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High-Resolution Archaeoenvironmental Study of a Cultic Episode at a Statue-Menhir Copper Age Site (Ossimo Anvòia, Italian Alps)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2016

Emilia Allevato ,
Francesco Fedele ,
Filippo Terrasi ,
Manuela Capano  and
Gaetano Di Pasquale
Emilia Allevato*
Affiliation:
1Università di Napoli Federico II, Dip. Arboricoltura Botanica c Patologia Vegetale, Naples, Italy
Francesco Fedele
Affiliation:
3Formerly at Università di Napoli Federico II, Cattedra e laboratorio di Antropologia, Portici (NA), Italy
Filippo Terrasi
Affiliation:
4Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, Italy 5INNOVA – CIRCE (Centre for Isotopic Research on Cultural and Environmental heritage), Caserta, Italy
Manuela Capano
Affiliation:
5INNOVA – CIRCE (Centre for Isotopic Research on Cultural and Environmental heritage), Caserta, Italy 6Dipartimento di Lettere e Beni Culturali, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta, Italy
Gaetano Di Pasquale
Affiliation:
1Università di Napoli Federico II, Dip. Arboricoltura Botanica c Patologia Vegetale, Naples, Italy
*
2Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Nine excavation seasons at Ossimo Anvòia in the Val Camonica (Central Alps, Italy) have brought to light a Copper Age ceremonial area with symbolic monoliths (statue menhirs) in their original position. Hundreds of artifacts and ecofacts indicate ideological activity during the 3rd millennium BC. A large pit (F18) was discovered that was unusual for its great size and the abundance of well-preserved charcoal. The pit housed a fallen monolith (M9) showing complicated reshaping. A detailed spatial study based on 6 radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements combined with charcoal analysis has untangled key information to define the history of feature F18-M9. 14C data show that the burning event occurred most probably in the 4th century AD, not in prehistory. We infer a unique episode of “reconsecration” during the very latest phases of pagan cult activity in the Val Camonica. Further studies are needed to resolve the relationships with other features of the site. In addition, charcoal analysis has produced paleobotanical information for a scarcely known period in the environmental history of the area. A sparse forest with Picea abies, Larix decidua, and Fagus sylvatica existed, associated with areas likely devoted to grazing. There is a remarkable absence of chestnut.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , 2013 , pp. 49 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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