common find in prehistoric and protohistoric funerary contexts. While taphonomic and osteological data provide insights about the proximate (depositional) factors responsible for ...these findings, the ultimate cultural causes leading to this observed mortuary behavior are obscured by the opacity of the archaeological record and the lack of written sources. Here, we apply an interdisciplinary suite of analytical approaches (zooarchaeological, anthropological, archaeological, paleogenetic, and isotopic) to explore the funerary deposition of animal remains and the nature of joint human-animal burials at Seminario Vescovile (Verona, Northern Italy 3rd-1st c. BCE). This context, culturally attributed to the Cenomane culture, features 161 inhumations, of which only 16 included animal remains in the form of full skeletons, isolated skeletal parts, or food offerings. Of these, four are of particular interest as they contain either horses (Equus caballus) or dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)-animals that did not play a dietary role. Analyses show no demographic, dietary, funerary similarities, or genetic relatedness between individuals buried with animals. Isotopic data from two analyzed dogs suggest differing management strategies for these animals, possibly linked to economic and/or ritual factors. Overall, our results point to the unsuitability of simple, straightforward explanations for the observed funerary variability. At the same time, they connect the evidence from Seminario Vescovile with documented Transalpine cultural traditions possibly influenced by local and Roman customs.
The identification of the mammalian species based on faecal sediments in modern and ancient environments is the aim of the research of archaeologists, forensic scientists and ecologists. Here, we set ...up and validated an optimized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method, characterized by a time-saving sample preparation protocol, for the simultaneous analysis of faecal biomarkers (6 sterols/stanols and 5 bile acids) in 14 soil samples from the archaeological site of "Le Colombare di Negrar" in northern Italy. Although the archaeological sediment samples examined are numerically exiguous, a comparative reading of our faecal biomarkers findings with new studies on faunal materials collected in the same stratigraphic detail during recent excavation campaigns will allow to better clarify the economic interest of the animal species farmed in the Colombare site (such as bovines, goats, sheep and pigs) and to shed light on the management of breeding. Together with archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses, the investigation of faecal biomarkers can increase our knowledge of how ancient local communities exploited natural resources and may allow us to deduce what their impact on the landscape was.
In Early Middle Ages (sixth–eleventh centuries AD), South Tyrol (Italian Alps) played a key role for geographical and military reasons. Historical sources document that allochthonous groups (
germani
...) entered the territory, and the material culture shows mutual cultural exchanges between autochthonous and
germani
. Besides the nature of the migration, the demographic and socio-cultural impacts on the local population are still unknown. Stable isotope analyses were performed to provide insights into dietary patterns, subsistence strategies, changes in socio-economic structures, and mobility, according to spatial (e.g. valleys, altitudes) and chronological (centuries) parameters. Bone collagen of 32 faunal and 91 human bone samples from nine sites, located at different altitudes, was extracted for stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analyses. In total, 94% (30/32) of the faunal remains were of good quality, while the humans displayed 93% (85/91) of good quality samples for δ
13
C and δ
15
N and 44% (40/91) for δ
34
S stable isotopes. The isotopic results of the animals reflected a terrestrial-based diet. Statistical differences were observed within and among the humans of the different valleys. The δ
13
C values of individuals sampled from higher altitudes indicated a mainly C
3
plant-based diet compared to areas at lower altitudes, where more positive δ
13
C values showed an intake of C
4
plants. The δ
15
N values suggested a terrestrial-based diet with a greater consumption of animal proteins at higher altitudes. The data revealed higher variability in δ
34
S values in the Adige valley, with individuals probably migrating and/or changing dietary habits.
The Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by major socio-economic changes, including certain aspects of animal husbandry. In the Alpine region archaeozoological data, though not very abundant, reveal ...that cattle were the most important domestic animals in this time period. They were probably used differently in the lowlands than at higher altitude, traction became more important and people increasingly exploited them for dairy products rather than for meat. Thus, a crucial question in this context is whether these major events are accompanied by changes in genetic diversity of cattle. Here we report partial mtDNA d-loop data (320 bp) obtained by PCR from 40 alpine cattle excavated at different sites in South Tyrol, Italy, and Grisons, Switzerland. Most cattle belong to the main European taurine T3 haplogroup, but a few members of T2 and Q haplogroups were identified. Moreover, genetic diversity measures and population genetic statistics indicate different cattle histories at different sites, including bottlenecks and potential admixture. However, Bronze Age Alpine cattle appear to be linked to modern rural cattle mainly from Italy.
Palynological and archaeobotanical analyses have been carried out as part of the interdisciplinary project of Colombare di Negrar, a prehistoric site in the Lessini Mountains (northern Italy). The ...palaeoenvironmental and economic reconstruction from the Late Neolithic to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age was based on 16 pollen samples and three samples of macroremains taken from two contiguous trenches. The landscape reconstruction shows the presence of natural clearings in the wood. Forest cover was characterised by oak wood, with Ulmus and Tilia. The intermediate morphology of size and exine of Tilia cordata/platyphyllos pollen may be regarded as the first palynological evidence of lime hybrids in palaeorecords. Hygrophilous trees and Vitis vinifera testify to the presence of riparian forests and moist soils. Among trees supplying fruits, in addition to the grapevine, hazelnut (Corylus avellana) and walnut (Juglans regia) were present. A mixed economy based on animal breeding and cultivation of cereals (Hordeum vulgare, Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccum, T. timopheevii) emerged from the data. The combined analysis of pollen and plant macroremains suggests that different activities were carried out simultaneously in Colombare and a relationship between natural resources and the socio-economic and cultural evolution of the territory.
Te chësc contribut vëgnel fat löm sön les rajuns che â porté a fondé y dedô a d’arbandoné le paisc fortifiché dl’eté dl Brom de Sotciastel tla Val Badia. An proa da capí coch’ares é gnüdes a s’al dé, ...fajon n confrunt cun i evënc storics a livel regional y suraregional y meton averda ales dinamiches nia ma economiches, mo ince rituales, sozio-politiches y culturales che les â acompagné. Le paisc ê gnü fondé canche l’eté dl Brom vedla â bele metü man da n pez, te na fasa storica de gran espanjiun di raiuns insediá, che ê gnüda a s’al dé bonamënter tres n gran aumënt demografich. Chësc â interessé tres deplü i raiuns interns y ince chi plü alalt. Arbandoné é le paisc indere gnü tratan l’eté dl Brom plü jona, pó ester por la faziun de prozesc generai de restrotoraziun di sistems insediatifs a livel macroraional, che podess ince ester gnüs a s’al dé por rajuns climatiches.
Salorno-Dos de la Forca Crivellaro, Federica; Cavazzuti, Claudio; Candilio, Francesca ...
PloS one,
05/2022, Letnik:
17, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The archaeological site of Salorno-Dos de la Forca (Bozen, Alto Adige) provides one of the rarest and most significant documentations of cremated human remains preserved from an ancient cremation ...platform (ustrinum). The pyre area, located along the upper Adige valley, is dated to the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1150-950 BCE) and has yielded an unprecedented quantity of cremated human remains (about 63.5 kg), along with burnt animal bone fragments, shards of pottery, and other grave goods made in bronze and animal bone/antler. This study focuses on the bioanthropological analysis of the human remains and discusses the formation of the unusual burnt deposits at Salorno through comparisons with modern practices and protohistoric and contemporaneous archaeological deposits. The patterning of bone fragmentation and commingling was investigated using spatial data recorded during excavation which, along with the bioanthropological and archaeological data, are used to model and test two hypotheses: Salorno-Dos de la Forca would be the result of A) repeated primary cremations left in situ; or B) of residual material remaining after select elements were removed for internment in urns or burials to unknown depositional sites. By modelling bone weight and demographic data borrowed from regional affine contexts, the authors suggest that this cremation site may have been used over several generations by a small community-perhaps a local elite. With a quantity of human remains that exceeds that of any other coeval contexts interpreted as ustrina, Salorno may be the product of a complex series of rituals in which the human cremains did not receive individual burial, but were left in situ, in a collective/communal place of primary combustion, defining an area of repeated funeral ceremonies involving offerings and libations across a few generations. This would represent a new typological and functional category that adds to the variability of mortuary customs at the end of the Bronze Age in the Alpine are, at a time in which "globalising" social trends may have stimulated the definition of more private identities.
Excavations carried out in 2002-2003 by the Office of Archaeological Heritage of Bolzano in Bressanone - Via Castellano, have allowed us to investigate a large settlement area (2000 m2) dating back ...to the Final Bronze Age. Among other features, three pits with heating traces on bottom and walls and a great amount of daub fragments in the filling have been found. Most of the daub fragments have flat or concave finished surfaces and on the opposite face the impressions of a support frame made up of small-diameter closely intertwined plant elements, with transversal elements of greater diameter (2-3 cm). It is possible that the daub fragments were relative to some kind of wattle and daub structures complementary to the firing pits.
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