A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 36. - 1994 (Nyíregyháza, 1995)

Paolo Biagi–Barbara A. Voytek: The Neolithisation of the Trieste Karst in North-Eastern Italy and its neighbouring countries

The Neolithisation of the Trieste Karst in North-Eastern Italy and its neighbouring countries Paolo BIAGI - Barbara A. VOYTEK The environmental background The Trieste Karst is a limestone ellipsoid whose Italian territory, following World War Two, has been reduced to some 850 square kilometres. It is bordered to the north-west by the alluvial deposits of the river Isonzó, to the north-east by the synclinal of the Vipacco, to the south-east by the Val Rosandra and to the south-west by the Adriatic Sea (POLDINI 1971.). The Karstic upland, which rises gradually from the north-west to the south-east, is a hilly landscape whose highest peak is Mt. Concusso (m 672 asl). The coast which borders it to the south-west is generally high. It drops vertically into the Trieste Gulf and is interrupted by two alluvial plains, namely those of Grignano and of Trieste. The Trieste Karst is characterized by its climate, which distinguishes it from the surrounding regions. In fact this is a transitional zone between the Venetian and the Danubian Plains, characterized by the Bora, a cold, dry, strong katabatic wind that blows from east-north-east. The annual mean temperature of Trieste is 14.6° centigrades and that of Basovizza, an inland village, is 10.8°. According to the classical sources, the Karst was covered with a mixed-oak woodland mainly composed of Qtierais robur (oak), Carpinus (hornbeam) and Fmximis (ash). The forest clearance which started during the 14th century AD and continued for some four centuries, almost completely destroyed the original tree cover (CHERSI 1984.). The Mesolithic assemblages The distribution of the Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in the Trieste Karst (Fig. 1) is strongly affected by the geomorphology of the region. All the sites so far known are caves or rock shelters which open at the bottom of the dolinas. Some of them were inhabited for many thousands of years, including the Mesolithic period, as indicated by the archaeological sequences brought to light by the excavations (BOSCHIAN-MONTAGNARI KOKELJ 1984.). No open air Mesolithic site is known to-date. This is probably also due to the coastal retreat consequent to the sea-level rise between the end of the last Glacial and the beginning of the Holocene. Only three sites have been 14C dated, namely the Grotta Benussi, the Grotta dei Ciclami and the Caverna degli Zingari (Table 1). The typological sequence of the Mesolithic flint assemblages is very similar to that already known for other parts of Italy. It is characterized by Sauveterrian assemblages. These are followed by Castelnovian industries, which made their appearance at the start of the Atlantic (BROGLIO 1971.). The date of the earliest Mesolithic occupation of the Karst is still unclear. Most of the sites have produced typical Boreal Sauveterrian assemblages with hypermicrolithic scalene triangles and circular end scrapers, but the presence of Pre-Boreal industries is rather uncertain. The actual distribution of the Mesolithic sites is obscured by many factors. According to the more recent data, from 9000 BP the sea-level rise should have submerged at least 20-25 kilometres of flat coastal land ideal for settling (SHACKLETON-VAN ANDEL 1985.). The analysis of the faunal remains from the Mesolithic sequences of the Grotta Azzurra di Samatorza (CANNARELLA-CREMONESI 1967., CICCONE 1993.) gives a reasonable picture of the coastal environment exploited by the Trieste Karst Mesolithic bands. Revolution in economic strategy is evident from the beginning of the Atlantic, when the presence of abundant remains of marine molluscs, typical of rocky environments, indicates a sea-oriented subsistence connected with the retreat of the sea-shore. The situation is even less clear in the Slovene Karst and the nearby territory where some ten sites are known to-date. Most information comes from the sites of Breg (FRELIH 1986.) and Pod Crmukljo (BRODAR 1992.). The assemblage from Breg which includes trapezes and denticulated blades, has been dated to 6830±150 BP (Z-1421). This should indicate that the station, the subsistence of which was mainly based on the hunting of red deer (POHAR 1984.), was settled during an advanced period in the development of the Castelnovian Culture. An open-air sitewith a similar assemblage has been reported by BRODAR and OSOLE (1979.) at Dedkov, near Prestranac in the Slovenian Karst; while a date of