Riparo Dalmeri

Riparo Dalmeri
Riparo Dalmeri
Location:	Grigno , Province of Trento , Italy
Height :	1240  m slm
Geographic location:	45 ° 59 '42.5 "  N , 11 ° 36' 6"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 59 '42.5 "  N , 11 ° 36' 6"  E
Geology:	limestone
Type:	Abri
Discovery:	1990
Lighting:	no
Website:	www.archeotrentino.it/riparo-dalmeri (Italian)

Depiction of a cattle, limestone slab painted with ocher, 358 g, 12.1 × 7.5 × 3.8 cm

Riparo Dalmeri ( ital . Riparo = protection, shelter; English Dalmeri rockshelter ) is a rock overhang (Abri) located in the Italian Eastern Alps above the Valsugana near Grigno . The evaluation of numerous archaeological excavations made it possible to gain significant knowledge about the living conditions and hunting habits of the hunters and gatherers in the Alpine region who lived here in the late Upper Palaeolithic around 13,000 years ago. The extraordinary abundance of fauna remains as well as hundreds of figuratively and abstractly painted limestone slabs make the Abri one of the most important find places of Italian prehistory and the entire Alpine region.

Geographical location

The Riparo Dalmeri is located on the northern edge of the Marcesina plateau at 1240  m slm , about 3.5 km south-southwest of the municipality of Grigno, at the upper end of a small wooded gorge facing the Valsugana . It can be reached via a gravel forest path that is closed to motor vehicles.

topography

The rock overhang was created in the layered limestone rock by erosive processes during the last glacial maximum . It opens in an arc shape over a length of 30 meters to the northeast. With an overhang of up to seven meters and a maximum height of four meters, it offers an area of ​​around 60 m² that is protected from the weather.

Archaeological research

The rock overhang was discovered in the spring of 1990 by the Italian geologist and paleoanthropologist Giampaolo Dalmeri . A probe in autumn of the same year revealed the first traces of a Stone Age settlement. In numerous excavation campaigns between 1991 and 2009, large areas under and in front of the rock overhang were excavated. Two horizons of human inspection have been identified beneath more than two meters thick warm-time deposits . Using charcoal, their ¹⁴ C age could be dated to 13,300 ± 100  cal BP and 13,000 ± 100 cal BP. Culturally, they are therefore placed in the late epigravettia . The camp was probably mostly visited during the summer and autumn months.

With the help of post holes and a sharply defined contour with a diameter of four meters, a tent-like or hut-like construction could be demonstrated centrally under the rock ledge. What is unusual is that the access opening was probably on the weather side.

Squalius squalus , one of the species of fish caught in the Brenta

Over 100,000 pieces of faunal remains such as bones , horn , antlers and teeth could be uncovered and identified, including four human milk teeth . There were cuts and blow marks on numerous bones . Around 90% of the slaughterhouse waste came from the Alpine ibex , which was therefore the preferred prey. The use of ibex horns and freshwater fishing has been documented, especially the catch of barbel and Squalius squalus , but also trout , European grayling and pike . It was probably fished in the Brenta , which is around 1000 meters lower . But birds such as capercaillie and quail were also hunted. It is possible that larger pieces of meat were preserved by drying and smoking and then eaten in one of the surrounding valleys. Hides were also cut to size and tanned.

Between 2001 and 2007, 265 limestone slabs and blocks painted with ocher were discovered, possibly made from religious motifs. In addition to 27 animal and 10 human representations, there were handprints and other figurative and abstract elements. Various substances have been used in painting, and their use requires a range of skills. These substances include moon milk , goethite and hematite , from which various shades of ocher and red, as well as white colors with a range of shades, have been obtained. Only goethite was found in the vicinity of the camp, so that the hunters and gatherers of the time must have carried the other dyes with them or goethite was converted into hematite by heating to at least 300 ° C.

literature

• Emanuela Cristiani, Cristina Lemorini, Giampaolo Dalmeri: Ground stone tool production and use in the Late Upper Palaeolithic: The evidence from Riparo Dalmeri (Venetian Prealps, Italy). In: Journal of Field Archeology 37.1 (2012) pp. 34-50.
• Giampaolo Dalmeri, Stefano Neri, Michele Bassetti, Anna Cusinato, Klaus Kompatscher & Nandi Maria Hrozny Kompatscher: Riparo Dalmeri: le pietre dipinte dell'area rituale. In: Preistoria Alpina Vol. 45, Trento 2011, pp. 67–117.
• Giampaolo Dalmeri, Anna Cusinato, Klaus Kompatscher, Maria Hrozny Kompatscher, Michele Bassetti & Stefano Neri: The ocher painted stones from Riparo Dalmeri (Trento). Development of the research on the art and rituality of the Epigravettian site. In: Preistoria Alpina Vol. 44, Trento 2009, pp. 95–119.

Web links

Commons : Riparo Dalmeri  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Riparo Dalmeri , website of the Museo delle Scienze MuSe, Trento (Italian)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} G. Dalmeri, A. Cusinato, K. Kompatscher, M. Hrozny Kompatscher, M. Bassetti, S. Neri: The ocher painted stones from Riparo Dalmeri (Trento). Development of the research on the art and rituality of the Epigravettian site . Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento 2009.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} G. Dalmeri, S. Neri, M. Bassetti, A. Cusinato, K. Kompatscher, M. Hrozny Kompatscher: Riparo Dalmeri: le pietre dipinte dell'area rituale . Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento 2011.
3. ^ R. Belli, G. Dalmeri, A. Frongia, S. Gialanella, M. Mattarelli, M. Montagna, L. Toniutti: Paleolithic Paintings at Riparo Dalmeri, a Northern Italian Rock Shelter: Materials, Technologies, Techniques. In: Isabella Turbanti-Memmi (Ed.): Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, 13th - 16th May 2008, Siena, Italy. Springer Science & Business Media, 2011, pp. 187–192, here: p. 187.
4. ^ M. Bassetti, G. Dalmeri, K. Kompatscher, M. Hrozny Kompatscher, M. Lanzinger: Research on the Epigravettian site of Riparo Dalmeri on the Sette Comuni Plateau (Trento) . Museo Tridentino di Scienze Naturali, Trento 1998.
5. ^ D. Albertini, A. Tagliacozzo: Fresh water fishing in Italy during the Late Glacial period: the examples of Riparo Dalmeri (Trento). In: JP Brugal, J. Desse (eds.): Petits animaux et sociétés humaines. You complément alimentaire aux ressources utilitaires. Actes des XXIV rencontres internationales d'archèologie et d'histoire d'Antibes. Editions APDCA, Antibes 2004.
6. ^ R. Belli, G. Dalmeri, A. Frongia, S. Gialanella, M. Mattarelli, M. Montagna, L. Toniutti: Paleolithic Paintings at Riparo Dalmeri, a Northern Italian Rock Shelter: Materials, Technologies, Techniques. In: Isabella Turbanti-Memmi (Ed.): Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, 13th - 16th May 2008, Siena, Italy. Springer Science & Business Media, 2011, pp. 187–192, here: p. 187.