DIGGING WHERE NATURE HAS ALREADY DUG: THE SOCIAL AND SYMBOLIC IMPORTANCE OF ROCKHEWN TOMBS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-10-25

Rock-hewn tombs are renown sites in the Middle Bronze Age north of the Tiber River and in southern areas of the Peninsula, such as the Apulia region. On the other hand, these burial structures are extremely rare south of the Tiber in central Italy, where the high number of natural caves has played a key role in human burials during the 2nd millennium B.C. The site of Colle delle Grotticelle (Rocca di Papa, central Italy), a few km south-east of Rome, is the only case of such structures in this area. This presentation will explore the possible reasons behind the costly choice of building at least two artificial hypogea in such a caverich territory during the Early/Middle Bronze Age: the energy expenditure shown for the building of these structures might indicate some kind of special treatment for a segment of the community, perhaps an emerging lineage. Another key point that this work will address concerns the re-use of these landmarks over time. The two main chamber-tombs known for the Colle delle Grotticelle have been re-used in later times, one of it showing a jewelled cross carved at the entrance, and the other one a re-worked area comparable to hideouts for weapons used in World War 2. This has, on the one hand, created significant methodological problems, as the original deposits were almost fully erased; on the other hand, the long and diversified anthropic occupation of these artificial caves makes such rocky places even more fascinating to investigate and interpret. Building upon the results of recent archaeological investigations in the Colle delle Grotticelle, this paper will combine theoretical approaches, ethnoarchaeology and archaeological science to reconstruct the meaning and importance of rock-hewn sites in Bronze Age central Italy and beyond.


Author(s): Rolfo, Mario Federico (University of Rome „Tor Vergata“) - Achino, Katia Francesca (Institute of Archaeology ZRC SAZU; Quantitative Archaeology Lab, Department of Prehistory, Autonomous University of Barcelona) - Angle, Micaela (Soprintendenza Archeologia del Lazio e dell‘Etruria meridionale) - Gatta, Maurizio (Department of Archaeology, BioArch Environment) - Silvestri, Letizia (Durham
University, Department of Archaeology)