Case Studies:Case study 21

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Caves and shepherds in Italy
Giovanni Boschian

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Caves and rockshelters have been widely used for stabling flocks from the Neolithic onwards throughout the Mediterranean region. Open-air sites and caves were integrated in complex systems of agricultural and pastoral land exploitation that played an important role in the economy of past societies. The Neolithic groups of unspecialised and partially nomadic shepherds became more and more specialised until they became transhumant pastoralists that, during the Bronze Age, moved through the territory on a regular annual base. The pastoral use produced deposits of burned dung inside caves. In most cases, these deposits can be readily recognised in the field through stratigraphic analysis. Ambiguous situations can be resolved by thin section analyses, which can also differentiate several microscopic facies and provide deeper insights in the reconstruction of the cave use.

The evidence from plant remains, faecal spherulites and coprolites in the cave deposits indicates a steady increase of use as pastoral sites occured from the Early Neolithic onwards. The Early Neolithic settlement was rather sparse and the groups relied on mixed agropastoral resources. The settlement became denser during the Middle Neolithic-Copper Age, and large open-air settlements developed in the lowlands or in the hill areas, while shepherds started using the caves seasonally, partly to keep the flocks far from the fields during the vegetation period. Eventually, specialised groups of transhumant shepherds started using the caves for stabling their flocks during the Bronze Age.

Keywords: Caves, rockshelters, pastoralism, thin section analysis, Neolithic, Copper Age, Bronze Age

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