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

BIAGI - VOYTEK 6460±95 BP (Z-198) has been reported from the cave of Podosojna, near Moscenice in Istria, which is associated with a Mesolithic Castelnovian industry (MALEZ 1979.). The first Mesolithic tools were collected in Friuli ten years ago. The only stratigraphic sequence is that of the Riparo di Biarzo (BRESSAN et al. 1982.), whose archaeological deposits cover a long period between the Late Glacial Epigravettian Culture and the Early Holocene. The distribution map of open air sites from this age is extremely interesting. The morainic amphitheatre of the river Tagliamento is rich in Mesolithic finds of both Sauveterrian and Castelnovian tradition (Fig. 2). These are systematically located along the slope of morainic cordons, facing former lake basins or, more rarely, at the confluence of small rivers (CANDUSSIO et al. 1989.). This distribution pattern is similar to that already observed for the morainic amphitheatres of the Lombard pre-alpine lakes (BIAGI 1981.). High altitude Mesolithic sites have also been discovered as well as some flint assemblages scattered along fluvial terraces a few kilometres from the actual sea-shore. The Grotta dell'Edera sequence The excavations actually in progress at the Grotta dell'Edera near Aurisina in the Trieste Karst have produced a thick sequence from the beginning of the Holocene up to the 6th century AD (Fig. 3). The cave, whose opening faces north-east, lies at the bottom of a dolina at an altitude of some 125 metres, 3 kilometres from the actual coastline. From a cultural and typological point of view the Mesolithic assemblages from the 1974-1975 excavations were accurately described by BOSCHIAN and PITTI (1984.). The research resumed in 1990 under the direction of the writers, in investigating the Early Atlantic levels. Even though the materials have not been analysed in detail yet, the lower-most layer (3B) so far excavated at a depth of 360-370 centimetres, yielded a poor early Castelnovian assemblage with trapezes, scalene triangles, microburins and cores from local Komen flint. A fireplace above this layer has been excavated in layer 3A. It produced a few fragments of undecorated, coarse, thick-walled pottery, as well as a Komen flint assemblage with trapezes, microburins and narrow bladelets. Around the fireplaces many faunal remains and marine shells of the genus Trochus and Patella were collected. An almost sterile clayey-sandy layer 3 separates it from a Neolithic series of the superimposed fireplaces that characterize the sandy-loamy layer 2A, the lowermost of which produced sherds of a typical Danilo rhyton or salt-pot (CHAPMAN 1988.) and fragments of Vlaska type pedestalled, deep pots with restricted-mouth (BARFIELD 1972.). The Early Neolithic in the neighbouring regions Many sources demonstrate (BUDJA 1994.) that the earliest Neolithic of the Trieste Karst is far from being clear. From a chronological/typological point of view many arguments are still open to question, namely 1. the relationship between the coastal Impressed Ware Culture, fairly well documented in Istria and Dalmatia (MÜLLER 1988., CHAPMAN-MÜLLER 1990.) and the Vlaska pottery; 2. the duration and the chronological sequence of the Vlaska assemblage, which appears to be a regional variant of the Danilo Culture (BARFIELD 1972.) needs to be better defined. The 14C dating of the Neolithic sequence of the Grotta dell'Edera will, to a certain extent, help clariiy these two points. Detailed re-examination of the materials from the 1959-1961 excavations at Grotta dei Ciclami is also of extreme importance (GILLI-MONTAGNARI KOKELJ 1993). The cave, whose mouth faces north, opens along the southern slope of Mt. Orsario at an altitude of 323 metres, some 5.5 kilometres from the sea, and close to the Slovenian border. Even though the excavations were inaccurately conducted by local amateurs, the analysis of the potteiy assemblage revealed that the lower-most Neolithic eighth layer contained Vlaska type material (Fig. 4). The presence of typical potsherds from two square mouthed bowls indicates that at least part of the assemblage from the seventh layer is attributed to the middle of the 6th millennium BP. As far as we know, the Vlaska horizon is documented from twelve cave sites in the Trieste Karst, one of which, the eighth layer from the Grotta dei Ciclami, was dated to 6300±6() BP (R1040A) and 6290±130 BP (R-1038) (MÜLLER 1991.). The Vlaska type Neolithic also occurs in the nearby Slovene Karst as revealed from the finds from a few cave stations (LEBEN 1976., TURK et al. 1993-)• The situation is quite different in the Friuli Plain which extends to the west of the Karst. Here the excavations and surveys of the last twenty years have produced new evidence for the Neolithisation of the region. Most of the sites are open-air settlements distributed in various geographical locations (FERRARI-PESSINA 1992.). Recent research conducted at Sammardenchia indicates that the Neolithic village extended for at least five square kilometres (Fig. 5). A dense concentration of structures, mainly rubbish pits, were excavated in the northern area of the settlement. They produced an impressive amount of flint and greenstone artefacts and vessels decorated with incised, impressed, scratched and painted decorations. A similar but not identical assemblage was found at Valer, near Pordenone (FASANI pers. comm. 1992.), and from nearby site of Fagnigola (BAGOLINI et al. 1993-). Both are on very low hills surrounded 64 Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 1994