habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

CENSUS OF ROCKY SITES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AREAR. Bixio 1 , A. De Pascale 1-2 , M. Mainetti 31. Centro Studi Sotterranei, Genova, Italia2. Museo Archeologico del Finale, Istituto Internazionale di Studi Liguri sez. Finalese, Finale Ligure, Italia3. Commissione Nazionale Cavità Artificiali - SSI, ItaliaThe caves of anthropic origin, otherwise called “artificialcavities”, are found all over the world, but a comprehensivesystematic inventory is not yet available. A first census of thegeographic distribution in the Mediterranean area of structuresdug by man has been obtained, in the year 2000, by theNational Commission of Artificial Cavities of the Italian SpeleologicalSociety through a project co-ordinated by MarioMainetti; the census is limited to a few typologies related toa possible use as dwelling in a broad sense, defined ROCKYor TROGLODYTIC. The census is still unpublished but isregistered at the National Commission of Artificial Cavities,and a synthesis has been included among the didactic supportspromoted by the Commission (Bixio R., Galeazzi C. 2007). Itintends to improve the knowledge of the territories of interest,with the aim of fostering the safeguard and the development ofunderground architectures. In fact, these activities are of paramountinterest for the Commission, which is a branch of theItalian Speleological Society made up by researchers specializedin the survey and documentation of the underground artificialstructures with a historic and architectonic relevance,therefore including also rocky structures. The project foreseesto extend its interest to all the anthropic underground typologies,and not only to those defined “rocky” in the strict sense.The documentation will allow to fully appreciate the role thatunderground architecture has had in ancient and recent history,as well as in the cultural development of peoples.IntentsAs stated by the creator and curator of the census and of themap of troglodyte architecture in Mediterranean countries,“the aim of our work is to establish with the maximum possiblecare and precision the extent of a phenomenon diffusedin many countries in the world and in all the countries of theMediterranean area. In fact, life in a cave has interested in thepast, and still does at present, entire regions in the south ofItaly and in Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, France and Spain. Thanksto the studies of the 60s and to the renewed interest for ecocompatiblearchitectures, nowadays “dug architecture” is atthe centre of the attention of many specialists and, occasionally,of the general public. Several are the cases of architecturesat present acknowledged as cultural heritage: the churches inMatera and Cappadocia, Petra, the dwellings of Matmatah andGuadix are by now part of our knowledge. Nevertheless, a textureof minor centres, places of worship, defensive systemsremains hidden and runs the risk of being destroyed for ever.The idea of compiling a list, that can be shown on a map describingthe actual distribution of underground architectures,derives from the intent of providing with a data base all thosepeople interested in artificial cavities, at all levels and for themost diverse reasons. Above all, this census intends to promotethe protection all over the territory of monuments thatcannot be reduced to the level of curiosities or architectonicoddities. This is specially important for what concerns dwellings,commonly considered a sort of unhealthy degenerationof the notion of housing, while we should acknowledge therole that troglodytism has had in our history, also in orderto understand if, and how, it could still be part of our future(Mainetti, 2008).CriteriaThe census has been performed collecting data from the internationalliterature, as well as adding unpublished data, derivedfrom research projects on the territory directly developed bythe National Commission of Artificial Cavities or obtainedwith autonomous investigations by associated reams, or collectedthrough the co-ordinate activity of other organizations.Tab. 1 Summary of rocky sites reported by country.nation n° nation n° nation n° nation n°ALBANIA 5 FYROM MACEDONIA 7 MALTA 3 SERBIA MONTENEGRO 18ALGERIA 15GEORGIAonly eastern4 MOROCCO 19 SYRIA 13ARMENIAonly western1 JORDAN 9MOLDOVAonly sothern3 SPAIN 326BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA 2 GREECE 157 PALESTINE 31 SWITZERLAND 13BULGARIA 9 ISRAEL 9 PORTUGAL 6 TUNISIA 161CYPRUS 5 ITALY 678UNITED KINGDOMonly Gibraltar1 TURKEY 186EGYPTonly northern4 LEBANON 18 ROMANIA 10UKRAINAonly Crimea10FRANCEonly southern and Corsica156 LYBIA 63 SAN MARINO 1 TOTAL 1.94389volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 89 16/11/2012 15:01:42