Fig 5 - uploaded by Giacomo Paglietti
Content may be subject to copyright.
-a. Su Nuraxi di Barumini, anse a gomito rovescio dalla capanna 173 (1, 2) e olla dal cortile 174 (3). B. Prese plastiche a X dalla capanna α II di Lipari (4) e da Su Cungiau 'e Funtà (5, 6) (1, 2, 3 da Paglietti 2011a; 4 da Bernabò Brea e Cavalier 1980; 5, 6 da Sebis 1995). A. Su Nuraxi of Barumini. Hut 173. Inverted elbow handles (1, 2). Court 174. Olla (3). B. " X " Handle from hut α II of Lipari (4) and from Su Cungiau 'e Funtà (5, 6) (1, 2, 3 after Paglietti 2011a; 4 after Bernabò Brea e Cavalier 1980; 5 after Sebis 1995).
Citations
... Rather, the few finds may indicate an indirect relationship that passed via Lipari and Cannatello. Sardinia does not seem to be related directly to this trading circuit and contact with the Mycenaean culture instead passed via Lipari and Sicily (Russell, 2010) with which Nuragic peoples established a solid connection at least until the end of the FBA (Paglietti, 2013). As shown through the data for the RBA, it seems not possible to confirm a physical presence of Aegeans or Cypriots on Sardinia (e.g., Depalmas et al., 2017;Russell & Knapp, 2017), and likely, the metal-exchange might have happened in other RBA hubs, such as Lipari. ...
This study examines the role of the Nuragic metal trade in the Mediterranean setting, seeking to advance the debate on this subject. Published metal-related data are considered alongside current interpretations. Although Sardinia is geologically rich in metals, including copper and lead (silver), scholars have nonetheless disagreed about the role of these metals in shaping the political economy of Nuragic Sardinia and its interaction with the outside world (c. 1350–720 BC). Traditionally the island has been seen as passively relying on the agency of foreign merchants from the eastern Mediterranean region. Lately, however, a divergent view has credited Sardinia with a more active and autonomous role in the Mediterranean marketplace. This study provides an analytical review of the complexity of such opinions, alongside isotope-derived and other archaeometallurgical evidence. As a scaffold for future inquiries, key features based on theoretical and historical perspectives are pulled together to form an exploratory model of Sardinia’s changing geopolitical position in the interlinked world of the Mediterranean between the Bronze and Iron Ages. The time around 1200 BC is identified as a major historical threshold.
... In light of the Maltese and Sardinian pottery from Cannatello, it is also useful to note some finds from the wider region around the Strait of Messina (see Fig. 3). On the shores of the Ionian Sea, Thapsos has yielded substantial quantities of Borġ in-Nadur pottery from at least five different areas of the site (Tanasi 2020b), while in the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north, the Aeolian islands are the only place beyond Sardinia where a sizeable and richly varied assemblage of Nuragic ceramic vessels has been documented, on the Lipari 'Acropolis' (Cavalier & Depalmas 2008;Paglietti 2014;Jones et al. 2014, 240-41). At both Lipari and Thapsos, smaller amounts of Mycenaean and possibly Cypriot pottery (Alberti 2015) as well as oxhide ingot fragments have also been recorded (Lo Schiavo 2018, 19); from the island of Salina (just northwest of Lipari), two sherds from a single pithos may have originated in Cyprus (Jones et al. 2014, 266-67, 297). ...
In this study, we outline a maritime perspective on interaction in the Late Bronze/early Iron Age Mediterranean. In response to what has elsewhere been termed the ‘maximalist’ approach, which foregrounds direct, long-distance trading connections between distant Mediterranean regions as a key feature of Late Bronze Age exchange systems, we propose a more nuanced, ‘minimalist’ and argue that notions of contact, connectivity and mobility need to be carefully distinguished if we wish to discuss both the material and social dimensions of maritime mobility. In particular, we critique the prominently proposed, allegedly direct trade route between Sardinia and Cyprus. The network we suggest hinges on multiply connected nodes, where a variety of social actors take part in the creation and maintenance of maritime connections. By unpacking several such nodes between Sardinia and Cyprus, we demonstrate that simply asserting the dominance of Sardinian, Cypriot or Aegean mariners falls short of the complex archaeological evidence and eschews possible social interpretations. In conclusion, we submit that maritime connectivity is an inherently social activity, and that a culturally diverse prehistoric Mediterranean was connected by multiple interlocking and overlapping networks.
... During the sub-Apennine/Ausonian phases, there are but a few LH IIIB and LH IIIC sherds in Sicily (Bietti Sestieri 2013, p. 662). On the other hand, Nuragic pottery found at Cannatello and at the Lipari Acropolis indicates sustained contacts with Sardinia (Paglietti 2013;Russell and Knapp 2017). ...
The Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioarchaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as different as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, ranging from the short to the long range, became a defining aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, influencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern boundaries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics.
... Tutti i manufatti presentati in questo contributo si collocano in un preciso contesto culturale che anche le datazioni assolute, ottenute dalle UUSS 7 e 12, sembrano confermare (infra). In un recente contributo (Paglietti 2013) si è posto l'accento sulla possibile esistenza di una fase precedente la prima età del Ferro, relativa al Bronzo Finale 2 o Protogeometrico, caratterizzata da un insieme di forme e motivi decorativi ricorrenti e dall'assenza delle forme e dei motivi geometrici stricto sensu. Il repertorio allora presentato si arricchisce, oggi, del contesto di Brunku 'e s'Omu. ...
... 8.2, 3), costituisce uno dei principali fossili guida di questa fase. È utile, in questo contesto, richiamare alcuni contesti insulari di confronto, ove il tipo è presente, quali la struttura 9 del villaggio di Coi Casu-S.Anna Arresi (Relli e Forci 2007, la capanna 173 del Su Nuraxi di Barumini (Paglietti 2013), Santu Antine-Torralba (Moravetti 1988, p. 196, fig. 4.12.i) e da ambito extra-insulare la capanna Alpha II di Lipari (da ultimo : Paglietti 2013, pp. ...
In the territory of Villa Verde (central western Sardinia - Italy),
there are numerous prehistoric and proto-historic sites. Among these, the nuragic settlement of Brunku ’e S’Omu is particularly noteworthy. The site, which includes a nuraghe and a large village of dry-stone huts, was investigated for the first time during the period 1982 – 2004. In 2013 and 2014, new excavations were carried out on structure n. 16, a circular hut. The radiocarbon dating and analysis of the finds, pertaining to the nuragic civilization, date the use of this structure to the Final Bronze Age, in accordance with the general dating of the
settlement. The results of the investigation show that hut n. 16 was a structure of particular importance, with a well-made floor and a covering probably built as a false vault. The hut was used for both food preparation and weaving activities.
... Si è dunque giunti allo strato archeologico, caratterizzato da un sottile strato di color grigio chiaro di circa 5 cm di spessore (US 2) che si adagiava su un lastricato di pietre ben disposte per circa la metà meridionale della capanna. I primi elementi culturali rinvenuti si riferiscono ad un frammento ceramico decorato a cordoncino, caratterizzato da punti impressi riconducibile ad una ben nota classe di vasi a collo, ampiamente nota nell'ambito della produzione nuragica delle fasi conclusive del Bronzo finale sia in Sardegna che a Lipari (Cavalier e Depalmas 2008;Paglietti 2013). Elementi riconducibili a questo vaso sono stati rinvenuti sparsi in gran parte della capanna: frammenti di collo erano infilati al colmo delle lastre nn. 4 e 5, altri frammenti che presentano una decorazione a cordoncino provengono dal centro della capanna e infine due anse a gomito rovescio dal lato SO (Fig. 15). ...
This paper is a report of the last excavation campaign of the nuragic settlement of Brunku S’Omu, located in the territory of Villa Verde in central western Sardinia. The site, formed of a nuraghe and a large village of dry-stone huts, has been investigated several times during the period 1982 – 2004. In 2013, a new excavation campaign was carried out inside of the circular dry-stone structure named hut 16. The first results seem to suggest that such structure was used for both food preparation and metal-working activities. Pottery chrono-typological analysis dates the use of the structure to the Final Bronze Age, in accordance with the general dating of the settlement.
Mora Cavorso Cave in Jenne (Roma): The Early-Middle Bronze Age layers
Mora Cavorso Cave is located in the karst complex of the Upper Aniene River Valley, on the slopes of
Simbruini Mountains in South-Eastern Latium. The fortuitous discovery of its archaeological relevance,
made in 2001 by local speleologists, motivated Tor Vergata University to start systematic research in 2006.
This resulted in the detection of a complex stratigraphy, ranging from Upper Palaeolithic to Late Antiquity
and inhomogeneously distributed between the entrance, the inner rooms and the tunnels. The Bronze Age
layers, investigated from 2008 to 2011, were recorded in the bottom of the entrance and into the tunnel
leading to the first inner room, showing an overall disturbed condition with some better preserved exceptions.
It has been possible to divide the deposit in two main horizons, the lowest appearing to have been
barely frequented, the highest much more intensely anthropized. The latter showed the presence of pottery
generically datable to the Early and Middle Bronze Age of central Italy, mainly represented by jars. This
evidence, traditionally related in literature to domestic contexts, must be linked instead, at least in this case,
to funerary and ritual functions; such assumption can be firmly supported by the discovery of a mature
woman’s disturbed primary burial (radiometrically dated to the Early-Middle Bronze Age), two pits (one of
them containing an overturned whole bowl) and several faunal remains, presumably belonging to sacrificed
piglets, lambs and kids. According to a multidisciplinary approach, which included material studies, radiometric
dating, stratigraphy, palaeoanthropology, zooarchaeology, spatial analyses and statistics, we can
assume that this cave was frequented seasonally during the first phases of the Bronze Age, by transhumant
shepherds which still practiced hunting, reflecting the coeval cultural (economical and ritual) trend of both
Middle Tyrrhenian and Adriatic cave uses.
The cultured discovery of Alpine engraved rocks, known all along by popular culture, first appeared in the literary field, and then in the academic and scientific ones. The earliest mentions refer to the Mt Bego complex, which was first cited in the manuscripts from the 15th to the 17th century, and in printed form in the first half of the 19th century (Foderé 1821, Gioffredo 1839). The descriptions are vague and fanciful, mostly due to the lack of interpretative tools rather than observational findings. Scientific research started in the second half of the 19th century when Matthew Moggridge published a brief report together with sketches of more than one hundred figures (Moggridge 1869). Some years later, Clugnet and Blanc presented more accurate tracings. They anticipated the two main interpretive branches, one related to pastoralism (Clugnet 1877), and the other to the worship of a malevolent mountain deity (Blanc 1878) and to the “sacred mountain theory”. It has to be underlined the awareness of the distribution of figures only over a certain petrography (Clugnet), and the evident presence of separate and individual engraving acts (Blanc). In 1879 appears the work of the French archaeologist Emile Rivière, specialist in Palaeolithic, who reproduced with great precision more than four hundred figures, only partly published. Rivière proposed the first typological classification by dividing the engraved figures into three groups, and launched comparativism, suggesting comparisons with Morocco and the Canary Islands; he didn’t recognize the halberd, and nor dagger, figures. With the literate Emmanuel Celesia (1886), who suggested a very unlikely Phoenician origin of the engravers, the first Italian scholar appeared. Thanks to the local surveyors Degiovanni and Bacchialoni, he was the first to publish 68 engraved Fontanalba figures. In 1901 the long Arturo Issel’s text was published; Issel didn’t carry out researches in the area in first person, but carefully examined what had already been published and based his paper on early Bicknell’s works. He ascribed some of the engraved artefacts to the Early Bronze Age and suggested that the authors were “people dedicated to agriculture and pastoralism”, who attributed great importance to engraved figures with a “religious or political” meaning.
Alongside the figurative strand, that of the cup-marks appeared in the same years, introduced in the alpine area by the Swiss archaeologists Fréderic Troyon (1854) and Ferdinand Keller (1870). Keller was inspired by the George Tate’s (1865) and Sir James Young Simpson's (1867) works, where the text was accompanied by accurate reproductions of cup-and-rings engraved rocks. In Italy the first publications of cup-marked stones are due to Giuseppe Piolti and Vincenzo Barelli (1880); they relate to the morainic amphitheatre of Rivoli and to the Val d’Intelvi. The research on non-figurative engravings was anticipated in the XVIII cent. by the studies on “rock-basons” – today considered to be of natural origin – published by the English antiquarians Borlase (1754) and Rooke (1782).
As regards to documentation and interpretation, the research began and was fully formed in the third of the last decade of the 19th century. It is likely that for both figurative and non-figurative branches there was a common sparkle favoured by George Tate’s work: Ferdinand Keller cites him directly, and like him also Matthew Moggridge was a member of the Geological Society of London, through which he was probably able to meet him or at least to know his work. All the various documentation techniques applied, such as sketches, paper reproductions – rubbings or squeezes – and tracings, were methods borrowed from antique dealers and epigraphers. The publication of complementary documentation, together with the attentive iconographic and necessary observational findings, have from the very beginning of the research constituted the essential characteristics of the path to be followed
