Robin Skeates

Towards an absolute chronology for the Neolithic in central Italy

in «Radiocarbon Dating and Italian Prehistory», Archaeological monographs of the British School at Rome, 14, 1994, pp. 61-72

Introduction

This paper is concerned with the establishement and use of a reliable absolute chronology for the Neolithic in central Italy, based upon calibrated radiocarbon dates. This is an essential prerequisite for any regional-scale study of prehistory, in which concepts such as contemporaneity, change and diffusion are constantly employed. In the firs half of the paper I shall review critically, and in some detail, the existing radiocarbon dates for the Neolithic in central Italy. Then, using what I regard to be a reliable absolute chronology, I shall provide three examples of how radiocarbon dating has made a positive contribution to the study of the Neolithic in this region.

Critical review of the existing radiocarbon dates

My first critical point is that although there are growing numbers of radiocarbon dates available for dating in Neolithic in central Italy, there are still not enough. The first radiocarbon date for the Neolithic in this region was produced during the late 1950s by the Laboratory of Nuclear Geology at Pisa, and was published in 1959 by Ferrara et al. in the journal Radiocarbon (Ferrara et al. 1959: 106). Following this, the number of radiocarbon dates has risen steadily: six new dates were produced during the 1960s, 21 during the 1970s, and a further 24 during the 1980s The total number of radiocarbon dates now available for the Neolithic in central Italy stands at 58, and these come from 26 different sites (fig.1).

Spatially, the number of radiocarbon dates and the number of sites with radiocarbon dates, varies significantly from region to region. This fthe scale at which an absolute chronology can be applied to the study of the Neolithic in central Italy. On a regional scale Abruzzo is the best covered area, with 15 dates coming from eight sites; and Marche is probably the worst, with five dates coming from three sites. Southern Lazio, central Umbria, southern Marche, and central Toscana so far lack dates entirely. On a site scale, the number of dates also varies significantly, but it is fair to say that in general there are too few measurements per dated site. On average, there are two measurements per dated site, but nearly 60% of the sites dated so far have just one measurement. Grotta di Monte Venere, with its series of nine dates for the neolithic levels, is exceptional (Delpino & Fugazzola Delpino 1975-80; Alessio et al. 1991). At an even smaller scale, which is perhaps the most important scale, it is rare to find more than one rediocarbon date coming from the same excavation context. Exceptions include the group of three dates from a pit at Monte Maulo in Molise, and the pairs of dates from stratum 3 in the Grotta di Monte Venere, and from pits a Ripabianca and S. Marco near Gubbio (respectively, Gowlett et al. 1987; Delpino & Fugazzola Delpino 1975-80), Alessio et al. 1991; Alessio et al. 1970; Hedges et al. 1990).

Chronologically, the 58 radiocarbon dates for the Neolithic in central Italy range, when calibrated at the 1-sigma confidence level, from about 6000 to 3000 cal. BC. Unfortunately, these dates are not distributed evenly in quantity across this period, and so certain phase of the Neolithic in central Italy are dated better than others... leggi tutto