Site/Project Reports by Vincenza Forgia
Comptes Rendus Palevol
Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archaeological site located in the Madonie mountain range in S... more Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archaeological site located in the Madonie mountain range in Sicily. Archaeological excavation and research have provided a long prehistoric and historic sequence from the Neolithic to the medieval period, this being the most complete work in this area at present. In this paper we present the preliminary data provided by a multidisciplinary study based on pottery, lithic, human, faunal and plant remains. Stratigraphic studies have identified four complexes, of which complex 3 has provided almost all the archaeological remains. 14C AMS dates, obtained from four samples, place the human activities between 2601 cal BC and 644 cal AD. These dates are coherent with the cultural attribution of the ceramic and lithic remains. Macrofaunal and plant remains show a persistent use of the shelter for pastoral activities. Environmental data, obtained from microvertebrate and archaeobotanical remains, show the aridification and opening of the landscape from the base to the top of the sequence as a consequence of the human impact.
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Papers by Vincenza Forgia
Quaternary International, 2017
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Fondata alla fine del V sec. a.C. dai Cartaginesi, Thermae Himeraeae divenne colonia romana alla ... more Fondata alla fine del V sec. a.C. dai Cartaginesi, Thermae Himeraeae divenne colonia romana alla fine del I sec. a.C. e fu dotata degli edifici tipici di una citt\ue0 romana: foro, anfiteatro, acquedotto e bagni. Questi ultimi furono costruiti ai piedi della collina su cui sorge la citt\ue0, sfruttando due sorgenti termali. Note fin dal XVI secolo, le terme furono studiate da Houel e Palmeri, ma solo nel 1817 il Gargotta condusse uno scavo nella piazza antistante, affermando che l\u2019area centrale dell\u2019edificio antico era occupata da una vasca circolare di ampie dimensioni. Solo alla fine del XIX secolo, durante la costruzione del nuovo Grand Hotel delle Terme, venne messa in luce la maggior parte delle strutture romane, di cui quelle inglobate nell\u2019edificio moderno erano solo una appendice (il calidarium). Nuove indagini geologiche e geognostiche sono state intraprese nel 2006 e nel 2012, mentre nel 2010 sono stati effettuati tre saggi di scavo all\u2019interno dei bagni di et\ue0 moderna, che hanno messo in luce per la prima volta un tratto dell\u2019ambulatorio esterno, uno di quello interno e una piccola parte della vasca centrale del calidarium di et\ue0 romana, insieme con resti della decorazione dell\u2019edificio, sia architettonica, sia musiva. La stratigrafia messa in luce dai saggi archeologici in correlazione con la stratigrafia dei tre sondaggi geognostici e i risultati dell\u2019indagine geomagnetica dimostrano che in seguito al loro abbandono, le terme romane vennero invase da fango e detriti dovuti a importanti eventi alluvionali ed esondazioni del vicino vallone Annunziata, che provocarono il crollo della decorazione parietale e successivamente della volta del calidarium. Questi eventi si possono datare tra il VI e il VII sec. d.C. Sui resti romani fu costruito nel 1642 il nuovo edificio moderno.Founded at the end of the 5th century B.C. from the Carthaginians, Thermae Himeraeae became a Roman colony at the end of the 1st century. B.C. and was equipped with the typical buildings of a Roman city: forum, amphitheater, aqueduct and baths. These were built at the foot of the hill on which the city stands, using two thermal springsNew geological and geognostic investigations were undertaken in 2006 and 2012, while in 2010 three excavation tests were carried out inside the bathrooms of the modern age, which highlighted for the first time a section of the external surgery, one of the internal one and a small part of the central basin of the calidarium from the Roman age, together with remains of the decoration of the building, both architectural and mosaic. The stratigraphy highlighted by archaeological essays in correlation with the stratigraphy of the three geognostic surveys and the results of the geomagnetic investigation show that following their abandonment, the Roman baths were invaded by mud and debris due to important flood events and flooding of the nearby valley Annunziata, which caused the collapse of the wall decoration and subsequently of the vault of the calidarium. These events can be dated between the sixth and seventh centuries. A.D. The new modern building was built on the Roman remains in 1642
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Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2013
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The activity of the Palermo Soprintendenza (Sicily) is increasingly linked to the preservation of... more The activity of the Palermo Soprintendenza (Sicily) is increasingly linked to the preservation of archaeological heritage, carried out mainly through constant monitoring of rescue excavations linked to railway, sewerage, electrical network and other public works, while the activity of independent research is now very limited. However, with the chair of Anthropology at the University of Palermo, an investigation has been conducted at the Zubbio (cave) of Cozzo San Pietro (Bagheria), so far known only from a speleological point of view. This preliminary research which has shown that the cave was used for burial purposes during the Copper and Bronze ages and has highlighted the potential of the site for the study of the protohistory of western Sicily. This research has allowed us to outline an initial paleo-environmental reconstruction of the area, providing us with useful clues on the territories of the human group that occupied the Zubbio of Cozzo San Pietro, as well as other previou...
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The aim of this report is to present the results of rescue excavations, executed in order to cont... more The aim of this report is to present the results of rescue excavations, executed in order to contrast illegal excavation at the necropolis at Baucina, in northwestern Sicily, where Punic, Greek and indigenous traditions coexisted. Their relationship is the focus of our ongoing investigation. We collected an archeological dataset which demonstrates that the interaction between three different ethnicities resulted in an impressive variety of rituals. The future excavation of the town could throw further light on this interaction, which took place in a period in which Greek and Punic peoples designed their spheres of influence of the territories within the Mediterranean area, and the role of the social system within the geopolitical framework.
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Annals of Geophysics, 2021
The paper aims at merging the first results from the analyses of the georesources exploited in th... more The paper aims at merging the first results from the analyses of the georesources exploited in the site of Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica island, Italy) during the Neolithic phases of its occupation (Middle-Late Neolithic, 4.7-4.2 ka cal BC). Grinding tools consist of a very varied typology of local volcanic rocks, easy to collect and available very close to the investigated site. A selection of shapes and lithology is applied to reach the best performance of the tools. The elevated number of grinders, pestles, mortars testify to an intense activity of food/plant processing in the site. The absence of chert or obsidian resources on the island pushed the human communities to import such raw materials from the Aeolian islands and probably from the northwestern area of Palermo. Pumice is collected on the same island, probably due to the local availability and its good quality. Similarly, local clay resources are used for the manufacture of ceramics, mostly burnished and incised wares. Ustica was therefore almost autonomous for the exploitation of resources, with volcanic rocks readily available in abundance and with the most significant exception being chert and obsidian. This last one probably imported and worked on the island and then moved towards NorthWestern Sicily.
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Analecta Romana Instituti Danici – Supplementum LVI - DAL POLLINO ALL’ORSOMARSO RICERCHE ARCHEOLOGICHE FRA IONIO E TIRRENO a cura di GLORIA MITTICA, CARMELO COLELLI, ANTONIO LAROCCA, FELICE LAROCCA, 2021
The cave of San Michele lies on the right side ofthe narrow Garga valley, facing the modern settl... more The cave of San Michele lies on the right side ofthe narrow Garga valley, facing the modern settlement of Saracena (Cosenza) at an altitude of
750 m.a.s.l. Research conducted from 1998 to 2009 revealed an uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Studies of material from the Neolithic levels
and the availability of radiocarbon dating allow for a reconstruction of the history of the Calabrian Sibaritide-Pollino populations in this period,
highlighting the area as a meeting point of different cultural influences coming from south-east and south-west of Southern Italy.
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UNIPA Springer Series
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Open Archaeology
New investigations on Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) originated from the need to improve our knowledge ... more New investigations on Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) originated from the need to improve our knowledge of the island’s archaeological and environmental heritage. Through field surveys, particular attention was paid to human occupation in the Neolithic phases and focused on the less investigated southern side of the island. The systematic survey of the area of Piano dei Cardoni in 2018 brought to light a new Middle/Late Neolithic site, already partially documented in the literature. The island was settled for the first time during these phases, as also testified from the area of Punta Spalmatore. The presence of Serra d’Alto, incised dark burnished, and Diana styles suggests that the site and the archaeological assemblage dates from the mid to late 5th millennium BC, as confirmed by AMS dating. In addition to pottery, obsidian artifacts were also recovered, and a preliminary study of these materials is presented here. Portable XRF analyses on a sample of 41 obsidian artifacts, representing...
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Open Archaeology , 2021
The paper presents the results obtained by techno-typological analysis of a lithic assemblage fro... more The paper presents the results obtained by techno-typological analysis of a lithic assemblage from the Neolithic layers of Grotta San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena (Cosenza) together with the results of micro-wear analysis obtained from a preliminary selection of obsidian artifacts with different provenances distinguished by pXRF analysis. The site provides one of the best preserved Neolithic sequences in the area, from the earliest Impressed Wares (or Impresse Arcaiche) (early sixth millennium BC) to the Spatarella pottery style (end fifthearly fourth millennium BC). Along the Neolithic sequence, it is possible to observe some major changes within lithic resources management. In particular, it is possible to notice some technotypological breakages between the Early Neolithic and the further stages, until the second phase of the Late Neolithic, when another rupture, corresponding to the Spatarella facies, is evident.
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Sicilia Antiqua, 2018
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Notiziario Archeologico Soprintendenza Palermo, 2017
The aim of this report is to present the results of archaeological samples, executed in order to ... more The aim of this report is to present the results of archaeological samples, executed in order to contrast illegal researches on a necropolis at Baucina, in the northwestern part of Sicily, where Punic, Greek and indigenous traditions coexisted, in a relationship which is the focus of our ongoing investigation. We collected an archeological dataset, whose interpretation is detecting an articulated situation where the interaction between three different ethnic groups gave as result the variety of rituals. The future excavations of the site could increase the perception of this interaction, for a period in which Greeks and Punics designed their spheres of influence of the territories within the Mediterranean area, telling us about the role of the social system within the geopolitical framework.
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FOLD&R Fasti On Line Documents & Research, 380, 2017
The aim of this report is to present the results of rescue excavations, executed in order to cont... more The aim of this report is to present the results of rescue excavations, executed in order to contrast illegal excavation at the necropolis at Baucina, in northwestern Sicily, where Punic, Greek and indigenous traditions coexisted. Their relationship is the focus of our ongoing investigation. We collected an archeological dataset which demonstrates that the interaction between three different ethnicities resulted in an impressive variety of rituals. The future excavation of the town could throw further light on this interaction, which took place in a period in which Greek and Punic peoples designed their spheres of influence of the territories within the Mediterranean area, and the role of the social system within the geopolitical framework.
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The Lure of the Antique, 2018
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Rivista di Topografia Antica, 2018
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Site/Project Reports by Vincenza Forgia
Papers by Vincenza Forgia
750 m.a.s.l. Research conducted from 1998 to 2009 revealed an uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Studies of material from the Neolithic levels
and the availability of radiocarbon dating allow for a reconstruction of the history of the Calabrian Sibaritide-Pollino populations in this period,
highlighting the area as a meeting point of different cultural influences coming from south-east and south-west of Southern Italy.
750 m.a.s.l. Research conducted from 1998 to 2009 revealed an uninterrupted stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Studies of material from the Neolithic levels
and the availability of radiocarbon dating allow for a reconstruction of the history of the Calabrian Sibaritide-Pollino populations in this period,
highlighting the area as a meeting point of different cultural influences coming from south-east and south-west of Southern Italy.
New investigations on Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) originated from the need to improve our knowledge of the island’s archaeological and environmental heritage. Through field surveys, particular attention was paid to human occupation in the Neolithic phases and focused on the less investigated southern side of the island. The systematic survey of the area of Piano dei Cardoni in 2018 brought to light a new Middle/Late Neolithic site, already partially documented in the literature. The island was settled for the first time during these phases, as also testified from the area of Punta Spalmatore. The presence of Serra d’Alto, incised dark burnished, and Diana styles suggests that the site and the archaeological assemblage dates from the mid to late 5th millennium BC, as confirmed by AMS dating. In addition to pottery, obsidian artifacts were also recovered, and a preliminary study of these materials is presented here. Portable XRF analyses on a sample of 41 obsidian artifacts, representing a high percentage of the lithic assemblage compared to chert tools, show that the provenance of the raw material is Gabellotto Gorge (Lipari) and Balata dei Turchi (Pantelleria). These results provide new insight into broader regional debates about obsidian technology and its exchange during the Neolithic and open an important consideration for sites that are far from the raw material sources.
The first campaigns were devoted to the geoarchaeological description of the stratigraphy by Prof. Diego Angelucci and to the definition of the absolute chronology of the whole sequence.
Synchronous results from the excavation and the surface survey led the team to plan a new research project, named HUMAnS (Human Upland Mobility in Ancient Sicily), in order to complete the paleoenvironmental and archaeological investigation. Test pits were opened on the highlands, along a natural corridor reconstructed by spatial analyses and in coincidence with very specific places as pastoral pens (as Fonte Castellaro or Zottafonda) or dry small lakes (as Piano Cervi).
The book is conceived like a synthesis of the entire research, with a focus on the results from the excavation of the upper archaeological layers, covering a period spanning from the Early Middle Ages to the Middle Neolithic when, after a long period of absence since the Mesolithic, human groups returned to the mountains. Our results are then contextualized on a wider territorial area in order to interpret the settlement strategies adopted on a diachronic perspective.
After the introduction to the local topography and to the state of the art in the archaeological research and the methodology of excavation, two subchapters are devoted to the description of the geological background of the area and to the geoarchaeological description of the stratigraphy of the deposit. This description, with the identification of the stratigraphic units, is at the base of the excavation strategy, complicated from cyclical phenomena of deposition and erosion of anthropogenic and natural origin.
The core of the book is the presentation of the whole archaeological record, with chapters divided with a chronological criterion describing structures, pottery finds, lithic finds, personnel ornaments and macro fauna. The interdisciplinary approach, as described in the methodological chapter, led us to collect the whole information coming from the excavation, involving experts of different disciplines, like paleobotany, analytical chemistry and paleoanthropology. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction was also completed by the study of the microfaunal remains.
During the VII-IX century CE, the deposition activity of the Inferno stream formed a couple of meters of new deposit in less than two hundred years. During this period the human activity into the rock shelter is poorly documented by common pottery, while the herding strategy, as shown by zooarchaeology and analytical chemistry on biomarkers from sediments, was strongly oriented to the breeding of suids. The site gave shelter to pregnant females and to the newborns during the first months of life. The anthropic signal intensifies in the units relating to the medieval and modern age horizons, in which, in addition to observing a marked decrease in the arboreal component of the vegetation, the presence of ruderal, adventitious and herbaceous plants appears well defined. The most important activity identified on the basis of the palynological analysis is breeding, which could indicate the consumption of arboreal fodder in the initial stages, as the anthracological results suggest. In any case, the cultivation of cereals progressively assumed greater importance in the early medieval occupation levels, as also demonstrated by the carpological documentation.
The archeological layers corresponding to the Classical Age has been destroyed, likely by the Inferno stream, but the archaeological record testifies the human presence in the shelter also in these periods. In particular, it has to be noticed the possible funerary use of the place, for the presence of a Hellenistic unguentary. A small fragment of a colony-made cup testifies to the interest in shelter within a larger territorial context. The extensive human activities across a broad area are confirmed by the large colonial settlement on the surrounding hills and the permanent site identified on the highlands, at an altitude of 1400 metres, coinciding with the Fonte Castellaro water source.
The Vallone Inferno rock shelter is located exactly in between the main settlements and the mountainous basecamp, topographically and politically dependent from Himera.
The stratigraphy is again complete for the Early Bronze Age and Final Copper Age (end 3rd - mid 2nd millennium BCE). The record spans over a period of more than one thousand years, during which it has been possible to follow the uninterrupted use of the shelter by pastoral groups coming from the central and the southern part of the island and interested in the exploitation of the mountainous resources exclusively located on the northern part of Sicily.
The interest in the mountains by human communities here began during the Middle Neolithic (end of 6th millennium BCE). This is evidenced by the presence of a stratigraphic unit with tricromica pottery, obsidian, and chert, absolutely dated to the second part of the 6th millennium BCE.
During the Early Neolithic, this mountainous territory was likely less attractive than the coastal area for the first agro-pastoral communities that reached the island. The closed forests, in fact, were difficult to exploit for both pastoral practice and agriculture. However, during the Middle Neolithic period, the landscape opened up to medium-high altitudes (around 1000 metres), allowing the peopling of the uplands. Concomitant action of anthropogenic fires and the over-exploitation of certain shrub species finally indicate the importance of pastoral practices in a mountainous context.