habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

CLASSIFICATION OF RUPESTRIAN SETTLEMENTSCRHIMA-CINP project6. HabitationsThe habitations in rupestrian villages are generally very simple.The complex habitation in the village of Casalrotto (Mottola)is an outstanding exception. It is on the eastern cliff ofa small lama, where the whole village was realized. It is fewmeters NW of the Saint Angel’s Church: it is constituted bytwo juxtaposed parts. The most ancient one dates back to Prehistory,since it is a rough re-elaboration of a natural cave.Niches and arcosolia were probably realized during the LateAntiquity.The most recent part is extended northbound: the access isthrough an internal door. This part may date back to the MedievalAge, to the 11th or 12th century, when the village wasreorganized after it had been abandoned in the 6th century,during the Goth War.It is constituted by a wide central square room leading to threedeep niches in a fan shaped distribution. It is lower than themost ancient part, according to the observations on the chronologyof rupestrian dwellings in Massafra.As in any habitation of Casalrotto, a wide open space is onfront of the house: nowadays it is abandoned, but it was originallya fruit garden. The overall area of the habitation is 270square meters. This testifies that families in Casalrotto usedto extend their habitations according to their needs. This isvery different from Massafra (Madonna della Scala) the unitswere single or double, and families lived in separated artificialcaves. Only the home (focolare) was the real habitation.The other caves where sheepfolds, warehouses, and workshops.The model of Casalrotto was imitated only in somehabitations from the 14th century, the late period of the villagein Massafra. Some examples of complex caves are in the villagesof Petruscio (Mottola) and of Vitisciulo (Matera).Single or double units’ habitations have always a circular annexwith a dome, with a hole in the middle of the dome: thiswas the kitchen. Almost every rupestrian village were abandonedduring the 14th century, probably because of the BlackDeath pandemic described by Boccaccio in the Decameron. Itmust have been very virulent: there is no written documentationof this event, but archaeologists consider the abandon ofrupestrian villages as a proof of it.All the rupestrian villages were along the Appian Way, theTrajan Way, so they were exposed to robberies of armies andarmed bands, to the invasions of Goth, Arabs and Lombards.So the inhabitants of these villages excavated some fortifiedhouses, with linked rooms and narrow tunnels, to force invadersto kneel to enter the protected space.The lack of superficial water and springs determined the exigencyof realizing cisterns to collect the rain. Cisterns can befound in every village, where the canalization systems can bevery complex.7. IndustryExperts had not much information until few years ago. Theyused to describe the industry of rupestrian villages as “rural”,which is a very generic term. It only states that primary industriesfor livelihood were present.New archaeological researches have discovered a wider rangeof industry, which includes agricultural industries (as flour,wine and oil production; rupestrian oil mills have been discoveredin Puglia as well as in Libya). The presence of steelworkswas unimaginable, but the findings of slag have testifiedthe presence of such an industry.Some artificial caves of Sicily were organized for leather tanning.A ruined rupestrian habitation in Tuscany (Sorano -Grosseto) has revealed tools and waste of a shoemaker.This brought to smarter researches that could identify crafts inrupestrian settlements.Many rooms with modern looms (15th century) have beenidentified: weaving was exercised for familiar exigencies aswell as for commerce.8. Religious buildingsNecropolisThe known rupestrian necropolises are generally very small,because they belong to small villages. Many of them wereviolated in the antiquity, and they are almost ruined. The necropolisof Casalrotto (Mottola) is one of the most importantnecropolises: an archaeological investigation has suggesteda dating between the 12th and the 14th century, the periodduring which the village was most lively. Another unprofanednecropolis is in Palagianello: it will be hopefully investigatedsoon.A small necropolis already visited by grave robbers is uponthe rupestrian church of Madonna degli Angeli (Mottola); thechurch had a funerary parecclesion with arcosolia. Arcosoliaand pavement tombs are common in Apulian and Cappadocianrupestrian churches.In general, the necropolises of Cappadocia have been recentlyFig. 5 Interior views of rupestrian houses.volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 44 16/11/2012 15:01:01