habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

RUPESTRIAN CULTURER. CapraraArcheogruppo “E. Jacovelli” Massafra, Taranto, ItaliaSince prehistory, man took shelter in natural caves, competingfor them against animals, or at least underneath rocky spurs,to protect themselves against the severity of the weather. ThePalaeolithic man left important documentation of his parietalart in Spain and France.During the Neolithic era, when he knew how to build huts,he wished more solid shelters for his gods, as in Al Haflieni(Malta) or for his defuncts, as the Domus de Janas (Sardegna).So he excavated them in the rock with a stone pickaxe.Since the Bronze Age, he excavated artificial caves in rockyfronts or underground by means of a metal pickaxe. Greatcivilizations used this technique in more recent times: theEtruscans in Chiusi (painted tombs); the Romans (the hypogealvillas of Bulla Regia, with magnificent mosaic floors);the Buddhist civilization in India (the incredible temples ofAjanta); the Christians in Cappadocia (hundreds of churcheswith frescoes); the Byzantines, Lombards, Normans, Suebi inmany villages and churches in Italy; local Tunisian tribes (asthe hypogeal village of Matmata); Turkish people (the incrediblemultilevel underground cities).Somebody has written (and still writes) about the rupestriancivilization. There is no rupestrian civilization: it is more adwelling culture which has been shared by different civilizations,although they could also build incredible structures. Itis only one among the different dwelling cultures, as othercivilizations had the tepee (in North America) or the yurta (inAsia).Where geology allowed for excavation, rupestrian and hypogealsites were realized. Different rocks, as Calcarenite (Puglia),Sandstone (Calabria), Tuff (in Tuscia and Cappadocia),Trachyte (in Sardegna) offered different results in time and inrelation with the different historical conditions of the places.So we have monuments in Cappadocia because Turkey wasthe core of the powerful and rich Byzantine Empire for a thousandyears, while southern Italy was only a far province. It wasa poor land because of the continuous wars for their domination;different political organization succeeded to each other:the Byzantine Empire, the Lombard Duchy, the ByzantineEmpire again, the Norman state, the Suebi state, the Angevinstate, and the Aragonese state, not to mention the frequent incursionof Arab pirates. This is why rupestrian architectureis diffused in this area, but it never reached the monumentallevels as in Cappadocia.Rupestrian architecture was considered the creation of patientstonemason monks until recent times. Today we know that,even if the presence of monks is certain, specialized stonemasons(as skilled as the masons of the great sub divo Cathedrals)were the creators of great rupestrian architectures.As the price of their work was related to their ability, theircorporations developed in the most economically advancedterritories.Once, all of the rupestrian villages were considered as a choiceto hide from invasions. Today we know that this is not true,since all of the villages were founded nearby important roads.For example, in Puglia they are close to the via Appia, the ViaAppia Traiana, and the so called Itinerario di Guidone, theroad that substituted the Via Appia after the plain of Tarantoturned into a swap in the Early Middle Ages.We know that, due to its geographical position, Cappadociawas an important commercial crossroads for centuries, andthis determined the richness of the rupestrian villages.This also means that these villages could be easily invaded,as in Puglia. So, the inhabitants of this area created a newhypogeal settlement, subterranean shelters (as the towns ofKaymaklı and Derinkuyu) which allowed the community tosurvive for many months without the need of risky externalmissions. The construction of such subterranean town is articulatedon many levels; for instance, the town of Kaymaklıhas nine levels. They were equipped with ventilation holes,stables, water wells, and all the necessities of thousands people.During the Byzantine Christian era, some rooms of theseunderground towns were turned into temples, and their wallswere painted with frescoes. We think that these towns wererealized after the battle of Manzikiert in 1071. In this battle,Fig. 1 Headland above Kritiko Pelagos, Santorini.13volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 13 16/11/2012 15:00:41