Ivana Fiore
Sapienza University of Roma, Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Doctoral Program in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology
Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini, Sezione di Bioarcheologia, Collaboratore esterno
Archaeozoology
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Papers by Ivana Fiore
The archaeozoological analysis was performed on 6863 faunal remains, most of them fragmented and sometimes burnt. Only 419 remains could be determined to species level (6.11% of the total). There are frequent cut marks and impact scars, from skinning, disarticulation and the recovery of bone marrow. The chamois was the most frequently hunted animal, followed by red deer, marmot and ibex. We hypothesize seasonality in hunting, when chamois were leaving summer grazing grounds at higher altitude.
Furthermore, after isotopic analyses on Equus hydruntinus and Cervus elaphus tooth enamel, the two species had a marked difference in ranging behavior, with cervids probably more mobile than equids.
Combining residue and use-wear analysis, 1315 lithic elements were eventually selected out of an assemblage of 5012 artefacts. The residue analysis was performed on traces detected by stereomicroscopy, and completed by Raman spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition. The use-wear analysis focused on impact fractures also detected by stereomicroscopy. Comparisons were made with similar scars described in the literature in collections from late Pleistocene European sites and experimental series. The Tip-cross sectional area (TCSA) was also calculated.
All lines of evidence point to the fact that both retouched points and unretouched bladelets were hafted using an adhesive that included ochre. The weapons were mostly used to kill caprids and cervids. The TCSA, as well as the weight and morphology of the points, further suggests that the bow could possibly have been in use during seasonal hunts.
As for the dogs, there is some suggestion of their sacrifice for ritual purposes related to the death of infants.
The symbolic value of water as a vector to the prenatal life or deities drives the choice to bury the bodies in underground environments. It can therefore be assumed that the disused wells of the theater have been considered the most suitable place for infants burial in a rural area. Thus, the particularity of the deposition and the high concentration of perinatal deaths, are likely connected to cultural practices, involving a differential treatment of infants, in association with an high risk of mortality at birth.
In fact, these frequent deviations from the expected mortality pattern for ancient pre-antibiotic populations strongly undermines the credibility of our paleodemographic estimates. Nevertheless, if addressed within a highly integrated approach of analysis, these evidences have the potential to disclose specific events and/or funerary practices, as possible reflection of social age definition and children personhood in ancient communities.
Some relevant examples from Italy will be presented: the issue of children representation among the terramare bronze age necropolises; the changing patterns of infants funerary rituals in Pontecagnano and Pithecusa (Iron age necropoleis, Campania); the comparison among Roman Imperial Age necropolises (Latium and Campania); the late antiquity anomalous burials of perinates in Peltuinum (Abruzzi); the presence of children in the late antiquity Santa Mustiola catacomb (Tuscany). These contexts are currently under study by an interdisciplinary approach combining historical and archaeological evidences with data on children mortality and morbidity.