RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT AND TERRITORY IN PREHISTORIC AGE

Students will be introduced to the study of the relationship between the development of cultural elements of human groups of pre-protohistoric age and the environment in which they developed, starting from the Sicilian contexts. We will consider the settlement choices, the relationship between settlements and the territory, the subsistence systems based on available resources, the development of economic systems, of mobility and of relations between different groups; the relationship between these elements and the social organization and ideological system, and how these elements are reflected in the conformation of the territory. In addition to the situation of Sicily, we will extend our gaze to other regions of the Mediterranean, central and eastern, which will provide keys to reading the interpretation of the choices of the different human groups we will deal with. The study of two case studies will be addressed: the Etna area and the Aeolian Islands.

General previous knowledge of the ancient world, of the chronological systems, and of the geography of the areas covered by the course

Prehistoric phases, the development of artisanal production and subsistence systems. Prehistoric environments and resources: archaeological indicators and reconstruction. Territorial and settlement systems, subsistence activities, raw materials, artisanal activities, relationships, exchanges, and mobility. Settlements and necropolises. Caves, their practical and symbolic uses. The small islands around Sicily.

S. Tusa, a cura di, Prima Sicilia. Alle origini della società siciliana, Palermo 1997, pp. 135-145; 173-191; 281-294; 343-351; 447-457 (tot pp. 59)

R.M. Albanese Procelli, Sicani, Siculi, Elimi. Forme di identità, modi di contatto e processi di trasformazione, Milano, Longanesi, 2003, pp. 28-55; 77-103; 122-128 (tot pp. 59)

V. Copat, Strutture abitative e non, lo spazio domestico nella facies di Castelluccio, in Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche LXXI, 2021, pp. 121-149 (tot. pp. 28)

M. Cattani, A. Peinetti, La durata di vita degli abitati: attività e fasi costruttive tra anlisi stratigrafica e cronologia, in P.A.E. Bianchi e M. Saracino, Spazi domestici nell’età del Bronzo: dall’individuazione alla restituzione (Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona - 2. Serie; Sezione Scienze dell’Uomo - N. 16 - 2023), pp. 45-64 (tot. pp. 19) 

A. Cazzella, G. Recchia, Household e spazi domestici nell’età del Bronzo italiana, in P.A.E. Bianchi e M. Saracino, Spazi domestici nell’età del Bronzo: dall’individuazione alla restituzione (Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona - 2. Serie; Sezione Scienze dell’Uomo - N. 16 - 2023), pp. 19-32 (tot. pp. 13) 

S. Tusa, L’espressività figurativa nella preistoria siciliana, in S. Tusa, a cura di, Sicilia archeologica. I caratteri e i percorsi dell’isola dal Paleolitico all’età del Bronzo negli orizzonti del Mediterraneo, Ragusa, Edizioni di storia e studi sociali, 2015, pp. 69-188 (tot. pp. 119).

M.C. Martinelli, Isole vicine. L’arcipelago delle isole Eolie e le comunità umane nella preistoria mediterranea, Ragusa, Edizioni di storia e studi sociali, 2020, pp. 9-169 (tot. pp. 160).

F. Privitera, Le grotte dell’Etna nella Preistoria, in F. Privitera, V. La Rosa, a cura di, In Ima Tartara. Preistoria e leggenda delle grotte etnee, Palermo 2007, pp. 91-117 (tot pp. 26)

1) Can you indicate the chronological sequences of the Copper Age in Sicily

2) Can you describe an Etna cave, indicating its position, morphological and archaeological characteristics, chronology and function

3) Can you discuss the most widespread housing structures of the Middle Bronze Age, giving some examples

4) Can you describe the Aeolian settlement of Portella di Salina