habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

SOME SITES IN THE TARENTINE AREACRHIMA-CINP projectFig. 20 Mago Greguro. General plan.Fig. 21 Mago Greguro, Madonna della Scala ravine. External view. (photo:C. Crescenzi)Fig. 22 Mago Greguro, Part 1. Plan and sections. (prof. C. Crescenzi. studentscredits: A. Bartolini, A. Fratini, A. Ginetti, O. Rrapi, M. Zarrimi)The village of Madonna della ScalaThe ravine was once called Calitro; its actual name is Madonnadella Scala, at the back of the Sanctuary with the samename. The village is reachable through a gate on the right sideof the church square. The entrance is marked with two granitecolumns, followed by corridor leading to the troglodyte village.The rupestrian village is one of the most important villagesin Puglia. It was populated since the Late Antiquity: atreasure of Vandal and Byzantine coins from the V and VIcenturies was found during the excavations in 1972-74. It wasabandoned, as many other villages, at the end of the XIII centuryor at the beginning of the XIV century. The rupestrianvillage is developed on both sides of the ravine; being extendedfor 500 meters, it includes 200 recognizable caves.The ceilings of the caves are always plain, and the floors arebare rock. The fireplaces are near the entrances, which are theonly sources for light and air. Many niches in the rock wereused for flour querns or for food and water pots. Food wasoften preserved also in small wells. Walls and ceilings haveholes for beds, to lodge wooden tables for the drying of food,to hang lanterns or to hang cradles. Many houses have rainwater cisterns, often right outside the cave and in commonamong more caves. Sheepfolds, cattleshed, hen houses andbeehives are always outside. The inner mangers are alwaysbound to a reuse of the cave in more recent times.The holes in the rock jambs testify the presence of a lockingsystem, commonly simple wooden tables locked inside withbeams, the so called varroni.There are many suggestive places, as the Cyclops Cave or thePharmacy.The Cyclops cave. It is a wide cavern on the eastern cliff ofthe ravine: it has a circular plan, with a wide natural archfacing West on its entrance. It is 25 metres wide, 14 metreslong and 10 metres high. The floor is irregular, it can reacha difference of 3 metres in level; the ceiling and the wallsare ruined, with more or less deep cracks. The northern wallhouses an oven tomb from the Bronze Age. On its left, a bigtuff block 3 meters high contains a prehistoric oven.During the investigations in 1972, the most ancient traces ofman’s activity in the area were found in this wide cavity: twosiliceous blades, a green serpentine axe and some red bandsfiguline fragments from the Neolithic age.The “Pharmacy of Gregory the Magician”. It is on the easterncliff of the ravine. Not easily accessible, it is located on theright of the Cyclops cave o, at a height of about 10 metersabove the bottom of the ravine. The prospect of the Pharmacyconsists in 11 openings, as entrances and windows. It is considereda single unit, but a careful reading of the plan revealsthat the complex consists of the original juxtaposition of differentunits, total of eight adjoining rooms.The first room has walls adapted as a dovecot, with niches tohouse the birds. It has encouraged the popular fantasy, whichhas created the myth of Gregory the Magician, who storedpots with medical herbs in these niches.The interior is complex with several units connected by passagewaysand corridors dug into later periods.The room identified as “the pharmacy” is divided into twozones, which are lighted up by the door (the right zone) andvolumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 160 16/11/2012 15:02:52