Conati Barbaro 2013, with contibutions by Acquafredda P., Catalano P., Celant A., Di giannantonio...

“SAPIENZA” UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMADIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE DELL’ANTICHITÀ – MUSEO DELLE ORIGINI

ORIGINIPREISTORIA E PROTOSTORIADELLE CIVILTÀ ANTICHE

XXXV2013

PREHISTORY AND PROTOHISTORYOF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION EBOOK /APP:

REUSE OF PREHISTORIC LITHIC IMPLEMENTS IN HISTORICAL TIMES: CASE STUDIES

FROM THE ALBAN HILLS

Flavio Altamura

COOKING, WORKING AND BURYING IN ANCIENT NEOLITHIC: THE OVENS OF

PORTONOVO (MARCHE, ITALY)Cecilia Conati Barbaro

- ESTIMATING FIRING TEMPERATURES OF PYROTECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN THE

NEOLITHIC SITE OF PORTONOVO

Italo M. Muntoni, Grazia Ruggiero

- AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

EXCAVATION OF PORTONOVO-FOSSO FONTANACCIA

Paola Catalano, Stefania Di Giannantonio

- BONE COLLAGEN CARBON (δ13C) AND NITROGEN (δ15N) STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

OF HUMAN AND FAUNAL SAMPLES FROM PORTONOVO

Roberta Lelli

- ANTHRACOLOGICAL REMAINS FROM A NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT IN THE CONERO

NATURAL PARK

Alessandra Celant

- SEM-EDS AND XRF CHARACTERIZATION OF OBSIDIAN BLADELETS FROM PORTONOVO

(AN) TO IDENTIFY RAW MATERIAL PROVENANCE

Pasquale Acquafredda, Italo M. Muntoni, Mauro Pallara

THE EDGE OF THE CITY: URBAN GROWTH AND BURIAL SPACE IN 4TH MILLENNIUM BC

MESOPOTAMIA

Augusta McMahon, Adam Stone

ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL ROLE OF METALLURGY IN THE

PREHISTORIC SEQUENCE OF ARSLANTEPE (TURKEY)Gian Maria Di Nocera

NARMER, SCORPION AND THE REPRESENTATION OF THE EARLY EGYPTIAN COURT

Jorrit Kelder

Indice / Contents

7

31

52

57

64

66

69

83

111

143

BARREL-SHAPED VESSELS IN CONTEXT: A LONG-RANGE MODEL OF DAIRY PRODUCTION

IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN DURING THE LATE FOURTH AND EARLY

THIRD MILLENNIA BC

Massimo Cultraro

THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTHERN ITALIAN BRONZE AGE

SOCIETIES: AGENCY THEORY AND MARXISM RECONSIDERED

Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia

ACORN GATHERERS: FRUIT STORAGE AND PROCESSING IN SOUTH-EAST ITALY DURING

THE BRONZE AGE

Milena Primavera, Girolamo Fiorentino

Recensioni / Reviews

157

191

211

229

31

XXXV, 2013: 31-82ORIGINI

ABSTRACT – This paper presents the preliminary results of recent excavations held at the Early Ne-olithic site of Portonovo - Fosso Fontanaccia on the Conero promontory in the Marche. Here 16 domedovens were found cut into the hillslope, one of which was intact. Two of the ovens contain three buri-als, while the remains of a cremated female were found in an open area, carefully collected in a con-tainer of organic material which was not preserved. Oven batteries dug into the ground are knownin many sites of Central Europe, from France to Slovakia, from the Early Neolithic onwards. Con-versely, in Italy the evidence of domed ovens is restricted to a few, poorly preserved specimens. Thisarticle focuses on the main features of the structures and burials, while pottery and lithics are cur-rently under study. Micromorphological, archaeozoological and palaeobotanical analyses are inprogress. The appendices contain the anthropological study of human remains, the bone collagen sta-ble isotope analysis, the preliminary results of the anthracological study, the analysis of the tempera-tures reached in the ovens and the chemical characterization of obsidian blades. Sampling for an ar-chaeomagnetical analysis of the three structures discovered in 2012 and not yet excavated will be car-ried out on the next campaign.

KEYWORDS – Ovens, Early Neolithic, Burials, Central Italy.

RIASSUNTO – Il lavoro presenta i risultati preliminari di due recenti campagne di scavo condot-te nel sito del Neolitico antico di Portonovo - Fosso Fontanaccia, sul Promontorio del Coneronelle Marche. Qui sono stati individuati 16 forni a cupola, uno dei quali rinvenuto intatto, ri-cavati nel pendio di un rilievo collinare. Due forni contengono le sepolture di tre inumati, men-tre in un’area aperta sono stati rinvenuti i resti di un individuo femminile cremato accuratamenteraccolti in un contenitore di materiale organico che non si è conservato. Forni in batteria scava-ti nel terreno sono conosciuti a partire dal Neolitico antico in tutta l’Europa centrale, dalla Fran-cia alla Slovacchia, mentre in Italia la documentazione relativa a forni a cupola si restringe a po-chi esemplari, solo parzialmente conservati. Nell’articolo vengono presentate le caratteristiche sa-lienti delle strutture e delle sepolture. Sono attualmente in corso lo studio della ceramica e del-l’industria litica scheggiata e non, della fauna e dei macroresti vegetali, le analisi micro morfolo-giche. In appendice sono invece pubblicate, a cura dei diversi specialisti, lo studio antropologicodei resti umani, del collagene delle ossa umane e animali per la ricostruzione della dieta, le ana-lisi preliminari sui resti antracologici e sulle temperature raggiunte nei forni e le analisi di carat-terizzazione dell’ossidiana. Nella prossima campagna verrà condotto un campionamento miratoall’indagine archeomagnetica di tre forni rinvenuti nel 2012 e ancora da scavare.

PAROLE CHIAVE – Forni, Neolitico antico, Sepolture, Italia Centrale.

COOKING, WORKING AND BURYING IN ANCIENT NEOLITHIC:THE OVENS OF PORTONOVO (MARCHE, ITALY)

Cecilia Conati Barbaro*

with contributions by Pasquale Acquafredda, Paola Catalano, Alessandra Celant, StefaniaDi Giannantonio, Roberta Lelli, Italo M. Muntoni, Mauro Pallara, Grazia Ruggiero

Conati Barbaro

32

INTRODUCTION

Ovens are highly evocative of thedomestic sphere, although they aregenerally rare and poorly preserved inarchaeological contexts. These featuresare mainly located in villages, suggestingtheir relation with daily activities. Madeof clay, with vaulted ceilings, these brittlestructures have a relatively short life, astestified by ethnographic data, and areparticularly prone to collapse anderosion. Therefore conservation factorsmay have consistently affected theamount of data regarding these stru-ctures.

Domed ovens are known from a fewancient Neolithic sites in Italy, such asTrasano (Radi 2002) and Ripa Tetta(Tozzi 2002) in Apulia, Favella (Tinè2009) in Calabria, Olivento (Cipolloni1987, 1995) in Basilicata, Fornace Gat-telli (Bermond Montanari et alii 1992)in Emilia-Romagna. In these cases onlythe floor and few centimeters of thewalls are still preserved; there are onlyone or two ovens per site, sometimes re-lated to other fire structures or clay plat-forms. Ovens are usually located insidethe villages in open spaces sometimescarefully paved (e.g. Ripa Tetta). Thislocation suggests that these structures

were used for various communal activi-ties, while the unique oven of FornaceGattelli was built inside a hut, indicat-ing that it was possibly used by a singlehousehold.

THE PORTONOVO OVENS

New outstanding evidence is providedby 16 domed ovens recovered in the Ear-ly Neolithic site of Portonovo FossoFontanaccia, on the Conero promonto-ry along the Adriatic coast of Marche(Ancona, Italy). The site is located on asouth-facing slope , along the right bankof the river Fontanaccia, at an altitude ofabout 120 m asl (fig. 1, a, b). After itssurface identification in the 1990s1, thesite was sounded with test pits in 1999and 2006 by the Superintendence ofMarche2 (Barbone et alii 2005; Silvestri-ni, Pignocchi 1998, 2000; Silvestrini2007). These excavations revealed fivecircular structures lined with clay, two ofwhich contained burials, placed arounda large area of dark organic deposit. In2011 and 2012 the University LaSapienza3 undertook two excavations(fig. 2, 3) over an area of about 200 sqm.Another 11 clay-lined structures, whichcan be defined as domed ovens, were

1 The location of the site was first reported to the Superintendence of Marche by Mr. Giuseppe Bar-bone.

2 These excavation campaigns were directed by Dr. Mara Silvestrini, archaeologist of the Soprintendenzaper i Beni Archeologici delle Marche.

3 The Sapienza excavations are conducted by permission of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Cul-turali and are funded by MIUR (Prin 2008) and Sapienza University.

The research team is composed by Cecilia Conati Barbaro, Alessandra Manfredini, archaeology, SapienzaUniversity; Giuseppe Cilla, geomorphology; Alessandra Celant, Sapienza University, palaeobotany; GiovanniCarboni, Chiara La Marca, Sapienza University, pottery analysis; Cristina Lemorini, Sapienza University,trace wear analysis, Isabella Caricola, groundstones analysis; Italo M. Muntoni, Superintendence of Apu-lia, and Pasquale Acquafredda, Grazia Ruggiero, Mauro Pallara, Bari University, archaeometry; Antonio Cur-ci, Bologna University, archaeozoology; Paola Catalano, Stefania Di Giannantonio, Superintendence of Ro-me, anthropology; Roberta Lelli, Rome Tor Vergata University, biomolecular anthropology.

found aligned at different heights alongthe hillside (fig. 4), and disposed alongdifferent clusters.

The site is located on a slope intensivelyeroded by ploughing that has altered itsoriginal profile, as most of the hilly flanks

of the Fosso Fontanaccia valley andsurroundings. The slope is covered by acolluvium layer, that, due to erosion, is nowreduced to a few centimeters upslope, whileit is thicker downslope. Soft and coherentcalcium carbonate concretions are present

Cooking, working and burying in ancient Neolithic: the ovens of Portonovo (Marche, Italy)

33

Fig. 1 – Portonovo, Fosso Fontanaccia (Ancona, Italy). a, site location; b, general view of the area withthe Neolithic site in the distance.

Conati Barbaro

34

Fig. 2 – Plan of the excavated area.

in this sediment. The colluvium overlaysthe marl substratum (Schlier formation).Sometimes, the basal part of a deeplyleached and reddish silty-clay paleosoil upto 30 cm thick is preserved, overlaying thecolluvium along the lower part of the slope(Cilla 2000).

The prehistoric structures were exca-vated in the colluvial layer. Erosion hasdeeply affected the conservation of thisstratigraphy: the structures located inthe upper part of the slope are moreheavily eroded than those further down.

Despite their different states of preser-vation, these artifacts share standard fea-tures and dimensions: the base is circular,flat, with a slight central depression, made

of a yellow-reddish smoothed clay lining,and measure from 1, 80 to 2 m in diam-eter; the walls of the upward ovens (1-3,6,7) (fig. 5) are preserved for about 10 cmin height; in ovens 10 and 13, which arelargely (n. 10) or entirely intact (n. 13),the walls are markedly bent and the vaultsflattened. The three structures identifiedin the 2012 campaign (14-16) and not yetexcavated, have preserved vaults (fig. 6).Oven 12 is probably an uncompleted at-tempt to dig a new fire structure, as wehave found only the mouth without anytrace of an inner chamber.

The ovens are disposed along severalalignements at different heights. More-over the structures seem to have been ex-

35


Fig. 3 – N /S and E/W cross sections.

36

Conati Barbaro

Fig. 4 – Aerial view of the site at the end of the 2011 field season.

Fig. 5 – Ovens 1-3, 6-7, 11.

37


Fig. 6 – In the foreground ovens 14-16 not yet excavated.

cavated by adjusting the slope profile.Each alignement overlooks shallow andirregular pits, which were dug to facili-tate the excavation of the ovens and toprovide their access for use. At least 5clusters are recognizable (fig. 7): one isformed by ovens 1, 2, 3, another by 10and 11, another by 4 and 5, and anoth-er by 12 and 13, while the group ofovens 14, 15, 16 is located in an areapartially investigated. Ovens 8 and 9,which are visible along the eastern sec-tion of the excavation trench may be-long to another cluster, as well as 6 and7, which are almost completely eroded.The pits are completely eroded in theupslope part of the trench excavation,therefore is not possible to measure theirdimensions; the most preserved are the

one in front of ovens 10 and 11 (US1125: length 3,74 m, width 2,12 m,depth 0,48 m) and the one facing ovens12 and 13 (US 1103: length 4,27 m,width 2,63 m, depth 0,74 m).

Two sub-circular deep pits of 1,30 m indiameter and 0,48 m in depth (US 1112)and 1,10x0,8 m and 0,67 m in depth(US 1135) are located between ovens 1-3and 10-11/4-5, but their function andtheir relation to the ovens is not clearlyidentifiable. They could be related to theextraction of the sediment used for thepreparation of the inner lining. Samplepastes made of colluvial deposit have beenfired as a preliminary test, revealing col-orimetric characteristics and a consisten-cy similar to those of the internal walls ofthe ovens (Pulitani pers. com4).

4 A note of thanks to Pino Pulitani for having sampled the different sediment types found on the site,and for having performed the firing experiment. His observations on the temperatures reached inside theovens allowed us to better formulate hypotheses about the ovens working principles.

Oven 13 (fig. 8)We chose this fully preserved oven, in

order to describe the main architecturalfeatures of these fire structures. This ovenwas found while digging up a large pitfilled with a dark brown organic deposit(US1104), on the southern edge of the2011 excavation trench. Pottery, lithicsand faunal remains were quite abundantin this deposit, which is homogeneous intexture and colour. The pit was cut in thecolluvial deposit up to 50 cm in depth.Daub fragments and a smoothed clay ob-ject (fig. 13) were found on the pit floorjust in front of oven 13. Beside oven 13,on the western side of the pit, the mouth

of oven 12 was cut, but this structure wasabandoned before its completion.

For safety reasons, we excavated oven13 from above, first cutting a colluviumlayer 20-30 cm thick (fig. 8, a), to reachthe vault (fig. 8, b), identifiable by a red-dish, burned sediment of 5-6 cm inthickness, overlying a harder layer of yel-lowish clay crust, namely the inner liningof the oven.

The oven was completely filled withan homogeneous dark brown deposit5

(fig. 8, c), with charcoals and very fewarchaeological materials, among whichare an obsidian bladelet and an im-pressed sherd. The oven should have

38

Conati Barbaro

Fig. 7 – The pit in front of ovens 10 and 11.

5 Samples of the filling deposit are under study by the Earth Science Department “A. Desio” of MilanUniversity for micromorphological identification.

been filled by soil through its mouth, asthere is no other visible opening or ex-ternal cracks.

The oven, which measures 1,95 x1,80 m in diameter, 0,52 m in height,and has an entrance of 0,90 x 0,55 m,

39


Fig. 8 – Oven 13 a-d, f, different phases of excavation; d, the mouth; e, particular of the overlapping claybands.

40

Conati Barbaro

shows features similar to the others: aflat and smooth floor, heavy curvedwalls and a lowered vault. Thanks to itsperfect preservation some details can beobserved: the inclination of the floorbefore the entrance (fig. 8, d) the over-lapping of two layers of clay lining, thatis 3-4 cm thick, along some parts of theinternal walls, which was probably con-nected to plastering and maintenanceof the structure (fig. 8, e). Three largefragments of a clay artifact with onesmoothed face (fig. 8, f), perhaps frag-ments of a cooking slab, were found onthe oven floor.

Proceeding with the excavation, it be-came clear that the oven was dug belowoven 5, but there are no clear strati-graphic clues to understand if the twoovens were in use at the same time. As amatter of fact the floor of oven 5 rests ona layer of soil that was altered by the fire6,overlying part of the vault of oven 13,without any evident intersection be-tween the two structures. This strati-graphic detail leads us to a fundamentalquestion: which was the sequence of con-struction of the ovens?

It is difficult to understand whetherthe ovens were made descending or as-cending the slope. The problem of theorder of construction of these structuresis closely related to a time factor: as men-tioned above, the ovens are arranged ingroups around large shallow pits, and,although very close one to the other,they overlap only in one case (5/13) andnever cut one another, therefore indi-cating that the position of the previousstructures was well known and taken in-

to account every time a new one wasdug. For these reasons a close chrono-logical proximity is highly probable. Asdiscussed later, domed clay ovens areshort-life structures, rather subject tobreakage due to repeated heating.

How were these structures made? Onthe basis of the information acquiredfrom the exceptionally well preservedoven 13, we suppose that these artifactswere dug directly in the hillslope; theinner lining is partly made by firing ofthe natural sediment and partly byaddition of clayish soil, as shown by thesuperimposed levels of clay in oven 13.

The presence of imprints of twigs onthe inner lining of oven 10, and of daubfragments on the floor of other ovens,suggests the coexistence of differentconstruction techniques, such as the useof wooden structure to support thevault excavated into the soil, or the con-struction of part of the dome aboveground.

We didn’t found any evidence of avent; however, the presence of a singleopening does not prevent the air circula-tion and heat radiation. As an example,in traditional Italian bread and pizzaovens, which often have a single cham-ber, one door and no chimney, the fuelis placed inside the oven and the heatgradually spreads along the walls and theceiling, by convection.

THE BURIALS

Funerary rituals that took place in thisarea point out the uniqueness of this site

6 Micromorphological analysis is in progress at the Earth Science Department “A. Desio” of Milan Uni-versity.

41


and the symbolic value of its structures:when they had lost their primaryfunction, two of the ovens (1 and 5) wereused for the deposition of threeindividuals. As already mentioned, theburials were excavated during the 2006soundings, but the human remains werestudied only in 2012 (see Catalano, DiGiannantonio in this volume). It must beremembered that the excavation of theburials was undertaken in 2006 by adifferent team; we have therefore workedon digging reports, photographs anddrawings. Although these documents arevery accurate, we didn’t have theopportunity to check the informationdirectly on the field. Moreover, the burialswere so badly preserved – see the case oftomb 3, deeply cut by ploughing – thatit was impossible to define whether theburials were primary or secondarydepositions.

Oven 1 (fig. 9) contains the remainsof two burials, placed in the north-westside of the structure, on a layer con-taining fragments of impressed pottery,lithics and groundstones. The first bur-ial is of an adult male (T1) of 30/35years, with partially connected bones;the bad preservation of the bones of theother individual, an adult of 30/35years (T2), did not allow the determi-nation of its sex. The burials were cov-ered with a layer of archaeological ma-terial and daub with twig imprintsprobably caused by the collapse of thevault.

The burial of an adult male over 55years old was placed along the easternwall of oven 5 (fig. 10). It was in a bad

state of preservation, damaged by deepploughing. As in oven 1 the bones werecovered by a deposit composed of ar-chaeological material, charcoal anddaub. The skeletons have no specificorientation; according to the anthro-pological analysis (Catalano, Di Gian-nantonio in this volume) the three in-dividuals experienced a few episodes ofstress during their childhood, and per-formed particular activities that led toa stronger development of the lowerlimbs. The absence of dental caries ofthe two younger individuals and thegood condition of teeth in the oldermale could be the consequence of alow-carbohydrate diet. This evidencefits well with the results of the carbonand nitrogen stable isotope analysis7,that suggest a protein-based diet, wherethe protein source are most likely ter-restrial and non-terrestrial (aquatic) re-sources (Lelli in this volume, Lelli etalii 2012).

A cremation burial was found in thesouth-western sector of the excavation, inan anthropic level that is rich in potteryand lithics without evidence of pits orother structures that could have con-tained the burial. The remains belongs toa young woman of delicate structure ofno more than 20 years old. The anthro-pological study revealed that the burnedremains were gathered up with greatcare, to be then probably stored in a con-tainer made of organic materials that isnot more preserved.

It is impossible to reach any conclu-sions from such a small group of buri-als, but it is of some interest that we are

7 Samples of human and faunal bones were analysed within the Prin 2008 Project “Origin and diffu-sion of farming in central-southern Italy: a multidisciplinary approach”, coordinated by O. Rickards.

42

Conati Barbaro

Fig. 9 – Burials 1 and 2 in oven 1.

43


in the presence of three different situa-tions, though the area is relativelysmall: a double burial of two individu-als of the same age, that share similarcharacteristics, a single burial of an oldman, and the cremated remains of ayoung woman. Although the exacttime-scale of these burials is still un-known, it seems clear that there wasn’ta unique way of performing the funer-al ritual.

In the Italian Neolithic, funeral prac-tices linked to the individual’s cremation,or more generally, to the partial destruc-tion of a human body (or skeleton) byfire, are well known. Evidence of thesepractices were found in caves (GrottaContinenza: Barra et alii 1992; GrifoniCremonesi 2002; Grotta Pavolella:Carancini, Guerzoni 1987, the latter con-

tained at least 20 human cremations ofyoung and very young individuals) or inopen spaces as in the case of the Samarisite, where pits filled with ash and humanbones (for a total of 13 individuals) werefound near a fireplace, in a dedicated area(Orlando 1997, 2002).

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

The study of the archaeological mate-rials found inside the ovens and in thedepressions that are in front of them, isin progress. In this article some prelimi-nary information about the materials arepresented without making a functionaldistinction between the materials foundin the different structures. Pottery is notabundant if compared to the consider-

Fig. 10 – Burial 3 in oven 5.

able amount of lithic industry. More-over the archaeological material is notwell preserved, because of the consider-

able quantity of chalky incrustationscaused by the infiltration of water in thedeposits.

44

Conati Barbaro

Fig. 11 – 1- 4, fine pottery; 5-10, coarse pottery.

45


Pottery (fig.11)A small amount of ceramics was

found. Fine and semi-fine classes arethe most abundant. They present a vari-able thickness, dark-grey core andcolour that goes from light-brown todark brown. The surface, when pre-served, is always smoothed and rarelyburnished. Shapes are mainly tronco-conical, often deep and of large dimen-sion, with rounded rims. Among fine-paste pottery are medium-sized neckedvases (fig. 11, 3) and carinated bowlswith carefully treated surfaces (fig. 11,2).

Coarse pastes feature inclusions of var-ious origin that often are visible on thepottery surface, like fragments of white-gray rock and red and black flint. Shapesare mainly ovoids with rounded rims,and are frequently decorated with im-pressions without predetermined deco-rative pattern (fig. 11, 6, 10). The deco-ration covers the entire vase surface andit is made with nail and finger impres-sions, in some cases with pointed tools.Other sherds show a covering decora-tion of bundles of incised lines forminga mat pattern (fig. 11, 5, 7).

Heeled bases are the most abundant,while the rims are mainly rounded, andin some cases are flat or thin. The han-dles are rarely found and are mainlytight ribbon-like or horizontal, in somecases are attached directly under the rimof tronco-conical bowls (fig. 11, 1);conic knobs on ovoid bowls are alsopresent.

The main technological and stylisticalfeatures of the ceramics found inPortonovo fits well with the CentralAdriatic tradition of Impressa pottery, asknown in Abruzzo, Marche and Emilia-Romagna regions.

A doctoral thesis about pottery pro-duction of Marche’s ancient Neolithic isunderway, focussing on technological,archaeometric and stylistic aspects. Sam-ples of different paste classes and of clayfrom local sources are under analysis atthe Dipartimento di Scienze della Terrae Geoambientali of Bari University. Theresults will be edited toghether with thecomplete study of the pottery assem-blage.

Lithic industry (fig. 12)Local flint, which is quite abundant

in the Conero area, is used as raw ma-terial. Small flint pebbles were collect-ed along stream beds or in the nearbyformations. The assemblage includescores, primary flakes, rejuvenationflakes, crests and full débitage elements,mainly bladelets. Few tools were found,including some geometrics. Somepieces feature a very homogeneous tex-ture and colour alterations that suggestthe use of heat treatment of the rawmaterial to ameliorate knapping. As arecent experiment demonstrates, heat-ing flint at the ideal range of tempera-ture for good flaking performance –that is between 200 and 450°C –, re-quires a good control of the heatingstructures and good knowledge of fireand its properties (Schmidt et alii2012). We may then suppose that theovens could have also been used asheating structures for flint.

Two obsidian bladelets were found inthe ovens and were determined to befrom Lipari source (Acquafredda, Mun-toni in this volume).

Many groundstones were found,mainly fragmented grinding slabs andgrinders. Some of the manufacts foundin the ovens were heated (Lemorini,

Caricola pers.com.), but we cannot say ifintentionally or not. The study, that isstill in progress, will report in detail onthe function aspects of the knapped in-dustry and ground stones.

CHRONOLOGY

Three radiocarbon dates were ob-tained so far. The first two are from oven

5: one is on a charcoal from the depositlayer under the burial, the second on ahuman bone of the burial itself. Thethird date is on a barley caryopses, foundat the entrance of structure 14 (Tab. 1).

The results are consistent with eachother and suggest that the site was usedaround the first half of the sixth millen-nium BC cal. It is interesting to underlinethe time gap between the base of oven 5,and the burial placed there at a later stage.

46

Conati Barbaro

Fig.12 – Cores and blades.

Structure Lab C14 Cal 2σ MaterialOven 14 - US 1154 LTL12777A 6555±45 BP 5620-5460 barley caryopsesOven 5 - US 1031 TG III LTL5192A 6500±50 BP 5560-5350 charcoalOven 5 - Burial 3 - US 1036 LTL5191A 6418±50 BP 5480-5310 human bone

Tab. 1 – The radiometric dates from Portonovo Fosso Fontanaccia.

This evidence demonstrates that the ovenswere used as burial places some time aftertheir last use, or perhaps after the wholearea was abandoned, also excluding thatthe ovens have been conceived as burialstructures from the beginning. The sequence provided at Portonovo isin agreement with the chronological fra-mework of the central-Adriatic Neolithicof Impressa tradition, already dated at si-tes such as Maddalena di Muccia (Mar-che), Continenza Cave, S. Stefano, Vil-laggio Leopardi (Abruzzi), Faenza For-nace Cappuccini (Emilia Romagna)(Tab. 2). According to the chronologicaldata the most ancient Neolithic sites ofthe Central Adriatic area are inland sites.As a matter of fact, the dates obtained at

Portonovo, which can be considered acoastal site, are slightly recent than theones of Rio Tana, Grotta Continenza,Villaggio Leopardi, Marcianese (Abruz-zi) and Maddalena di Muccia (Marche).These data confirm the existence of amuch more ancient Neolithic stage inthe internal zones, that became key areasfor the Neolithisation process, as alreadyhypothesized by Barker (1984), Skeates(1999) and Cazzella (2000). It is worthnoting that the inland site of Maddalenadi Muccia, dated to the first half of theVI millennium BC cal., is strategicallylocated at the intersection of two naturaltransapenine ways, which connect theAdriatic to the Tyrrenian regions (Cona-ti Barbaro, Silvestrini 2005).

47


Fig. 13 – A smoothed clay object from US1104.

CONCLUSIONS

The concentration of ovens found atPortonovo in such a limited area suggestsseveral questions.

Was the site used by a single humangroup or by several communities scat-tered in a wider territory?

Was the site a reference point for com-munity activities of cooking, processing,and storing food?

Were these activities held seasonally oryearly?

Considering the Neolithic materialsfound on the surface from the 1990s (Bar-bone et alii 2005), it seems that the whole

48

Conati Barbaro

Tab 2 – Chronology of the Early Neolithic of the Adriatic Central Italy.

valley of Fosso Fontanaccia was intenselyfrequented from the Early Neolithic on-wards, thanks to the abundance of re-sources and a good microclimate. Thehillslope where the site is located is south-west oriented, so that it benefits from thesun for many hours a day and it is pro-tected by the cold winds of the Tramon-tana and Grecale that come from theNorth and North-East, and are particu-larly intense along the Adriatic coast.Moreover, during the Neolithic period,the river Fosso Fontanaccia, that in thosetimes had a larger capacity, flowed at ahigher height (Cilla, pers. com.), provid-ing an everlasting resource of water andfood. The sea was apparently not exploit-ed as a primary resource despite its prox-imity to the settlement. In fact access tothe sea from the site is difficult, because ofa steep and rough escarpment.

As far as settlements are concerned theexcavations haven’t revealed any evidenceof houses or domestic structures so far.The considerable number of ovens clus-tered in such a limited area, even not allin use at the same time, may indicate thatthe area could have been exploited by oneor more communities. As previously men-tioned, we don't have a decisive clue at-testing that the ovens were made de-scending or ascending the slope. As shownin Tab. 1, oven 14 is slightly older thanoven 5, which lies a few meters above. Wecannot say how much time has passed be-tween the construction of every singleoven, as the lifetime of these structures canbe very variable. The main factors affectingthe oven’s lifetime are time, atmosphericagents, frequency of use, heat intensity andduration. Ethnoarchaeological evidence

points out that domed oven usually have ashort-life and require periodical mainte-nance work, to prevent the walls and vaultcollapse (e.g. Prevost Dermarkar 2002;Ramseyer 2003).

Our data suggest that domed ovensshould be considered as multifunctionalfire structures, that could be used for dif-ferent purposes, according to the requiredheat: cooking bread and other foods,roasting cereals, drying fish, meat, fruits,heating flint. As a matter of fact we founddozens of charred barley grains at the en-trance of oven 14 and a few other charredgrains in oven 38. The clay objects foundon the floor of oven 13 (fig. 8, f) could befragments of a cooking slab, indirectelytestifying the use of the ovens for cookingfood. Moreover, the presence of heat-treatment of flint is attested. As reportedby Muntoni e Ruggiero (in this volume),the temperature reached in the ovensdidn’t exceed 500°C, which is consideredtoo low for pottery firing. However, wecannot exclude that the ovens could havebeen also used for drying the pottery be-fore firing it, and occasionally even forthe firing process itself, as we found fewpottery flakes, usually caused by thermalshocks.

According to the anthracologicalanalysis of charcoals found inside theovens (Celant in this volume) holm oakand hop-hornbeam were used as fuel,suggesting a careful choice of vegetal taxawith a very hard and compact wood.Hard woods are considered the mostsuitables for firing, as they burn slowlyand generate long lasting heat.

At the moment it is difficult to deter-mine if these activities were performed

49


8 The study of carpological remains is in progress.

by one or more groups during the year orif they were seasonal. The analysis of thebotanic and faunal remains will provideus with more information about the eco-nomic strategies of these Neolithic com-munities.

A comparison with similar contextscan be made only with sites that are out-side Italy and the Mediterranean area: asstated before in these regions, ovens areplaced inside the settlement, inside thehouse or immediately outside, and theyare usually found as single structures (e.g.Ripa Tetta, Dikili Tash, Achilleion).Moreover, the Italian and Mediterraneanovens are smaller, with diameters not ex-ceding 1,50m.

Much similar to Portonovo ovens arethe evidence found in central Europeanregions, characterized by the presence ofloess formations. Here, starting from theancient Neolithic onwards, ovens with ac-cess pit, built in proximity of human set-tlements, are well documented. We canmention for example: Rosheim (Jeunesse,Lefranc 1999), Reichstett “Schamli”(Villes 2003), Hébécrevon (Dron et alii2003) in France; Aldenhoven (Lüning1981), Vilsbiburg (Petrasch 1986) in Ger-many; Bylany (Sousdky 1969) in theCzech Repu-blic; Pac (Kolník 1978),Lefantovce (Bánesz 1959, 1962), Borovce(Staššiková-Štuko-vkhá 2002) in Slovakia;Alsónyék-Bátaszék (Bánffy et alii 2010)in Hungary.

The evidences found in the Czech Re-public are very similar to the Portonovoones: here there are numerous ovens, up to15 in the same site; they are cut in theloess, and have large pits excavated in frontof them. The base of the oven is almost 1min diameter, the lining is fired and in somecase the vault is preserved, and shows amedium height of 60 cm. The hypothe-

sized function is that of cooking breadand other foods, but drying pottery orfood are not excluded (Staššiková-Štukovkhá 2002). Even more impressive isthe evidence of the early Neolithic site ofAlsónyék-Bátaszék (Southern Hungary),dated to the late Starčevo culture (begin-ning VI mill. BC cal), where large pits con-taining up to 20 ovens were found. Ac-cording to the Authors, these oval-shapeddomed ovens were often renewed or re-built and in some cases also containedburials (Bánffy et alii 2010).

Burials in ovens are not unusualamong Neolithic funerary practices, asattested, for instance at Lepenski Vir,where one of the Neolithic domed ovens,dated around 5900 BC cal, containeddisarticulated human bones (Borić,Dimitrijević 2007).

Could we relate the re-use of domes-tic structures for burial purposes to thecommunal value of the site, turning thesettlement of the living into a “house ofthe death”?

In the above mentioned cases, thedead were placed into the ovens whenthe vault was still there, but their origi-nal function had already been lost. Usu-ally fireplaces and ovens symbolize a do-mestic contest, but in this case, wherethese structures are a centre of produc-tion on their own, and are not immedi-ately linked to a house or a village, couldthey represent something else?

A strong direct or indirect connectionbetween fire and the funeral ritual: canbe inferred from the evidence of the cre-mated female remains, carefully gatheredinto a container, and of the three indi-viduals placed inside the ovens.

Moreover, the practice of using de-functionalized structures for burial pur-poses, that in Italy mostly attested from

50

Conati Barbaro

Middle Neolithic onwards, is part of awidespread ritual behavior, that empha-sizes the connection between the world ofthe living and the one of the dead. Theabandonment of a domestic structure issealed with a funeral ritual, that in thePortonovo case, symbolizes the conclu-sion of a cycle of exploitation of the struc-ture. Abandoned huts, silos, and trench-es can also be used as resting places, be-cause in these places still resides a strongcommunity memory, that makes them animportant reference point in the territo-ry (Conati Barbaro 2007-2008).

At the end of this preliminary presenta-tion of the site many questions remainunanswered and new ones are raising.More fieldwork and data processing is nec-essary in order to achieve new data. A sam-pling program for archaeomagnetic analy-sis is scheduled for the next field season, aswell as the experimental reproduction ofan oven in the same geological formationof the archaeological ones, verifying its

heating capacity, and then documentingthe abandonment stage. We hope in thisway to reach a better understanding of theconstruction stages and possible uses ofthese unique structures in the Italian pre-history.

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS – My deepest thanks goto Alessandra Manfredini for sharing with methe pros and cons of the field work and for hervaluable advice and support in the writing ofthis paper. I am greatly indebted to Mara Sil-vestrini for encourage us to keep on the re-search on the site and for her constant andfriendly support. I also would like to thankMaria Gloria Cerquetti for helping us in thebureaucratic procedures, and all the Superin-tendence staff for their helpful support. A spe-cial thank to Giovanni Carboni for his tirelesssupport in the excavation and in all phases ofthe research and for his accuracy in drawingmaps and materials.

Dipartimento di Scienze dell’AntichitàSapienza Università di Roma

[email protected]

51


RESEARCH AIMS

The abundant structural evidence forthe use of pyrotechnology at the Ne-olithic site of Portonovo is an invaluablemeans of reconstructing fire-related ac-tivities, such as pottery firing, baking ortoasting.

The specific aim of this research isthus to obtain some information on themaximum temperatures reached duringthe firing cycles of the many ovens iden-tified. We focused in particular on thetransformation of CaO-rich sediments(Heimann 1989), structurally modifiedby exposure to low or high temperatures(as in Berna et alii 2007), which consti-tute the inner parts and hardened sur-faces of the ovens.

The 16 prehistoric structures wereconstructed within the colluvial layerand in the marl substratum (Schlier For-mation), both very CaO-rich sediments(Cilla 2009). The Schlier Formation(Burdigalian pp - Langhian) consists ofhemipelagic deposits characterized byan alternation of marls and clayey marlsand, subordinately, of whitish greymarly limestone (Centamore, Deiana1986).

The identification of the temperaturerange at which a sediment was burned isbased on characterizing the irreversibletransformations that occur when silicateminerals, and in particular clay mineralsare fired, using X-ray powder diffraction

analysis (PXRD). Clays undergo severalstructural and compositional changeswhen exposed to increasing tempera-tures.

SAMPLING AND ANALYTICAL METHODS

A total of 12 samples, taken as a com-pact block of deposit, were analysed fromthree structures (1, 10 and 13) among themany ovens identified, excavated in the2006, 2011 and 2012 seasons respective-ly (Conati Barbaro, in this volume, fig.3).

In oven 1 six hardened sediments weresampled (fig. 1, a), three samples (PFO1-3) from the top to bottom of the survivingwall and three samples (PFO 4-6) fromthree different parts of its base. In ovens 10and 13 three samples were extracted fromthe base (PFO 15 and 20), the wall (PFO16 and 19) and the preserved roof (PFO17 and 18) respectively.

The outer smoothed surfaces (e) andthe inner rough parts (i) of PFO 1-6 andPFO 18-20 (fig. 1, b) were manuallyseparated and analysed (a similar ap-proach in Acquafredda et alii 2009;Maggetti et alii 2011; König, Serneels2013). The aim of this separate sam-pling and analysis was to verify the dif-ferent mineralogical reactions on thehardened inner surface of the ovens andin the wall structures of the ovens 1 cmbeneath the hardened surface.

52

ESTIMATING FIRING TEMPERATURES OF PYROTECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES INTHE NEOLITHIC SITE OF PORTONOVO

Italo M. Muntoni*Grazia Ruggiero**

53

Estimating firing temperatures of pyrotechnological processes in the Neolithic site of Portonovo

Fig. 1 – a: sampling of oven 1; b: one of the analysed samples (PFO 20) with the outer smoothed surface(e) and the inner rough parts (i).

Archaeometric analyses were per-formed at the Dipartimento di Scienzedella Terra e Geoambientali of the Uni-versity of Bari (Italy). Mineralogical stud-ies were carried out by X-ray powder dif-fraction analysis (PXRD) using a Pana-

lytical diffractometer (X-PERT PRO)with filtered CuK1 radiation, and em-ploying NaF as the internal standard.The measurements were carried out instep mode and time step 1 s in 2 intervalbetween 2° and 65°.

54

Muntoni, Ruggiero

Fig. 2 – Representative PXRD spectra of the two parts of PFO 18 sample: the outer smoothed surfaces (e)and the inner rough parts (i).

Tab. 1 – The analysed samples from ovens 1, 10 and 13.

MINERALOGICAL RESULTS

Mineralogical analyses (PXRD) re-vealed the predominance of calcite, avariable amount of quartz and a littlequantity of feldspars (K-feldspar andplagioclase) in all the samples. Weakpeaks of mainly muscovite and smallerquantities of vermiculite and/or chlo-rite were observed in many samples.PXRD analyses also revealed the absenceof Ca-silicates newly formed by expo-sure to high temperatures, such as diop-sidic pyroxenes or gehlenite, typical ofCaO-rich clay.

The muscovite and clay mineral phas-es are rare only in some samples from

oven 1 (PFO 03e, PFO 04e, PFO 05eand PFO 06e), all from the hardened in-ner surface of the base and the lowerpart of the wall. Also in the hardened in-ner surface of the base and the roof fromoven 13 (PFO 20e and PFO 18e), a mi-nor quantity of clay minerals and mus-covite were detected compared to the in-ner rough parts of the same samples.Only PFO 19 sample, from the wall ofthe same oven, presented an inverse pat-tern. Finally, only the base (PFO 15) ofstructure 10 presented again a minorquantity of detectable clay minerals andmuscovite in comparison with the walland the roof (PFO 16 and 17) of thesame oven.

55

Estimating firing temperatures of pyrotechnological processes in the Neolithic site of Portonovo

Table 2 – Mineralogical composition (by PXRD) of the analysed samples; e: outer smoothed surfaces; i: in-ner rough parts. C.M.: clay minerals (vermiculite/chlorite); Ms: muscovite + biotite; Qtz: quartz; Kfs: K-feldspar; Pl: plagioclase; Cal: calcite; number of X is in relationship with mineralogical phase abundance;tr: traces.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

PXRD analyses, which indicate thecoexistence of various mineral phases,serve as an indicator for calculating min-eral-related firing temperatures. Ouranalyses of the hardened sediments fromseveral ovens constructed within veryCa-rich outcrops clearly showed that thesediments were affected by exposure tovery low temperatures (≤500°C), asshown in the majority of samples by thepresence of predominant calcite andweak peaks (≈7Å) of some clay minerals,mainly vermiculite and/or chlorite. Mus-covite and clay mineral phases are rareonly in some samples, all from the hard-ened inner surface of the clayey base andthe wall. As such, only some parts of theinner layer of the ovens were exposed totemperatures not sufficiently high tocause the complete deoxydrilation of clayminerals and the incipient dissociation ofcalcite. All these data indicate that thefiring temperatures found were lowerthan those necessary for the productionof pottery.

Archaeometric data from Neolithicpottery samples, closely comparable to

the pottery found at Portonovo, fromthe nearby Neolithic site of Maddalenadi Muccia (Laviano, Muntoni 2007),show that Early Neolithic potters firedtheir products at a temperature not ex-ceeding 600-800°C, higher the temper-atures reached by the ovens of Portono-vo.

These data could therefore confirmthe archaeological hypothesis (ConatiBarbaro, in this volume) that thePortonovo pyrotechnological structurescould be food ovens rather than potterykilns.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS – Our deepest thanks toprof. Rocco Laviano and dr. Giacomo Eramoof the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra eGeoambientali of the University of Bari (Italy)for their valuable advice and support in thiswork.

* Soprintendenza per i BeniArcheologici della Puglia

Centro Operativo per l’Archeologiadella Daunia, Foggia - Italy

[email protected]

** Studio Associato TerrarossaBari - Italy

[email protected]

56

Muntoni, Ruggiero

64

As widely discussed in Lelli et alii(2012), an analysis of carbon and nitro-gen stable isotopes was conducted onbone collagen of 14 skeletal remains ex-cavated from Portonovo site.

Bone fragments belong to the 3 adultindividuals found inside the oven 1 (T1and T2) and along the eastern wall ofoven 5 and 11 animals (5 pigs, 4 domes-tic sheep, 1 goat and 1 deer).

Collagen was extracted for isotope-ra-tio mass spectrometry (IRMS) using amodified Longin method (Brown et alii1988).

The results revealed a good collagenquality for all samples analysed. δ13Cand δ15N values of faunal samples rangefrom -24.1 to -21.0‰ and from 5.8 to11.0‰, respectively (fig. 1). The statis-tical comparison between the most rep-resented species, i.e. pigs and sheep, letus suppose that there is no significantdifference between animals both for car-bon and nitrogen values (δ13C Kruskal-Wallis = 2.20, P = 0.14; δ15N Kruskal-Wallis = 0.97, P = 0.32). Anyway, whilecarbon signatures are consistent withthose expected for C3 plants consumers,

BONE COLLAGEN CARBON (δ13C) AND NITROGEN (δ15N) STABLE ISOTOPEANALYSIS OF HUMAN AND FAUNAL SAMPLES FROM PORTONOVO

Roberta Lelli*

Fig. 1 – Plot of C vs N values of Portonovo humans and animals.

nitrogen signatures are very variable andtend to overlap with those expected foraquatic organisms: near-to-sea site loca-tion could explain the high δ15N valuesof in situ plants and consequently thoseof animals that graze upon them as aconsequence of the ‘sea-spray effect’(Ambrose 1991; Britton et alii 2008).Moreover, this 15N enrichment could beassociated also with a major non-legu-minous plant consumption (DeNiro1987; Rennie et alii 1976) and possiblywith crop management practices (i.e.manuring) which can raise δ15N valuesin soil and plants (Boogard et alii 2007,2013). Archaeobotanical studies high-lighted the presence within animaldung remains of crop processing by-products (e.g. glume-wheat chaff;Valamoti and Charles 2005): that couldindicate a hypothetical consumption ofcereals which, if manured, could sup-port the high bone collagen nitrogensignatures observed.

Isotope values of the Portonovo hu-mans range from -20.6 to -20.5‰ forcarbon and from 12.6 to 13.3‰ for ni-trogen (fig. 1). A terrestrial diet couldbe hypothesized where the most likely

protein source was from herbivoremammals: the sea-spray effect assumedto affect them could be reflected also onhuman samples giving support to thehigh nitrogen values observed. Howev-er herbivores, as previously said, show agreat variability of nitrogen valueswhich could overlap with the range ofvalues expected for aquatic resources.This lets us suppose that non-terrestri-al food too could have given a signifi-cant contribution to diet of individualsfrom Portonovo.

These hypotheses were supported alsoby mixing models analysis used to quan-tify the proportional contributions ofvarious sources to diet (see Lelli et alii2012 for details) which estimated an ev-ident dependence on animal products(68-100%) as well as a modest but sig-nificant consumption of marine fish (6-24%) for Portonovo individuals.

* Centro di Antropologia Molecolareper lo studio del DNA antico

Dipartimento di Biologia,Università degli Studi di Roma

“Tor Vergata”, Rome, [email protected]

65

Bone collagen carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope analysis of human and faunal samples...

57

INTRODUCTION

This paper presents the results of theanalysis of human remains from the ar-chaeological excavations in Portonovo-Fosso Fontanaccia. The archaeologicalmaterial was in a bad state of preserva-tion and pertained three inhumations(two from Structure 1 and one fromStructure 5) and a cremation, that wasdug out in a whole piece of soil to be fur-ther analyzed in the laboratory.

METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

The sex of the human remains was de-termined by the evaluation of sexual di-morphism markers of skull, pelvis, andlong bones (Aksàdi, Nemeskéri 1970;Ferembach et alii 1979). Age-at-deathestimation was achieved by the analysisof the degree of cranial sutures synosto-sis (Meindl, Lovejoy 1985), teeth wear(Lovejoy 1985), and morphologicalchanges in pubic synphysis (Todd 1921).

The study of the body structure wasassessed by the evaluation of the anthro-pometric measurements of the post-cra-nial skeleton (Martin, Saller 1957; Schulz1937). Enthesiopathies, the muscle scarslocated at specific muscle attachment,were analyzed for inferring activity andbehavioral adaptation . Alterations of themuscle-tendon insertion area, includingruggedness, eburneations, porosity, crests

formation or bone spikes (Mariotti et alii2004-2007), can be found when musclesare excessively stimulated or exposed tolong-term stresses (for example in heavyworkload).

Other non-metric indicators of func-tional stress have been evaluated: they aredefined as MOS (Markers of Occupa-tional Stress) (Wilczak, Kennedy 1997)and include all the extensions of the ar-ticular surfaces (accessory Poirier facets,squatting facets, sacro-iliac joints fossaeand Allen’s fossae), the presence of sever-al centers of ossification (acromial bone)and the distal insertion of the Quadri-ceps (also known as Messeri’s patella),that several authors linked to heavyworkloads.

The main affections of teeth and alve-oli have been scored: dental caries, cal-culus, teeth lost before death (AMTL),and inflammatory disease at the peri-odontal level. Caries is a localized disease,featured by a progressive destruction ofthe hard tissues of the tooth (enamel,dentine and cement). Although the mainfactor behind its occurrence is the sugarconsumption, it can also be caused by ge-netic factors, alterations of the composi-tion of the saliva, infectious diseases andcarential condition (Hillson 1998; Stew-art, Spence 1976; Valletta et alii 1997).

The calculus, which is located to thecrown and to the exposed section of theroot, represents a mineralization of thebacterial plaque that is accumulates on

AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HUMAN REMAINS FROM THEARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF PORTONOVO-FOSSO FONTANACCIA

Paola Catalano*Stefania Di Giannantonio*

the tooth surface (Ortner 2003). Its for-mation can be related to the amount ofplaque so all those factors that favor theaccumulation, such as poor oral hygieneand the consumption of carbohydrates(Hillson 1998) might play a key role.

The inflammations of the periodon-tium are typically progressive, and re-solved in bone destruction, alveolar boneresorption and eventually the loss of teethfor the defeat of the natural support ofthe tooth (Regezi et alii 2000). The maincause of periodontal disease seems to bethe dental plaque, which accumulates asa result of poor oral hygiene but also themalocclusions, trauma, infectious dis-eases, hormonal disorders and malnutri-tion, however, could contribute to theonset of periodontal disease (Strohm, Alt1998). In skeletal series, the disease isrecognizable by the presence of destruc-tive remodeling of the alveolar bone, withextensive exposure of the tooth root. Theextent of alveolar resorption provides anindication of the severity of periodontaldisease (Watson 1986).

It was possible also to analyze enamelhypoplasia (Corrucini et alii 1985), as anindicator of nutritional deficiency and/ordisease. Hypoplasia can be caused by anutritional deficiency (vitamin D), feverand infections, and occurs on the toothcrown as linear signs, small holes andopaque spots.

These alterations can be formed onlyduring childhood, when the teeth werein developing. In fact they are limited toamelogenesis period, which in perma-nent teeth does not across the seventhyear of age of the individual’s life. Enam-el is not further lifetime remodelled, thusthese alterations can be observed in teethof any age. It is possible to determine theage of onset of the phenomena trough

the position of the lines, by regressionwhere the variables are the age and thestage of development of every singletooth (Goodman, Rose 1990).

The burned remains were stratigra-phically analyzed using small sized trow-els and soft brushes to avoid further frag-mentation of the bones (Duday 2006).Materials of uncertain origins were sep-arated from bigger dimension ones, thatwere assigned to different skeletal areas:skull, trunk and limbs. The total weightand that of every skeletal area werescored (McKinley 1993).

This analysis determines if all thebody areas are represented and in whichproportion. It also gives information re-lated to the method of bones collection(random, selective or all-inclusive), andthe occurrence of post-burial scattering.Fire temperature was estimated by thecomparison of the bone colour with refe-rence tables by different authors (Bonuc-ci, Graziani 1975; Shipman 1984). Sexand age-of-death determination of theburned remains (where possible becausethe state of fragmentation) were achievedwith the same methods used for the in-humated remains.

RESULTS

Structure 1: Tomb 1 and Tomb 2

Tomb 1

The skeleton is in a bad state of preser-vation and incomplete. Only fewanatomical fragments have been sorted:twelve teeth (5 pertained to maxilla and7 mandibulary ),parts of the mandible,fragments of scapulae and clavicles,humeral diaphysis, fragments of ulna,

58

Catalano, Di Giannantonio

vertebrae and pelvis, left femur diaphisys,right tibial and fibula diaphisys, and theright talus and calcaneus. Pelvic andmandibular morphology reveal the malegender, while teeth wear suggests thatthe age-at-death ranged between 30-35years. No dental caries were pointed outand only a small amount of calculus onthe lower teeth has been recorded: it ap-pears associated with a soft alveolar re-sorption of the jaw. Moreover there aresoft hypoplasic defects, caused by at leastthree stresses (nutritional deficency ordisease), around 3 and 6 years of age:they are highlighted in mandibular rightcanine and second premolar.

The upper central left incisor (fig. 1)shows unusual wear on the occlusal sur-face of the crown, possibly due to extra-masticatory use. The same kind of ero-sion is observed in living individuals thatusually bite objects like a pen (Alt et alii1998). It was impossible to measure thestature because the absence of completelong bones, but certain indexes have beenevaluated. The humeral diaphysal index(> of 76,5) highlights eurybrachia onboth sides, that means the bone round-ness wasn’t altered by a great develop-ment of biceps and deltoids (Iscan,Kennedy 1989). The left femur pilastricindex (included between 110 and 119),shows mild development of the linea as-pra; the platimeric index (included be-tween 75 and 83) reveals a mild anterior-posterior shaping of the superior third ofthe femoral dyaphisis, usually related tothe development of the third trochanter.

The cnemic index of the right tibia (<65) reveals platicnemia, a medio-lateralflattening of the dyaphisis. Analysis of themuscle-skeletal markers reveals a moder-ate enthesis development (areas wheremuscles and ligaments insert into the

bone) and a small osteolithic enthesopa-thy in the insertion of costo-clavicular lig-ament (fig. 2). Moreover, in the left femur,Porier’s facet and Allen’s fossa have beenscored, with a very light insertion of thequadriceps insertion on the patella.

In conclusion the individual showsmedium development of muscle-skeletalmarkers, that might mirror a life fea-tured by moderate physical activity.

Tomb 2

The skeletal remains are incompleteand in worst state of preservation. Thereare 13 teeth mandibulary and several

59

An anthropological study of the human remains from the archaeological excavation of Portonovo-Fosso Fontanaccia

Fig. 1 – Upper central incisor with possibly extra-masticatory wear.

Fig. 2 – Enthesopathy in the insertion of costo-cla-vicular ligament.

fragments pertained to the mandible, theright radius and ulna, the left radius, fe-mur, tibia, and fibula, and fragments ofthe right tibia. Sex was impossible to de-termine, because of the absence of thefundamental morphological elements.Tooth wear puts the age-at-death be-tween 30 and 35 years, and the analysisof the teeth focuses on the absence ofcaries and a small amount of tartar.There are mild hypoplasic defects on theright mandibular incisives and canine,that might be caused by at least twostresses, between 2,5 and 3 years of age.

It was possible to measure some an-thropological indices: the pilastric indexof the left femur (< of 100) reveals poordevelopment of the linea aspra; the pla-timeric index (< of 75) shows hyper-pla-timetria; the diaphyseal (60,97) and cne-mic index of the left tibia (< 65) revealsplaticnemia. The analysis of these index,along with the state of the muscle inser-tions result in a suggested medium de-velopment of the muscle markers on the

radii and on the right ulna, while astrong development could be associatedto ileo-psoas.

Structure 5

Tomb 3

The skeletal remains are very incom-plete and in a bad state of preservation.There are fragments of skull, mandibula,17 teeth (9 pertained to maxilla and 8mandibulary), the right distal humerus,right radius and ulna diaphysis, somephalanges of the right hand, and frag-ments of the left humerus and ulna. Thefrontal bone of skull (fig. 3) andmandible morphology suggests the indi-vidual was a male, while teeth wear setsthe age around 55 years. Teeth analysisshows severe dental caries on the maxil-lary left first molar, while there is lack ofcalculus. Enamel hypoplasia was impos-sible to determine because of the excessive

60


Fig. 3 – Frontal bone of skull.

wear of the tooth crown. It was possibleto measure only the diaphyseal index ofthe right radius (<75), that shows ascarcely developed interbone crest.

The cremation burial

The burned remains are a “secondaryburial” or “indirect deposition”, thatmeans the funeral ritual is made in twodifferent times: the body is crematedthen the bones are gathered and buriedin their final resting place (Duday 2006).The material has been excavated by oth-er scholars, that result in very rare and in-complete information related to the ar-chaeological finding and excavation in-formation, The micro-stratigraphicanalysis revealed the presence of at leasttwo different strata, featured by two dif-ferent kind of bones. The remains from

each stratum were gathered and assignedto different skeletal zones: skull, upperlimbs, lower limbs, and trunk.

The stratigraphic distribution analysisof the anatomical segment (fig. 4) revealsa prevalence of burned upper limbs frag-ments in the upper stratum (stratum 1),with a very low percentage of skull, trunkand lower limbs, while there is a preva-lence of lower limbs and trunk fragmentsin the lower stratum (stratum 2). Thispeculiar distribution seems to suggestthat a great care in the gathering of cre-mated bones, because a more roughlygathering might be associated to a morenuanced situation between the strata(Duday 2006).

The morphology of skull fragmentsand the general frailness seem to suggestthat the individual was a female, al-though the very bad state of preservationand the cremation process could repre-

61


Fig. 4 – Stratigraphic distribution analysis of the anatomical section of burned remains.

sent a bias in the sex determination. Thedegree of cranial sutures synostosis(Meindl, Lovejoy 1985) puts the age-at-death over 20 years. The total weight ofthe bones is 424 g, that is far away fromthat proposed by McKinley (McKinley1993), who declares that total weight ofthe human remains for cremated adult isaround 1000 and 2400 g. The weight ofeach skeletal area was compared withrepresentative theoretical values reportedby Lowrance and Latimer 1957: the skullwould represent the 20,4% of the totalweight, the trunk 17% and limbs 62,6%respectively. This evaluation is funda-mental to understand if there was a gath-ering preference for a specific anatomicalzone, or if there was no selection for dif-ferent parts of the burned body.

The plot (fig. 5) shows that everyanatomical zone is represented, with

some peculiarities: skull and limbs areunderestimated, while trunk is overesti-mated. The comparison between weightand the representative values of skeletalareas points out that the individual ap-pears incomplete but every anatomicalzone is well represented: the level of in-completeness seems to be ascribed to postdepositional movements in spite of a se-lective gathering. This phenomena seemsto pertain only the superficial section ofthe tomb, where skull fragments shouldbe present. No manipulations could behighlighted in the deeper section of thetomb.

The burned bones present a strongdeformation and a chipped surface (fig.6). The colour is mainly white, withlight-gray and gray-blue shades, becauseof the permutation of phosphate in py-rophosphate. This colours and deforma-

62


Fig. 5 – Representative values of skeletal areas.

tions suggest that burning temperaturehas been between 600° and 940° C (2-3degree of Holk’s scale or IV degree ofShipman scale). No substantial temper-ature differences between the differentskeletal zones could be highlighted.

During the funeral ritual, the fireworked homogeneously on the body,with the same intensity and for the sametime in every single part of the body.

CONCLUSIONS

Notwithstanding the worst state ofpreservation that allowed only incom-plete evaluation, the skeletal remains ofPortonovo-Fosso Fontanaccia is of greatinterest. The human remains pertainedto the inhumations show low frequencyof caries and dento-alveolar disease, cal-culus and very low level of enamel hy-poplasia might suggest a good health sta-tus. The analysis of muscle-skeletalstresses, in particular in Tomb 1, high-light the workload was not so hard. Theindirect and incomplete cremation couldbe subjected to management in the past,that moves several bone fragments fromthe original position and that results in astrong underrepresentation of the skulland the limbs.

These movements did not interferewith the deeper surfaces, that high-light a great care in the gathering pro-cedures.

* Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di [email protected]

[email protected]

63


Fig. 6 – Deformation of burned bones.

66

INTRODUCTION

The anthracological materials re-trieved from the archaeological struc-tures of the Fosso Fontanaccia site, nearPortonovo (Ancona) (Conati Barbaroin this volume) provide an excellent op-portunity to investigate the relation-ships between the local prehistoric hu-man community and the natural envi-ronment in an area for which no ar-chaeobotanical data are available yet, inspite of the most interesting position ofthe site, at the foothill of ConeroMount on the Adriatic coast of the Ital-ian Peninsula.

The Fosso Fontanaccia site, located atabout 120 m a.s.l. on the northern sideof Mount Conero, has been excavatedsince 2006. Several semi-circular struc-tures have been brought to light. Theyhave been interpreted as ovens. In twocases, subject of the present study, thesestructures have been reused as burials(Conati Barbaro in this volume). Potteryfragments were collected from the site, aswell as lithics, human and animal bonesand plant macroremains, which werepartly analyzed in this work.

From the natural point of view, theConero promontory shows a wide floris-tic and biocoenotic biodiversity, largelyexplained by the considerable geological,geomorphological and climatic condi-tions of the territory (Biondi et alii 2002,2012). The floristic list includes almost

1200 taxa. The chorological spectrumshows a clear dominance of Mediter-ranean elements, although taxa typical ofApennine phytocoenoses are also pre-sent. The Fosso Fontanaccia site is locat-ed at the foot of the northern slope ofMount Conero, which is covered withdense, mesophilous holm oak (Quercusilex) woods, mixed with evergreen scle-rophyllous plants (e.g. Laurus nobilis,Arbutus unedo, Phillyrea media, andViburnum tinus) and deciduous treesmainly represented by Ostrya carpinifo-lia, competing with holm oak in treecovering, Quercus pubescens, Acer opalussubsp. obtusatum, and Fraxinus ornus(Biondi et alii 2002, 2012).

A long history of human activity hasmodified the natural landscape throughagricultural and pastoral activities, as wellas wood cutting, in the plain and hilly ar-eas located in the western and northernside of the promontory. However, timesand modes of human impact on the nat-ural environment are largely unknownbecause of the complete absence of ar-chaeobotanical and palaeoenvironmentalstudies in the region.

The present paper represents a firstpreliminary contribution towards thereconstruction of how and when the lo-cal natural resources have been used bylocal prehistoric populations and thedefinition of the possible intentional se-lection of timber for different domesticuses.

ANTHRACOLOGICAL REMAINS FROM A NEOLITHIC SITE IN THE CONERONATURAL PARK

Alessandra Celant*

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials analyzed for plantmacroremains were sampled from FossoFontanaccia during the excavation cam-paigns of 2006 (structures 1 and 5) and2012 (structure 13). No plant remainswere found in the dry-sieved sedimentsfrom structure 1 (0.7 l). In structure 5(US 1031), 4.5 l dry-sieved sedimentcontained 20 fragments of wood char-coal. The archaeobotanical remains fromstructure 13 (US1144) have been pickedfrom the sediments during the excava-tion phases; they consist in 85 woodcharcoal fragments.

All anthracological samples are sub-centimetric fragments, in poor condi-tion and very fragile, probably because ofprolonged burning in the ovens. A smallnumber of charcoals were not identifiedfor the minute size of the fragments. Nocarpological remains were recovered inthe archaeological sediments.

The charcoal remains were examinedby fracturing and observation of thethree main anatomical wood sections(cross, tangential, and radial), under amicroscope with Nomarski differentialinterference contrast at various magnifi-cations. Identification keys and atlases(Schweingruber 1978, 1990; AbbateEdlmann et alii 1994), as well as the ref-erence collection of the Laboratory ofPalaeobotany and Palynology of theSapienza University have allowed the tax-onomic identification of the remains tothe genus/species level.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The anthracological remains consist in105 fragments, 20 of which from struc-

ture 5 entirely belonging to Quercus cf.ilex (holm oak). The remaining 85 frag-ments from structure 13 include bothQuercus cf. ilex (80 fragments) and Os-trya carpinifolia (hop-hornbeam; 5 frag-ments).

In cooperation with archaeologists, acharcoal fragment of Quercus cf. ilex,sampled from the bottom of structure 5,was selected for AMS radiocarbon dat-ing, carried out at CEDAD, SalentoUniversity (LTL5192A, 6500±50 BP,Conati Barbaro in this volume: tab. 1).

These results allow some considera-tions concerning the vegetation historyand human activity in the area:

The woody taxa recorded at FossoFontanaccia are at present the mostabundant tree species on the ConeroMount, especially on the northen slope(Biondi et alii 2012), so suggesting thatthe Holocene climate fluctuations havenot significantly modified the dominantvegetation elements.

The Neolithic community of FossoFontanaccia collected the firewood forovens in the close vicinity of the site,most likely from the northern slope ofthe Conero Mount, which is still coveredby a dense mesophilous holm oak forest,with some deciduous elements, especial-ly Ostrya carpinifolia.

From the technological point of view,both holm oak and hop-hornbeam havea very hard and compact wood, prof-itably used as firewood, being an excel-lent fuel also for ovens (Giordano 1980).This suggests an intentional selection bythe local community, which avoided col-lection of other woody taxa common inthe area.

The use of wood documented in theEarly Neolithic settlement indicates thatthe territory of the Conero regional nat-

67

Anthracological remains from a Neolithic site in the Conero Natural Park

ural park was subjected to forest clear-ance by humans already 7000 years ago.It is noteworthy that despite such long-term anthropization and strong ex-ploitation by humans, the area main-tains a considerably rich floristic and bio-coenotic diversity and shows a still mod-est component of exotic species (Biondiet alii 2012).

The complex of the circular structuresfrom Fosso Fontanaccia is still under

study and will certainly provide moredetailed archaeobotanical informationon the land use in the Conero area, thedomestic usage of the ovens, local earlyagricultural practices, edible fruits andseeds collection, subsistence economy,and wood technology.

* Dipartimento di Biologia AmbientaleSapienza Università di Roma

[email protected]

68

Celant

69

INTRODUCTION

This study determined the geologicalprovenance of the two unique Early Ne-olithic obsidian bladelets (PFO1 andPFO2) found among the numerousovens identified at the site of Portonovo(Tab. 1), near the city of Ancona. Theanalyses were carried out at the Depart-ment of “Scienze della Terra e Geoambi-entali” of Bari University where a well-defined outline of the circulation of var-ious Mediterranean sources of obsidian(Monte Arci, Palmarola, Lipari, Pantel-leria, Gyali and Melos) was obtained(Acquafredda et alii 1999, Acquafredda,Muntoni 2005; Acquafredda, Muntoni2008; Acquafredda et alii 2011), mainlywith respect to its distribution in South-ern and Central Italian Neolithic sites.

ANALYTICAL METHODS

The provenance of obsidian artefactscan be non-destructively determined byanalysing them with a SEM coupledwith an ED spectrometer, using the sur-face of the specimens instead of polishedthin sections (Acquafredda et alii 1999;Acquafredda, Paglionico 2004; Ac-quafredda, Muntoni 2005).

Alternatively, the obsidian can besourced by analysing the whole speci-men (glass and microphenocrysts) by

XRF (X-Ray fluorescence) in an ab-solutely non-destructive way, using thepeak intensity ratios of various trace ele-ments (Nelson et alii 1975; Crisci et alii1994; Acquafredda et alii 2011).

To obtain quantitative SEM-EDS in-formation on the glass composition ofthe sample, it must first be sputteredwith a 30-nm-thick carbon film. Afterthe analyses, the carbon film can usuallybe removed easily using either ethyl al-cohol or acetone, restoring the originalsurface of the obsidian.

For very fragile and thin obsidianbladelets or flakes, easily broken duringpolishing operations, or for obsidianspecimens with a pumice texture fromwhose pores the carbon film is quite im-possible to remove, the surface of thesample must be protected with a verythin layer of aluminium foil (of the sametype commonly used for cooking), cov-ering the surface of the specimen andpreventing the carbon film from cover-ing the entire surface of the specimen(fig. 1), especially the more fragile ormore pore-rich parts. Once the flat andsmooth portion of the sample to be ex-posed during the carbon-sputtering op-erations has been selected, the remainderof the specimen can be protected by fix-ing the aluminium foil to the fragile sur-face of the obsidian with adhesive con-ductive tape (aluminium or copper tape),for sale as an SEM supplies product. This

SEM-EDS AND XRF CHARACTERIZATION OF OBSIDIAN BLADELETS FROMPORTONOVO (AN) TO IDENTIFY RAW MATERIAL PROVENANCE

Pasquale Acquafredda*Italo M. Muntoni**

Mauro Pallara***

70

Acquafredda et alii

Fig. 1 – a, photograph of the two PFO (PFO1 on the left and PFO2 on the right) obsidian bladelets thatwere protected with an aluminium paper; b, fixed on an aluminium stub with colloidal graphite and thencarbon-coated for SEM investigations; c, SEM back scattered electron images of the PFO1 (on the left) andPFO2 (on the right) samples in which is clearly visible the carbon sputtered zone (more grey in colour) andthe aluminium paper (more white in colour) fixed with the aluminium adhesive conductive tape (of an in-termediate grey colour); d, photograph of the PFO1 sample without the aluminium cover once completedthe SEM investigation; the inset show the little area that have been carbon-coated.

makes it possible to remove the carbonfilm covering the smooth portion quick-ly and easily after the SEM-EDS analy-ses.

After covering the samples with alu-minium foil and carbon-sputteringthem, they are glued onto alluminiumstubs with colloidal graphite.

The electron microscope used in thisresearch was a S360 Cambridge Scan-ning Electron Microscope, coupled withan Oxford-Link Ge ISIS Energy Disper-sive Spectrometer (EDS) equipped witha Super AtmosphereThinWindow ©.

The non-critical working distance ofthe ED Spectrometer allows quantitativeanalyses of the glass to be carried out evenif the surface of the sample is not perfect-ly flat or slightly tilted (Ruste 1979; Ac-quafredda, Paglionico 2004; Acquafredda,Muntoni 2008; Mitolo et alii 2013).

The operating conditions of the SEMwere: 15 kV accelerating potential, 500pA probe current, 3000 cps as averagecount rate on the whole spectrum ofCobalt standard and counting time 100s. X-ray intensities were converted towt% oxides by ZAF4/FLS quantitativeanalysis software support provided byOxford-Link Analytical (UK).

The analytical precision was 0.5% forconcentrations >15 wt.%, 1% for con-centrations of about 5 wt.%, and <20%for concentrations near the detectionlimit.

Given the analysed composition, the1σ precision corresponded to the follow-ing values: SiO2 = 0.17-0.28 wt.%; TiO2=0.08-0.11 wt.%; Al2O3 = 0.08-0.14wt.%; FeO = 0.05-0.21 wt.%; MnO =0.04-0.6 wt.%; MgO = 0.08-0.15 wt.%;CaO = 0.04-0.20 wt.%; K2O = 0.04-0.12wt.%; Na2O = 0.04-0.06 wt.%.

The glass chemical analysis is given as

the average composition of at least threemicroanalyses performed on differentflat and horizontal points of each sam-ple (Tab. 2). Moreover, for each sample,the analyses were normalized to total100% to allow for better comparisonbetween the SEM-EDS analyses and theXRF literature data (Acquafredda et alii1999). The precision and accuracy ofthe analytical data was checked usingseveral standard minerals manufacturedby Micro-Analysis Consultants Ltd.(UK).

Provenance information on obsidians,especially in the case of slight alterations

71

SEM-EDS and XRF characterization of obsidian bladelets from Portonovo (An) to identify raw material provenance

Fig. 2 – photograph of the aluminium sample hold-er for XRF measure; the sample holder is closed atthe bottom with a very thin Mylar © polyester filmon which is located the PFO2 obsidian sample. Onthe sample is still possible to recognize the carbon-coating little area used for SEM investigations.

Tab. 1 – The contexts of the two obsidian bladeletsanalysed.

Code

PFO1

PFO2

Year

2011

2012

Object

Bladelet

Bladelet

Context

Oven 6, US 1102

Oven 13, US 1144

particularly affecting the alkali cations(Fiore et alii 1999) of the artefact, can beobtained by characterizing the samplewith an XRF spectrometer; in this casethe analytical information is obtained byanalysing the whole specimen (glass andmicrophenocrysts) using the peak inten-sity ratios of various trace elements (Nel-son et alii 1975; Crisci et alii 1994; Ac-quafredda et alii 2011). The limitation ofthis technique is that very small obsidi-an samples are difficult to measure giventhe very few X-rays emitted by very smallspecimens. For X-ray fluorescence analy-ses, a Panalytical AXIOS-Advanced spec-trometer equipped with a Rh anode X-ray tube was used. The operating condi-tions of the XRF spectrometer were: 60kV and 66 mA the X-ray tube powersupply; a scintillator detector was used to

collect the X-ray lines dispersed by a LiF220 crystal.

To make it possible to analyse verysmall specimens, an aluminium holderclosed at the bottom with a very thinMylar© polyester film was prepared.The specimen, positioned at the centreof the surface of the Mylar film (fig. 2),was placed in the XRF spectrometer forX-ray analyses. The X-ray peak intensityof 5 trace elements (Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb)was accurately measured (Tab. 3) takinginto particular account the backgroundcontribution at the peak intensity of eachelement (Leoni, Saitta 1976). A correctmeasurement of peak/background ratiocoupled with a correct discrimination ofthe interfering contribution among char-acteristic Rayleigh lines of these trace el-ements, make it possible to accuratelysource obsidian samples as light as 0.1 g.

ANALYTICAL RESULTS

The chemical SEM-EDS analyses ofthe glass of the two PFO samples werecompared with the database of glasscompositions of western Mediterraneanobsidian sources (Acquafredda et alii1999). Considering the Al2O3, FeO,CaO, and K2O content, the two samplesanalysed had a glass composition indi-cating provenance from the island of Li-pari (fig. 3, Tab. 2); by contrast, the SiO2and Na2O values are respectively higherand lower than those of obsidians fromLipari (fig. 3, Tab. 2). The CIA parame-ter (CIA = [Al2O3/(Al2O3+CaO+K2O+Na2O)]x100 in molecular propor-tions) of Nesbitt and Young (1982) alsofailed to provide a clear attribution ofprovenance for the two PFO samples(fig. 3).

72

Acquafredda et alii

Tab. 2 – SEM-EDS microanalyses (each value rep-resents the mean of three determinations) of theglass of the two samples PFO and the literature da-ta on the geological obsidian outcrops of Lipari(from Acquafredda et alii 1999: reported data arethe mean value of 24 determinations performed onthe raw surface of the sample); n.d.: not deter-mined.

Tab. 3 – XRF intensities (in counts per second) ofsome trace elements, measured on the raw surfaceof the samples.

In fact, it is common for the Na2Ocontent of obsidian samples buried for along time in sediments rich in water cir-culation to have a higher Na contentthan expected: this is due to the easy andrapid mobilization of this cation, con-centrated in the more superficial part ofthe specimen (Acquafredda, Piccarreta,in press), especially in volcanic glassrocks (Fiore et alii 1999; Acquafredda etalii 2011). In these case provenance canbe determined non-destructively byanalysing the samples using XRF andidentifying the source area using thepeak ratio of some trace elements (Nel-son et alii 1975; Crisci et alii 1994; Ac-quafredda et alii 2011). The Nb/Sr vs.Rb/Sr and the Nb/Y vs. Zr/Y plots, com-

paring the X-ray intensities of the twoPFO samples with the values for obsid-ian rocks from several Mediterraneansource areas (data provided by Ac-quafredda et alii 1999), clearly indicateprovenance from Lipari for both PFObladelets (fig. 4, Tab. 3).

CONCLUSIONS

The two Early Neolithic bladeletsfrom Portonovo were attributed to ob-sidians traded from Lipari. Our results arein agreement with previously publisheddata (Tab. 4) on obsidian provenance inEarly to Late Neolithic sites of theMarche region (Antonelli et alii 2002;

73


Fig. 3 – SEM-EDS chemical plot of the obsidian glass composition for the major obsidian source areas inthe Mediterranean basin (data from Acquafredda et alii 1999); analyses of the two PFO artefacts are repre-sented as grey stars. a, SiO2 vs. CaO diagram; b, Na2O vs. CaO diagram; c, Al2O3 vs. Na2O/K2O diagram;d, C.I.A. [Chemical Index of Alteration = Al2O3/(Al2O3+CaO+Na2O+K2O)] vs. FeO diagram.

74

Acquafredda et alii

Tab

. 4 –

Obs

idia

n pr

oven

ance

in M

iddl

e A

dria

tic

Neo

lithi

c si

tes (

EN

: Ear

ly N

eolit

hic,

MN

: Mid

dle

Neo

lithi

c, R

N: R

ecen

t Neo

lithi

c, F

N: F

inal

Neo

lithi

c; X

=th

e nu

mbe

r of

ana

lyse

d sa

mpl

es is

unk

now

n; ?

= th

e pr

oven

ance

is u

ndet

erm

ined

).

Antonelli et alii 2006; De Francesco etalii 2006) and in general of the middleAdriatic regions from Emilia-Romagna toAbruzzo (Ammerman, Polglase 1998;Bigazzi, Radi 1998; De Francesco, Crisci2003, Pessina, Radi 2006).

Lipari appears to have been the mainsource of obsidian in the central Mediter-ranean area and clearly has the widestdistribution throughout Italy (Pessina,Radi 2006). Our results, therefore, are inline with those from many other Early toLate Neolithic inland and coastal sites inthe Marche: obsidian from Lipari is pre-dominant, and sometimes the onlysource present, in all Neolithic periods.Very little obsidian from Palmarola wasidentified (Antonelli et alii 2006) in theinland Early to Recent Neolithic settle-ment of Maddalena di Muccia (n=2,25% of the samples analysed) and in theRecent Neolithic settlement of VillaPanezia (n=1, 100% of the samplesanalysed), suggesting overland trans-Apennine exchange networks coveringsignificant distances, from the Tyrrheniancoast to inland areas.

An Early Neolithic spread of Pontineobsidian, alongside that from Lipari,along trans-Apennine routes to the westbetween the Tyrrhenian to Adriaticcoasts is suggested by the presence of ob-sidian from Palmarola at the northernEarly Neolithic site of Fornace Cappuc-cini in Emilia-Romagna (with artefactsfrom Lipari) and at the southern EarlyNeolithic sites of Marcianese (withoutartefacts from Lipari) and especially atColle Santo Stefano (more than 70% ofthe samples analysed).

During the subsequent phases of theNeolithic, circulation certainly intensi-fied and became systematic. Obsidianfrom Lipari became the absolutely pre-

dominant type, sometimes to the exclu-sion of all others, from Mid Neolithicphases onwards (as at Santa Maria inSelva). Obsidian from Palmarola is at-tested, together with artefacts from Li-pari, in many Mid to Late Neolithic vil-lages in Abruzzo – such as Catignano(n=12, 8% of the samples analysed) andFossacesia (n=5, 11% of the samplesanalysed), not distant from the Adriaticcoast, and at the inland settlements ofSettefonti (n=8, 57% of the samplesanalysed) – confirming overland trans-Apennine exchange networks.

No obsidian from Pantelleria, themost frequent source in Sicily, has beenfound in this area. Its glassy rocks ap-

75


Fig. 4 – Nb/Sr vs. Rb/Sr and the Nb/Y vs. Zr/Yplots. The grey stars represent the composition ofthe two PFO samples. X-ray intensities data of ob-sidian rocks from various Mediterranean source ar-eas are provided by Acquafredda et alii 1999.

pears to have been used in a restrictedarea of the Mediterranean. The prove-nance from this island of one specimenfound in the Recent Neolithic site ofFossacesia (reported in Pessina, Radi2006, p. 439, n. 8) has hitherto not beenconfirmed by analytical data.

* Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra eGeoambientali, Università degli Studi “Aldo

Moro” di Bari, Centro Interdipartimentale“Laboratorio di Ricerca per la Diagnostica dei

Beni Culturali”, Campus Universitario – Bari,[email protected]

** Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologicidella Puglia, Centro Operativo perl’Archeologia della Daunia, Foggia,

[email protected]

***Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra eGeoambientali, Università degli Studi

“Aldo Moro” di Bari,[email protected]

76

Acquafredda et alii

ABBATE EDLMANNM. L., DE LUCA L.,LAZZERI S. 1994 - Atlante anatomico de-gli alberi ed arbusti della macchia mediter-ranea, Istituto Agronomico per l’Oltrema-re, Firenze.

ACQUAFREDDA., LAVIANO R., MUN-TONI I.M. 2009 - Strutture E e F, in Fa-vella. Un villaggio neolitico nella Sibaritide,Tinè V. ed., Soprintendenza al Museo Na-zionale Preistorico Etnografico “L. Pigori-ni”, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato,Roma: 205-210.

ACQUAFREDDA P., MUNTONI I.M.2005 - Provenienza delle ossidiane di Mas-seria Candelaro (Manfredonia) medianteanalisi chimiche non distruttive, in Masse-ria Candelaro: vita quotidiana e mondo ideo-logico in una comunità neolitica del Tavolie-re, Cassano S.M., Manfredini A. eds., Clau-dio Grenzi, Foggia: 358-364.

– 2008 - Obsidian from Pulo di Molfetta(Bari, Southern Italy): provenance from Li-pari and first recognition of a Neolithicsample from Monte Arci (Sardinia), Jour-nal of Archaeological Science 955 (4): 947-955.

ACQUAFREDDA P., PAGLIONICO A.2004 - SEM-EDS microanalyses of mi-crophenocrysts of Mediterranean obsidi-ans: a preliminary approach to source dis-crimination, European Journal of Mineral-ogy 16: 419-429.

ACQUAFREDDA P., PICCARRETA G. inpress - I manufatti litici. Aspetti petroar-cheometrici, in La Grotta della Monaca nel-l’alta valle dell’Esaro. Un’indagine speleo-ar-cheologica nella Calabria settentrionale, La-rocca F. ed., Centro Regionale di Speleolo-gia “Enzo dei Medici”, Roseto Capo Spu-lico Stazione.

ACQUAFREDDA P., ANDRIANI T., LO-RENZONI S., ZANETTIN E. 1999 -Chemical characterization of obsidiansfrom different Mediterranean sources bynon-destructive SEM-EDS analyticalmethod, Journal of Archaeological Science26: 315-325.

ACQUAFREDDA P., MITOLO D., MUN-TONI I.M. 2011 - Provenienza di ossidia-na di Selva dei Muli (Frosinone), OriginiXXXIII: 233-236.

AKSÀDI G., NEMESKÉRI J. 1970 - Historyof Human Life Span and Mortality, Akàde-miai Kiadò: Budapest.

ALT K.W., RÖSING F.W., TESCHLER-NICOLA M. eds. 1998 - Dental Anthropo-logy, Fundamentals, Limits and Prospects,Springer Verlag, Wien: 394-396.

AMBROSE S.H. 1991 - Effects of diet, cli-mate and physiology on nitrogen isotopeabundances in terrestrial foodwebs, Journalof Archaeological Science 18: 293-317.

AMMERMAN A., POLGLASE C. 1998 -Obsidian at Neolithic sites in NorthernItaly, Preistoria Alpina 34: 291-296.

ANTONELLI F., CRISCI G.M., DE FRAN-CESCO A. M., SILVESTRINI M. 2002 -Provenienza delle ossidiane di siti archeolo-gici neolitici delle Marche, Plinius 28: 28-29.

ANTONELLI F., DE FRANCESCO A.M.,CRISCI G.M., SILVESTRINI M. 2006 -Le ossidiane degli insediamenti neoliticidelle Marche: provenienza ed implicazioniarcheologiche, in Innovazioni tecnologicheper i beni culturali in Italia, D’Amico C.ed., Atti del Convegno dell’A.I.Ar., PàtronEditore, Bologna: 303-311.

BÁNESZ L. 1962 - Neolitické nálezy zHornych Lefantoviec, Študijné zvesti AUSAV: 21-45.

BÁNFFY E., MARTON T., OSZTÁS A.2010 - Early Neolithic settlement and bu-rials at Alsónyék-Bátaszék, in Neolithizationof the Carpathian Basin: Northernmost Di-stribution of the Starčevo/Körös Culture,Kozłowski J., Raczky P. eds., Polska Aka-demia Umiejętności, Kraków: 37-51.

BARBONE G., BARBONE R. M., CARLI-NI C., PIGNOCCHI G., SILVESTRINIM. 2005 - Nuovi rinvenimenti nell’area diPortonovo (Ancona), Atti XXXVIII Riun.Sc. I.I.P.P., Firenze: 808-812.

BARKER G. 1984 - Ambiente e società nellapreistoria dell’Italia centrale, NIS: Roma.

77

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARRA A., GRIFONI CREMONESI R.,MALLEGNI F., PIANCASTELLI M., VI-TIELLO A., WILKENS B. 1992 - LaGrotta Continenza di Trasacco: i livelli aceramiche, Rivista di Scienze PreistoricheXLII: 31-100.

BERMOND MONTANARI G., MASSI PA-SI G., MENGOLI D. 1998 - L’insedia-mento neolitico di Faenza Fornace Cap-puccini, Atti XIII Congresso UISSPP, 3,Forlì: 253-261.

BERNA F., BEHAR A., SHAHACK-GROSSR., BERG J., BOARETTO E., GILBOAA., SHARON I., SHALEV S., SHIL-STEIN S., YAHALOM-MACK N.,ZORN J.R., WEINER S. 2007 - Sedi-ments exposed to high temperatures: re-constructing pyrotechnological processes inLate Bronze and Iron Age Strata at Tel Dor(Israel), Journal of Archaeological Science 34:358-373.

BIGAZZI G., RADI G. 1998 - Prehistoric ex-ploitation of obsidian for tool making inthe Italian peninsula: a picture from a richfission-track data-set, Atti XIII CongressoU.I.S.P.P. (Forlì, 8-14 Settembre 1996),Abaco, Forlì, vol. I: 149-156.

BIONDI E., CASAVECCHIA S., PINZI M.,BAGELLA S., CALANDRA R. 2002 - Ex-cursion to the Conero regional naturalpark, Fitosociologia 39 (1), Suppl. 3: 5-32.

BIONDI E., GUBELLINI L., PINZI M.,CASAVECCHIA S. 2012 - The vascularflora of Conero Regional Nature Park(Marche, Central Italy), Flora Mediterranea22: 67-167.

BONUCCI E., GRAZIANI G. 1975 - Com-parative thermogravimetric, X-ray diffrac-tion and electron microscopi investigationsof burnt bones from recent, ancient andprehistoric age, Rendiconti Atti AccademiaLincei, Scienze fisiche, matematiche e natu-rali, s.8, 59: 517-532.

BOGAARD A., FRASER R., HEATONT.H.E., WALLACE M., VAIGLOVA P.,CHARLES M., JONES G., EVERSHEDR.P., STYRING A.K., ANDRESENN.H., ARBOGAST R.-M., BARTO-SIEWICZ L., GARDEISEN A., KAN-

STRUP M., MAIER U., MARINOVA E.,NINOV L., SCHÄFER M., STEPHAN E.2013 - Crop manuring and intensive landmanagement by Europe’s first farmers, Pro-ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences110: 12589-12594.

BOOGARD A., HEATON T.H.E., POUL-TON P., MERBACH I. 2007 - The im-pact of manuring on nitrogen isotope ratiosin cereals: archaeological implications forreconstruction of diet and crop manage-ment practices, Journal of ArchaeologicalScience 34: 335-343.

BORIĆ D., DIMITRIJEVIĆ V. 2007 -When did the ‘Neolithic package’ reachLepenski Vir. Radiometric and faunal evi-dence, Documenta Praehistorica XXXIV:53-72.

BRITTON K., MÜLDNER G., BELL M.2008 - Stable isotope evidence for salt-mar-sh grazing in the Bronze Age SevernEstuary, UK: implications for palaeodie-tary analysis at coastal sites, Journal of Ar-chaeological Science 35: 2111-2118.

BROWN T.A., NELSON D.E., VOGELJ.S., SOUTHON J.R. 1988 - Improvedcollagen extraction by modified Longinmethod, Radiocarbon 30: 171-177.

CARANCINI G.L., GUERZONI R.P. 1987- Gli scavi nella Grotta Pavolella pressoCassano allo Jonio (CS), Atti della XXVIRiun. Sc. IIPP, Firenze: 782-792.

CAZZELLA A. 2000 - Il processo di neolitiz-zazione nell’Italia centro-orientale, in Stu-di sul Paleolitico, Mesolitico e Neolitico delbacino dell’Adriatico in ricordo di AntonioM. Radmilli, Biagi P. ed., Società per laPreistoria e Protostoria del Friuli-VeneziaGiulia, quad. 8, Trieste: 101-113.

CENTAMORE E., DEIANA G. eds 1986 -La Geologia delle Marche, Studi GeologiciCamerti (num. spec.), Camerino.

CILLA G. 2000 - Indagini geologico-strati-grafiche sul sito archeologico di Portono-vo di Ancona (Fosso Fontanaccia), unpu-blished report to the Soprintendenza peri Beni Archeologici delle Marche, Anco-na.

CIPOLLONI SAMPÒ M. 1987 - Aspetti eproblemi della cronologia del neolitico an-

78

Conati Barbaro

tico in Italia meridionale: l’insediamentoneolitico sull’Olivento (valle dell’Ofanto-Basilicata), Atti XXVI Riun. Sc. I.I.P.P., Fi-renze: 697-705.

– 1995 - Olivento, in Dall’argilla al vaso,Cassano S.M., Muntoni I., Conati Barba-ro C. eds., Argos edizioni, Roma: 49-50.

CONATI BARBARO C. 2007-2008 - Cu-stodire la memoria: sepolture in abitato nelneolitico italiano, Atti del Convegno inter-nazionale “Sepolti tra i vivi. Buried amongthe living”, Scienze dell’Antichità 14, L’Er-ma di Bretschneider, Roma: 49-70.

CONATI BARBARO C., SILVESTRINI M.2005 - Il primo Neolitico delle Marche:aspetti culturali, scelte ambientali, orienta-mento della ricerca, Atti XXXVIII Riun.Sc. I.I.P.P., Firenze: 209-219.

CORRUCCINI R. S., HANDLER J. S., JA-COBI K. B. 1985 - Chronological distri-bution of enamel hypoplasia and weaningin a Caribbean slave population, HumanBiology 57: 699-711.

CREMONESI G., GUILAINE J., RADI G.2003 - Torre Sabea. Un établissement duNéolithique ancien en Salento, École françai-se de Rome, Rome.

CRISCI G.M., RICQ-DE BOUARD M.,LANZAFAME V., DE FRANCESCOA.M. 1994 - Nouvelle méthode d’analyse etprovenance de l’ensemble des obsidiennesNéolithiques du Midi de la France, GalliaPréhistoire 36: 299-327.

DE FRANCESCO A.M., CRISCI G.M.2003 - L’economia. L’ossidiana, in Gli sca-vi nel villaggio neolitico di Catignano (1971-1980), Tozzi C., Zamagni B. eds., IstitutoItaliano di Preistoria e Protostoria, Firenze:239-240.

DE FRANCESCO A.M., BOCCI M., CRI-SCI G.M., LO VETRO D., MARTINI F.,TOZZI C., RADI G., SARTI L., CUDAM.T., SILVESTRINI M. 2006 - Applica-zione della metodologia analitica non di-struttiva in Fluorescenza X per la determi-nazione della provenienza delle ossidianearcheologiche del Progetto “Materie Pri-me” dell’I.I.P.P., in Materie prime e scam-bi nella preistoria italiana, Atti della XXXIXRiunione Scientifica dell’Istituto Italiano

di Preistoria e Protostoria, Firenze: 531-548.

DENIRO M.J. 1987 - Stable isotope and ar-chaeology, American Scientist 75: 182-191.

DRON J-L., GHESQUIÈRE E., MARCI-GNY C. 2003 - Les structures de combu-stion du Néolithique moyen en Basse-Nor-mandie (France): proposition de classementtypologique et fonctionnel, in Le Feu do-mestique et ses structures au Néolithique etaux Ages des Métaux, Frère-Sautot M.C.ed., Editions M. Mergoil, Montagnac: 375-386.

DUDAY H. 2006 -Lezioni di archeotanatolo-gia. Archeologia funeraria e antropologia dicampo, Roma.

FEREMBACH D., SCHWIDTZKY I.,STLOUKAL M. 1979 - Raccomandazioniper la determinazione dell’età e del sessosullo scheletro, Rivista di Antropologia LX:5-51.

FIORE S., HUERTAS F.J., TAZAKI K.,HUERTAS F., LINARES J. 1999 - A lowtemperature experimental alteration of arhyolitic obsidian, European Journal ofMineralogy 11: 455-469.

FUGAZZOLA DELPINO M.A., PESSINAA., TINÈ V. eds. 2002 - Le ceramiche im-presse nel Neolitico antico. Italia e Mediter-raneo, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Sta-to, Roma.

GIMBUTAS M., WINN S., SHIMABUKUD. 1989 - Achilleion: a Neolithic Settlementin Thessaly, Greece, 6400-5600 BC, Insti-tute of Archaeology, University of Califor-nia, Los Angeles, Monumenta archaeologi-ca 14.

GIORDANO G. 1980 - I legnami del mondo,Il Cerilo Ed., Roma.

GOODMAN A. H., ROSE J. C. 1990 - Anassessment of systemic physiological per-turbations from dental enamel hypopla-sias and associated histological structures,Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 33: 59-110.

GRIFONI CREMONESI R. 2002 - GrottaContinenza, in Le ceramiche impresse nelNeolitico antico. Italia e Mediterraneo, Fu-gazzola Delpino M.A., Pessina A., Tinè V.

79


eds., Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Sta-to, Roma: 525-538.

HEIMANN R. 1989 - Assessing the technol-ogy of ancient pottery: the use of ceramicphase diagrams, Archeomaterials 3: 123-149.

HILLSON S.W. ed. 1998 -Dental Anthropo-logy, University Press, Cambridge: 255-287.

ISCAN M.Y., KENNEDY K.A. 1989 - Re-construction of life from the skeleton, Alan R.Liss, New York.

JEUNESSE C., LEFRANC P. 1999 - Ro-sheim “Saint-Odile” (Bas-Rhin), un habitatrubané avec fossé d’enceinte, Cahiers del’Association pour la Promotion de la Recher-che Archéologique en Alsace 15: 1-111.

KÖNIG D., SERNEELS V. 2013 - Romandouble-layered crucibles from Autun/France:a petrological and geochemical approach,Journal of Archaeological Science 40: 156-165.

KOLNÍK T. 1978 - Dalšia etapa vyskumu vCíferi-Páci, AVANS 1977, Nitra: 128-137.

KROGMAN W.M 1978 - The Human Skele-ton in Forensic Medicine, Charles C. Tho-mas, Springfield.

LARSEN C.S. 2002 - Bioarchaeology: The li-ves and Lifestyles of Past People, Journal ofArchaeological Research 10 (2): 119-166.

LAVIANO R., MUNTONI I.M. 2007 - Pot-tery production in the Neolithic and Cop-per Age village of Maddalena di Muccia(Marche, Central Italy): raw materialprovenance and manufacturing technology,in Archaeometric and Archaeological Ap-proaches to Ceramics, Waksman S.Y. ed.,Papers presented at EMAC ‘05, 8th Euro-pean Meeting on Ancient Ceramics, Lyon2005, BAR Int.S. 1691, Oxford: 49-56.

LELLI R., ALLEN R., BIONDI G., CA-LATTINI M., CONATI BARBARO C.,GORGOGLIONE M.A., MANFREDI-NI A., MARTINEZ-LABARGA C., RA-DINA F., SILVESTRINI M., TOZZI C.,RICKARDS O., CRAIG O. 2012 - Exa-mining dietary variability of the earlies far-mers of South-Eastern Italy, AmericanJournal of Physical Anthropology 149: 380-390.

LEONI L., SAITTA M. 1976 - X-ray fluore-

scence analysis of 29 trace elements in rockand mineral standards, Rendiconti della So-cietà Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrolologia32 (2 ): 497-510.

LOVEJOY C.O. 1985 - Dental wear in theLibben population: its functional patternand role in the determination of adult ske-letal age at death, American Journal of Phy-sical Anthropology 68: 47-56.

LÜNING J. 1981 - Untersuchungen zur neo-litischen Besiedlung der Aldenhovener Plat-te, XI, Bonner Jahrbücher 181: 251-288.

MAGGETTI M., NEURURER CH., RAM-SEYER D. 2011 - Temperature evolution in-side a pot during experimental surface (bon-fire) firing, Applied Clay Science 52: 500-508.

MARIOTTI V., FACCHINI F., BELCA-STRO M.G. 2004 - Enthesopathies-Pro-posal of a standardized scoring method andapplication, Collegium Anthropologicum 28(1):145-159.

– 2007 - The study of entheses: proposal of astandardized scoring method for 23 enthe-ses of the postcranial skeleton, CollegiumAnthropologicum 31 (1): 191-313.

MANFREDINI A., SARTI L., SILVESTRI-NI M. 2005 - Il Neolitico delle Marche, At-ti XXXVIII Riun. Sc. I.I.P.P., Firenze: 197-208.

MARTIN R., SALLER K. 1957 - Lehrbuchder Anthropologie, Band I- IV, G. Fisher,Stuttgart.

MCKINLEY J.I. 1993 - Bone fragment size inBritish cremation burials and its implica-tions for pyre technology and ritual, Jour-nal of Archaeological Science 21: 339-342.

MEINDL R.S., LOVEJOY C.O. 1985 - Ec-tocranial suture closure: a revised methodfor the determination of skeletal age at deathbased on the lateral anterior sutures, Ame-rican Journal of Physical Anthropology 68:57-66.

MITOLO D., GARAVELLI A., BALIC-ZU-NIC T., ACQUAFREDDA P., JAKOBS-SON S.P. 2013 - Leonardsenite, a new mi-neral species from Eldfell volcano, Heimaeyisland, Iceland, Canadian Mineralogist, 51,377-386.

MULLER-PELLETIER C. 2010 - Les struc-tures de combustion à pierres chauffées du

80

Conati Barbaro

Neolithique Moyen du site 1 des Acilloux(Cournon d’Auvergne, Puy-de-Dôme), inEconomie et Société à la Fin de la Préhistoi-re, Beeching A., Thirault E., Vital J. eds.,DARA: 305-315.

NELSON D.E., D’AURIA J.M., BENNETTR.B. 1975 - Characterization of Pacificnorthwest coast obsidian by X-ray fluores-cence analysis, Archaeometry 17: 85-97.

NESBITT H.W., YOUNG G.M. 1982 - Ear-ly Proterozoic climates and plate motionsinferred from major element chemistry oflutites, Nature 299: 715-717.

ORLANDO M.A. 1997 - Samari (Gallipoli),in La Passione dell’Origine. Giuliano Cre-monesi e la ricerca preistorica nel Salento,Ingravallo E. ed., Lecce: 122-134.

– 2002 - Samari, in Le ceramiche impresse nelNeolitico antico. Italia e Mediterraneo, Fu-gazzola Delpino M.A., Pessina A., Tinè V.eds., Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Sta-to, Roma: 641-650.

ORTNER D.J. 2003 - Identification of Patho-logical Conditions in Human Skeletal Re-mains, Academic Press.

PESSINA A., RADI G. 2006 - La diffusionedell’ossidiana nell’Italia centro-settentrio-nale, in Materie prime e scambi nella prei-storia italiana, Atti della XXXIX RiunioneScientifica dell’Istituto Italiano di Preisto-ria e Protostoria, Firenze: 435-460.

PETRASCH J. 1986 - Typologie und Funk-tion neolitischer Öfen in Mittel- und Sü-deuropa, Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologi-ca 18: 33-83.

PREVOST DERMARKAR S. 2002 - Lesfoyers et les fours domestiques en Egée auNéolithique et à l’Age du Bronze, Civilisa-tions 49: 223-237.

RADI G. 2002 - Trasano, in Le ceramiche im-presse nel Neolitico antico. Italia e Mediter-raneo, Fugazzola Delpino M.A., Pessina A.,Tinè V. eds., Istituto Poligrafico e Zeccadello Stato, Roma: 695-705.

RAMSEYER D. 2003 - Fours, foyers at autresstructures de combustion. Ethnoarchéolo-gie chez les Kouyas de Côte-d’Ivoire, in LeFeu domestique et ses structures au Néolithi-que et aux Ages des Métaux, Actes du Collo-que de Bourg-en-Bresse et Beaune, Frère-

Sautot M.C. ed., Editions M. Mergoil,Montagnac: 225-230.

REGEZI J., SCIUBA J., POGREL M. 2000- Atlas of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology,W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia.

RENNIE D.A., PAUL E.A., JOHNS L.E.1976 - Natural nitrogen-15 abundance ofsoil and plant samples, Canadian Journal ofSoil Science 56: 43-50.

RUSTE J. 1979 - X-Ray spectrometry, in Mi-croanalysis and Scanning Electron Mi-croscopy, Maurice F., Meny L., Tixier R.,eds., Summer School at St-Martin d’Hères,Les Editions de Physique, Orsay: 215-267.

SCHMIDT P., MASSE S., LAURENT G.,SLODCZYK A., LE BOURHIS E., PER-RENOUD C., LIVAGE J., FRÖHLICHF. 2012 - Crystallographic and structuraltransformations of sedimentary chalcedonyin flint upon heat treatment, Journal of Ar-chaeological Science 39: 135-144.

SCHWEINGRUBER F.H. 1978 - Mikrosco-pische Holzanatomie, Zürcher: Zug.

– 1990 - Anatomie europäischer Hölzer, VerlagPaul Haupt, Bern und Stuttgart.

SCHULZ A.H. 1937 – Proportions, variabi-lities and asymmetries of the long bones ofthe limbs and the clavicles in man and apes,Human biology 9: 281-328.

SKEATES R. 1999 - Unveiling inequality.Social life and social change in theMesolithic and Early Neolithic of east-cen-tral Italy, in Social Dynamics of the Prehis-toric Central Mediterranean, Tykot R.H.,Morter J., Robb J.E. eds., Accordia Re-search Institute, London: 15-45.

SHIPMAN P., FOSTER G., SCHOENIN-GER M. 1984 - Burnt bones and teeth: anexperimental study of colour, morphology,crystal structure and shrinkage, Journal ofArchaeological Science 11: 307-325.

SILVESTRINI M. 2007 - Portonovo FossoFontanaccia, Notiziario, Rivista di ScienzePreistoriche LVII: 456.

SILVESTRINI M., PIGNOCCHI G. 1998– La neolitizzazione lungo l’Adriatico: leMarche, in Settemila anni fa il primo pa-ne. Ambienti e culture delle società neoliti-che, Pessina A., Muscio G. eds., Udine:70-77.

81


– 2000 - Il primo Neolitico nelle Marche:considerazioni e riflessioni alla luce di re-centi acquisizioni, in La Neolitizzazione traOriente e Occidente, Pessina A., Muscio G.eds., Udine: 341-354.

SOUDSKÝ B. 1962 - The Neolithic Site ofBylany, Antiquity 36: 190-200.

STAŠŠIKOVÁ-ŠTUKOVKHÁ D. 2002 -The stone and Middle Age ovens in Loesssites of Slovakia. Influences on their qualityfor food preparation, Civilisations 49: 259-269.

STEWART R. E., SPENCE M. A. 1976 -The genetics of common dental disease, inOral Facial Genetics, Stewart R. E., PrescottG. H. eds., Mosby, St Louis: 81-104.

STROHM T. F., ALT K. W. 1998 - Perio-dontal disease - Etiology, classification anddiagnosis, in Dental Anthropology. Fonda-mentals, Limits and Prospects, Alt K. W.,Rosing F. W., Teschler-Nicola M. eds.,Springer, Wien-New York: 227-245.

TINÈ V. (ed.) 2009 - Favella. Un villaggio del-la Sibaritide, Istituto Poligrafico e Zeccadello Stato: Roma.

TODD T.W. 1921 - Age changing in pubicbone, American Journal of Physical Anthro-pology 4: 1-70.

TOZZI C. 2002 - Ripa Tetta, in Le cerami-che impresse nel Neolitico antico. Italia e Me-diterraneo, Fugazzola Delpino M.A., Pessi-

na A., Tinè V. eds., Istituto Poligrafico eZecca dello Stato, Roma: 579-588.

VALAMOTI S.M., CHARLES M. 2005 -Distinguishing food from fodder throughthe study of charred plant remains: an ex-perimental approach to dung-derived chaff,Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 14:528-533.

VALLETTA G., BUCCI E., MATARASSOS. 1997 - Odontostomatologia, I-II, Piccin,Padova.

VILLES A. 2003 - Les structures de combu-stion protohistorique en moitié nord della France: essai de bilan pour la périodenéolithique, in Le Feu domestique et sesstructures au Néolithique et aux Ages desMétaux, Actes du Colloque de Bourg-en-Bresse et Beaune, Frère-Sautot M.C. ed.,Editions M. Mergoil, Montagnac: 447-471.

WATSON P. J. C. 1986 - A study of the pat-tern of alveolar recession, in Teeth andAnthropology, Cruwys E., Foley R. A. eds.,British Archaeological Reports, Internatio-nal series, 291, Oxford: 123-132.

WILCZAK C.A., KENNEDY K.A.R. 1997 -Mostly MOS: technical aspects of the iden-tification of skeletal markers of occupatio-nal stress, in Forensic Osteology II: the NextGeneration, Reichs K.J. ed., Thomas-Springfield, Illinois.

82

Conati Barbaro

THIS ISSUE CONTAINS

REUSE OF PREHISTORIC LITHIC IMPLEMENTS IN HISTORICAL TIMES:CASE STUDIES FROM THE ALBAN HILLS

Flavio Altamura

COOKING, WORKING AND BURYING IN ANCIENT NEOLITHIC:THE OVENS OF PORTONOVO (MARCHE, ITALY)

Cecilia Conati Barbaro

– ESTIMATING FIRING TEMPERATURES OF PYROTECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES

IN THE NEOLITHIC SITE OF PORTONOVO

Italo M. Muntoni, Grazia Ruggiero

– AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF

PORTONOVO-FOSSO FONTANACCIA

Paola Catalano, Stefania Di Giannantonio

– BONE COLLAGEN CARBON (δ13C) AND NITROGEN (δ15N) STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

OF HUMAN AND FAUNAL SAMPLES FROM PORTONOVO

Roberta Lelli

– ANTHRACOLOGICAL REMAINS FROM A NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT

IN THE CONERO NATURAL PARK

Alessandra Celant

– SEM-EDS AND XRF CHARACTERIZATION OF OBSIDIAN BLADELETS FROM PORTONOVO

(AN) TO IDENTIFY RAW MATERIAL PROVENANCE

Pasquale Acquafredda, Italo M. Muntoni, Mauro Pallara

THE EDGE OF THE CITY: URBAN GROWTH AND BURIAL SPACEIN 4TH MILLENNIUM BC MESOPOTAMIA

Augusta McMahon, Adam Stone

ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION AND SOCIAL ROLE OF METALLURGYIN THE PREHISTORIC SEQUENCE OF ARSLANTEPE (TURKEY)

Gian Maria Di Nocera

NARMER, SCORPION AND THE REPRESENTATION OF THE EARLY EGYPTIAN COURTJorrit Kelder

BARREL-SHAPED VESSELS IN CONTEXT: A LONG-RANGE MODEL OF DAIRYPRODUCTION IN EASTERN AND CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN DURING

THE LATE FOURTH AND EARLY THIRD MILLENNIA BCMassimo Cultraro

THE HUMAN FACTOR IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTHERN ITALIAN BRONZE AGESOCIETIES: AGENCY THEORY AND MARXISM RECONSIDERED

Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia

ACORN GATHERERS: FRUIT STORAGE AND PROCESSING IN SOUTH-EAST ITALYDURING THE BRONZE AGE

Milena Primavera, Girolamo Fiorentino

ISS

N 0

474-

6805

www.gangemieditore.it

WWORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION & DIGITAL VERSION EBOOK /APP:

Conati Barbaro 2013, with contibutions by Acquafredda P., Catalano P., Celant A., Di giannantonio...

Documents

Transcript of Conati Barbaro 2013, with contibutions by Acquafredda P., Catalano P., Celant A., Di giannantonio...