Prehistoric
Italy
The earliest human settlements
within the territory of present-day Italy date almost certainly
to the initial phase of the Quaternary era (Pleistocene). This
period was characterized by frequent alternation in climatic
conditions, with consequent phases of expansion and retreat
in the Alpine and Apennine glaciers and relative variations
in sea level.
These settlements were generally
situated in coastal caves, in shelters at the base of rock walls
or near lake shores. They date to around 500 000 years ago and
correspond to the Lower Palaeolithic, the longest period
of human prehistory, which was dominated by the notable diffusion
of tools made from flaked stone and ended some 10 000 years
ago. Among the earliest sites of this period are Pineta di Isernia,
recently discovered and dating to some 730 000 years ago, and
Quinzano (Verona), from over 400 000 years ago. Other important
Lower Palaeolithic sites have been found near Imola (Valle del
Correcchio), in Lazio (Torre in Pietra, Fontana Liri, Anagni,
Arce), in Abruzzo (Teramano, Maiella), in Basilicata (Venosa),
in Puglia (Gargano), in Campania (Capri), in Liguria (Balzi
Rossi).
Although rich in tools and animal
bones, only some of these sites have provided a small quantity
of human skeletal remains resembling those from the more recent
sites of the Middle Palaeolithic, dating to the Riss-W?m
interglacial period and part of the succeeding W?m glaciation
(circa 120 000 to 36 000 years ago). These bones belong to a
species named `Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis', who lived in
the caves of Circeo (Lazio), the terraces of the Tiber Valley
(Rome), the coasts of the Salento (Grotta Romanelli) and the
Gargano (Puglia), those of Western Liguria (Balzi Rossi and
Finalese) and many other sites. Here they left traces of an
industry known as Mousterian and characterized by the presence
of scrapers (flakes of flint retouched only on one side).
During the Upper Palaeolithic,
the successive period covering from circa 36 000 to 10 000 years
ago, the Neanderthals gave way to the present species of man
`Homo sapiens sapiens' during the final phases of the W?m glaciation.
The numerous traces from this period are particularly rich in
burials, animal bones and tools, the latter having been worked
with increased precision. The first examples of rock art now
appear (engravings and graffiti in the caves of M. Pellegrino
and Levanzo in Sicily, in Grotta Romanelli on the Salento Coast
and the Balzi Rossi in Liguria) and statues like the small female
ones from Savignano and Chiozza di Scandiano in Emilia and the
Venus figurines from the Balzi Rossi.
In the few thousand years of
the following Mesolithic period (circa 10 000 to 6 000
years ago) the climate continued to grow milder. Tools became
very small (microliths) and inhumation came into use. Sites
from this period have been found throughout the entire Italian
peninsula, principally at the Balzi Rossi, Arene Candide, in
the Colli Berici (Covolo della Paina), on Capri (Grotta delle
Felci) and at Positano (Grotta La Porta), being along the coasts
in the plains and on the mountains.
With the Neolithic period,
from circa 6000 BC to 2800 BC, the traditional hunting and gathering
economy was replaced by the introduction of agriculture, stock
rearing, weaving and pottery. This new cultural influence came
particularly from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East.
Using the pottery productikon above all, it has been possible
to reconstruct fairly accurately the various phases of this
complex period. Initially it was characterized by Impressed
Ware, such as that found on the Tremiti Isles, in Sicily (Stentinello)
and Liguria (Arene Candide) and then by the painted forms (Southern
Italy). Among the noted Neolithic cultures are those of Lagozza
(Varese), Fiorano, Chiozza and Pescale (Emilia), with their
square-mouthed and scratched decorated pots. Some interesting
Neolithic traces have remained in the hut villages of the lower
Brescian area, in Emilia and the Teramo area (Valle della Vibrata)
or in the rock dwellings and tombs of Pulo di Molfetta (Puglia),
Stentinello, Megara Iblea and Matrensa (Sicily).
The second half of the third
millennium BC is characterized by the use of copper, introduced
into Italy from the Eastern Mediterranean, alongside stone.
The Copper Age has produced interesting pottery types from Rinaldone
(Viterbo), Gaudo (Paestum) and Remedello (Brescia); these were
pastoral settlements with rock-cut tombs or trench graves. The
working of flint, as still practised by the Campignians in parts
of the Gargano and Veneto, declined. Instead, the Camunian culture,
which has left its traces in the rock engravings of the lower
Val Camonica (Brescia), began the development that was to continue
throughout the Bronze Age.
Also in the Copper Age
appeared the first examples of palafitte or villages of pile
dwellings built on the pre-alpine lakes. These reached their
maximum development in the subsequent Bronze Age (corresponding
to the second millennium BC), which was characterized by the
widespread growth of metallurgy. The type site for this culture
is Polada (Lake Garda), contemporary with which there flourished
on the southern margin of the Po Plain the Terramare culture
of sedentary agriculturists. The pastoral way of life is instead
represented by the Apennine culture that developed especially
in Central-Southern Italy and was also characterized by a war-like
spirit.
The Bronze Age also saw
the flowering of true regional groupings, with highly organized
social structures and territorial ranges. This can ben seen
from the remains of their permanent settlements and respective
megalithic constructions, like the nuraghi in Sardinia, the
castellieri in the Eastern Alps, and the dolmens and menhirs
on the Salento, of clearly Middle Eastern derivation. The rock
engravings on M. Bego (Maritime Alps, now in France) belong
to the late Bronze Age, as do the urnfield cultures that spread
so rapidly and mark the change of rite from inhumation to cremation.
The Iron Age then followed with the beginning of the
first millennium BC.
During all
this period there were increasing contacts with the Phoenician
and Greek colonists: the former being largely present on the
coasts of Sardinia and western Sicily and the latter in Southern
Italy. These colonies had a considerable influence on the development
of local cultures (from the Picenian to Campano-Samnite and
the Apulian to Bruttio-Lucanian). Among the main Iron Age cultures
are those of Golasecca (Varese) in north-west Italy and Atestine
(Adige Valley) mainly in the Veneto, while the Villanovan culture,
direct heir of the urnfield cultures (indicated as proto-Villanovan)
spread throughout Emilia and the remainder of Central Italy,
even reaching Campania (Pontecagnano). This was the cultural
base on which the Etruscan civilization was to develop.
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