The excavation in the “Grotta del Vecchiuzzo” was the first archaeological excavation done in the mountain of Madonie (central-western Sicily, Italy). Since the earliest explorations, made in 1936 by Collisani and Carapezza, the discovery of artifacts, in the main compartment, indicated that the cave has been attended in prehistory. Excavations done, since 1937, indicated that the site ha different use during the time as it probably used as inhabitation or as a sanctuary, the prehistoric attendance of the site was around the third millennium B.C. The skeletal remains, at least fifteen individuals, were studied from the anthropological, anthropometric and paleopathological point of view, combining traditional and modern approaches. Finally a comparative Multivariate Analysis with the dental data achieved and other eleven sites in Sicily was done. Skulls were classified as dolicomorfic. Postcranial skeleton is normal or not robust, moreover the stature of women (the only calculable) is slightly above average. The study registered dental, defiency and traumatic diseases, while enthesopathy, exostosis indicated a rural lifestyle. Finally, the statistical analysis shows a morphological relationship between the studied site and other Paleo-Mesolithic sites of the island.

Lo scavo della Grotta del Vecchiuzzo fu il primo effettuato nelle Madonie (Sicilia centrooccidentale). Fin dalla sua scoperta avvenuta per mano di Collisani e Carapezza nel 1936, il ritrovamento di manufatti nel vano principale indicò che la grotta era stata abitata. Gli scavi, effettuati a partire dal 1937, indicarono che la grotta era stata adibita ad abitazione o forse a santuario e che era stata abitata intorno al terzo millennio a.C. I resti scheletrici, attribuiti ad almeno quindici individui, sono stati studiati dal punto di vista antropologico, antropometrico e paleopatologico, combinando metodologie tradizionali a quelle più moderne. Sui dati odontometrici raccolti è stata effettuata un’analisi comparativa multivariata con altri undici siti della Sicilia. La tipologia cranica è dolicomorfa. Lo scheletro post-craniale è nella norma o poco robusto, invece la statura femminile (la sola calcolabile) è poco al di sopra della media. L’esame paleopatologico ha evidenziato patologie dentarie, carenziali, traumatiche e degenerative mentre la presenza di entesopatie, esostosi ed eburneazioni, indica uno stile di vita rurale. Infine l’analisi statistica mostra una relazione morfologica tra il sito in esame e gli altri siti Paleo-Mesolitici dell’isola.

GABRIELE LAURIA, ANDREA DARIO MESSINA (2013). The Cave of Vecchiuzzo: anthropology, paleopathology and hierarchy of the human group with a statistical overview (Petralia Sottana – Palermo, Italy). ARCHIVIO PER L'ANTROPOLOGIA E LA ETNOLOGIA, CXLIII (2013), 145-156.

The Cave of Vecchiuzzo: anthropology, paleopathology and hierarchy of the human group with a statistical overview (Petralia Sottana – Palermo, Italy)

GABRIELE LAURIA
Primo
;
ANDREA DARIO MESSINA
Ultimo
2013-12-01

Abstract

The excavation in the “Grotta del Vecchiuzzo” was the first archaeological excavation done in the mountain of Madonie (central-western Sicily, Italy). Since the earliest explorations, made in 1936 by Collisani and Carapezza, the discovery of artifacts, in the main compartment, indicated that the cave has been attended in prehistory. Excavations done, since 1937, indicated that the site ha different use during the time as it probably used as inhabitation or as a sanctuary, the prehistoric attendance of the site was around the third millennium B.C. The skeletal remains, at least fifteen individuals, were studied from the anthropological, anthropometric and paleopathological point of view, combining traditional and modern approaches. Finally a comparative Multivariate Analysis with the dental data achieved and other eleven sites in Sicily was done. Skulls were classified as dolicomorfic. Postcranial skeleton is normal or not robust, moreover the stature of women (the only calculable) is slightly above average. The study registered dental, defiency and traumatic diseases, while enthesopathy, exostosis indicated a rural lifestyle. Finally, the statistical analysis shows a morphological relationship between the studied site and other Paleo-Mesolithic sites of the island.
dic-2013
Settore BIO/08 - Antropologia
GABRIELE LAURIA, ANDREA DARIO MESSINA (2013). The Cave of Vecchiuzzo: anthropology, paleopathology and hierarchy of the human group with a statistical overview (Petralia Sottana – Palermo, Italy). ARCHIVIO PER L'ANTROPOLOGIA E LA ETNOLOGIA, CXLIII (2013), 145-156.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/570251
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