Content uploaded by Margherita Mussi
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Margherita Mussi on Jul 16, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte — 17 (2008) 97
A Gönnersdorf-style engraving in the parietal art
of Grotta Romanelli (Apulia, southern Italy)
Margherita Mussi1 and Alessandro De Marco2
1Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità
Università di Roma ”La Sapienza”
Via Palestro 63, 00185 Roma, Italia
margherita.mussi@uniroma1.it
2Cooperativa S.T.S.
Via Marsala 100, 73042, Casarano (LE), Italia
alex.de.marco@libero.it
Abstract: Gönnersdorf-style figurines and silhouettes are well known at over 40 sites in western and
central Europe and are found in association with Magdalenian or Azilian lithic industries. We describe
an engraving of this type discovered at Grotta Romanelli in south-western Italy, in association with a
Romanellian industry, a local facies of the Italian Late Epigravettian. This find considerably extends the
known geographical distribution of Gönnersdorf-type figures.
Keywords: Italy, Late Paleolithic, Romanellian, Parietal art, Engraving
Eine Figur des Typs Gönnersdorf in der Wandkunst der Grotta Romanelli
(Apulien, Süditalien)
Zusammenfassung: Die Grotta Romanelli im südlichen Apulien wurde bereits 1900 als archäologische
Fundstelle entdeckt und bis in die zweite Hälfte des 20. Jhs. hinein in zahlreichen Grabungskampagnen
untersucht. Früheste Hinweise auf die Anwesenheit von Menschen gehören in das Mittelpaläolithikum.
Auf eine stratigraphische Lücke folgen dann wesentlich jüngere Ablagerungen mit einer nach der Grotta
Romanelli als Romanellien bezeichneten spätpaläolithischen Industrie, einer lokalen Ausprägung des
späten italienischen Epigravettien. Unkalibrierte Daten geben für diese Schichten ein Alter zwischen
etwa 9.000 und 12.000 vor heute, das entspricht einem Alter zwischen etwa 10.000 und knapp 15.000 vor
heute in kalibrierten Daten. Dabei liegen die meisten der kalibrierten Daten bei einfacher Standardab-
weichung innerhalb eines Zeitintervalles zwischen 11.200 und 13.500 vor heute.
Bei den älteren Ausgrabungen wurden mehrfach Kalksteinblöcke und -platten mit sowohl figürlichen
und schematischen als auch abstrakten Darstellungen gefunden. Darüber hinaus fanden sich an meh-
reren Stellen Gravuren an den Höhlenwänden, die z.T noch unpubliziert sind. Unter den Wanddar-
stellungen im Inneren der Höhle wurde eine nur etwa 2 cm hohe eingravierte Darstellung identifiziert,
die wahrscheinlich den Umriss einer stilisierten Frauenfigur des Typs Gönnersdorf darstellt und die
im vorliegenden Beitrag beschrieben wird. Erkennbar sind der Oberkörper, die Gesäßpartie und die
Beine. Vergleichbare Darstellungen kennt man sowohl in der Wandkunst als auch in der Kleinkunst von
inzwischen mehr als 40 jung- bis spätpaläolithischen Fundstellen vor allem in Mittel- und Westeuropa.
Herausragend ist dabei der Namen gebende Fundplatz Gönnersdorf am Mittelrhein mit mehr als 400
Darstellungen. In der Wandkunst waren Figuren des Typs Gönnersdorf bisher auf Westeuropa westlich
der Rhône beschränkt. Der Fund in der Grotta Romanelli würde damit die bisher bekannte geogra-
phische Verbreitung dieses Typs beträchtlich erweitern.
Schlagwörter: Italien, Spätpaläolithikum, Romanellien, Wandkunst, Gravur
98
Fig. 1: A Grotta Romanelli seen from the sea (after Blanc 1930). B The entrance of Grotta Romanelli, seen
from the inside of the cave (photo M. Mussi). The Gönnersdorf-style silhouette was discovered in the dark
area on the left, while the deeply engraved freeze is in full light, on the ceiling just beyond the grate.
Margherita Mussi and Alessandro De Marco
99
Introduction
Grotta Romanelli is located in southern Apulia at 40°N, at a few meters above sea
level on a limestone cliff facing the southern Adriatic Sea (Fig. 1A). The archaeological
site was discovered in 1900 by Paolo Emilio Stasi (1840-1922), a local scholar, who star-
ted digging there with Ettore Regalia, a palaeontologist. Major excavations were directed
from 1914 to 1938 by Gian Alberto Blanc, who introduced a modern interdisciplinary
approach and published the results in some detail (Blanc 1920, 1930). Later, during the
second half of the century, Luigi Cardini also directed several digging seasons.
Overlying a basal Tyrrhenian beach deposit of last interglacial age, the stratigra-
phic sequence includes two distinct deposits: the lower terre rosse (“red earth”), which
produced remains of pachyderms and Middle Palaeolithic tools (Piperno 1974; Spina-
police 2008); and, after a stratigraphic gap, the upper terre brune, (“brown earth”), of
much later age, with abundant Late Palaeolithic industry, the so-called Romanellian.
The Romanellian, which includes small-sized endscrapers, burins, points with bilateral
retouch, and backed elements, has been discovered at a few more sites of Apulia, where
the later Epiromanellian also developed (Mussi 2001). This industry is a regional facies
of the Italian late Epigravettian, only found in a restricted area, in the southwest of the
peninsula. In the past, industries including many small endscrapers and backed tools,
from elsewhere in southern Europe, were improperly also labelled as Romanellian. The
rich faunal assemblage is dominated by wild ass, aurochs, and red deer, but other ani-
mals, such as red fox and birds, were also intensely exploited (Cassoli et al. 1997, 2003;
Compagnoni et al. 1997; Fiore 2003; Fiore et al. 2003; Tagliacozzo 2003).
The terre brune layers are subdivided into layers E-A, from bottom to top. They were
radiocarbon-dated in the 1960s, at an early stage of the development of this dating
technique, both at Rome and at Groningen. The results are to some extent contrasting
(Table 1) (Bella et al. 1958-1961; Vogel and Waterbolk 1963; Alessio et al. 1964, 1965).
There is little doubt, however, that within the overall range of 10,000-15,000 cal BP,
most of the dates cluster between 11,200 and 13,500 cal BP.
Level Laboratory Conventional
Date BP
Calibrated
Date BP 68% range calBP
A R-54 9,050 ± 100 10,174 ± 169 10,005 – 10,343
A GrN-2056 9,880 ± 100 11,401 ± 162 11,239 – 11,563
A GrN-2305 10,320 ± 130 12,155 ± 30 11,852 – 12,457
A R-58 11,800 ± 600 14,057 ± 844 13,213 – 14,901
B R-56 11,930 ± 520 14,179 ± 759 13,419 – 14,938
C GrN-2154 9,790 ± 80 11,203 ± 72 11,130 – 11,275
C GrN-2153 10,390 ± 80 12,310 ± 198 12,111 – 12,508
D GrN-2055 10,640 ± 100 12,556 ± 157 12,399 – 12,713
Table 1: The 14C dates of Grotta Romanelli. Calibration made using the curve CalPal2007_HULU at
http://www.calpal-online.de. Dates are arranged in a conventional way within each level, except for R-54
which is the nearest to the surface of the deposit.
A Gönnersdorf-style engraving in the parietal art of Grotta Romanelli
100
Engraved limestone blocks and slabs were discovered, mostly at the base of level C,
with both schematic and naturalistic engravings (most notably bovids, a doe, a small
felid, and a possible wild boar) (Blanc 1930; Graziosi 1932-33; Acanfora 1967). A block,
with rows of arch-shaped patterns painted in red, was also found in levels B-C.
A number of deeply engraved motifs at a larger scale, forming a kind of frieze, were
recognized at the cave mouth and in full light, some meters above modern ground-level
(Blanc 1930). They include linear and fusiform patterns, some of which could be vulvas
and anthropomorphs, as well as a schematic bovid (Fig. 2). According to Blanc (1930,
410, table XLI), a few of the engraved blocks of level C had broken off the ceiling. Panels
with fine engravings also exist inside the cave, but were never described or illustrated.
We discuss below one of the inner engravings that we recognized as a Gönnersdorf-type
silhouette.
Fig. 2: Two different groups of deep engravings, in full light at the mouth of Grotta Romanelli (after Blanc
1930).
The Gönnersdorf-style engraving
An engraved panel can be seen inside the cave just above modern ground-level, i.e.,
above the artificial level left after excavating the Terre brune. During our research, it
was not possible to test if the Terre brune had been thoroughly excavated in this part of
the cave. The panel is in a dark area, rarely if ever reached by direct sunlight, on the left
when looking toward the entrance from within (Fig. 1B). It includes naturalistic bovids
and schematic patterns, that have yet to be deciphered.
To the left and above a bovid figure, a small anthropomorphic silhouette, 2cm in
length, was discovered (Fig. 3). The upper part is damaged by lichen growth, while the
lower part is sharply engraved and well preserved. It is a right profile, which makes par-
tial use of an oblique fissure in the wall to outline the upper back. The anterior part of
the trunk is also suggested by a natural pattern of the rock, while the lower body is care-
fully engraved. Overall, it is symmetric, with an upper body oriented forward, protruding
Margherita Mussi and Alessandro De Marco
101
Fig. 3: The Gönnersdorf-style silhouette discovered inside Grotta Romanelli (photo F. Pino). Maximum
length 2 cm.
A Gönnersdorf-style engraving in the parietal art of Grotta Romanelli
102
buttocks, and legs directed forward, mirroring the thorax. The head is possibly evidenced
by the slightly more vertical posture of the upper thorax, but this is not certain due to
poor preservation. The thorax or head is left open at the top. An elongated breast is pos-
sibly suggested by a natural depression, without any artificial modification. There is no
evidence of an arm. On the lower rear, a rounded buttock is accurately engraved. A fold
divides the latter from the united thigh and calf, ending in a point. The abdomen is flat.
Concluding remarks
The silhouette discovered at Grotta Romanelli fits well within one of the variants of
the Gönnersdorf or Gönnersdorf-Lalinde-style (Bosinski 1991; Delporte 1993; Bosinski
and Schiller 1998; Bosinski et al. 2001). The closest analogies are to engravings discov-
ered at sites in south-western France, such as Lalinde, Le Courbet, Fontalès, Pestillac:
the upper part is left open, the lower one is pointed, there are no arms, and in some
examples the breasts are outlined. Although engraved, the Romanelli silhouette is also
similar to some statuettes, notably the figurine from Le Courbet. The new discovery
strengthens the hypothesis made by Mussi and Zampetti (1988), who suggested that
some of the anthropomorphic engravings at the mouth of the cave, which are rather
large, over 20cm in height, also recalled the Gönnersdorf style (Fig. 2).
Altogether, Gönnersdorf-style female representations have been discovered at over
40 Magdalenian or, less frequently, Azilian sites, as portable as well as parietal art, as
single representations or as multiple ones, with more than 400 examples known from
the eponymous site (Fig. 4). The geographic distribution encompasses most of western
and central Europe, from Cantabria to Moravia and Poland; however parietal art was
restricted, up until now, to an area west of the Rhône Valley. Variants of the type are
also known in the Ukraine, at Mezin and Mežirič – sites which are earlier than those in
central and eastern Europe. Gönnersdorf-style female representations had not been pre-
viously reported in Italy at any Lateglacial site, in association with Late Epigravettian
industry. Grotta Romanelli, with a Romanellian lithic industry, considerably expands
the previously known distribution beyond the area of the Magdalenian and Azilian sites.
Furthermore, while a figurine, if found in southern Italy, could well have been the out-
come of hand-to-hand exchanges, the silhouette must have been engraved on the cave
wall by an artist who had seen similar ones at a distant location. This suggests people
freely moving over long distances, beyond both geographical boundaries and boundaries
established on the basis of the modern classification of lithic tools.
Acknowledgements
The permit to visit Grotta Romanelli and study the engraving was granted by Soprin-
tendenza archeologica della Puglia, and we are specially grateful to Dr. Maria Antoni-
etta Gorgoglione for the assistance given. The research of MM was funded by a grant
MIUR – Ricerca scientifica (Facoltà di Lettere - Università di Roma ”La Sapienza”). The
pictures were graphically processed by Filiberto Scarpelli (Laboratorio di Paletnologia,
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Università di Roma ”La Sapienza”). During the
first visit to Grotta Romanelli we were greatly helped by Paul Bahn and Nadine Rhodes,
who accompanied us. ADM was in charge of the local documentation, and MM of the
overall research.
Margherita Mussi and Alessandro De Marco
103
References
Acanfora, O. 1967: Figurazioni inedite della grotta Romanelli. Presentazione preliminare. Bullettino di
Paletnologia Italiana n.s. 18, 7-67.
Alessio, M., Bella, F., and Cortesi, C. 1964: University of Rome Carbon-14 Dates II. Radiocarbon 6, 77-90.
Alessio, M., Bella, F., Bachechi, F., and Cortesi, C. 1965: University of Rome Carbon-14 Dates III. Radio-
carbon 7, 213-222.
Bella, F., Blanc, A. C., Blanc, G. A., and Cortesi, C. 1958-1961: Una prima datazione con il Carbonio14 della
formazione pleistocenica di Grotta Romanelli. Quaternaria 5, 87-94.
Blanc, G. A. 1920: Grotta Romanelli, I. Stratigrafia dei depositi e natura e origine di essi. Archivio per l’An-
tropologia e l’Etnologia 50, 65-103.
Blanc, G. A. 1930: Grotta Romanelli, II. Dati ecologici e paletnologici. Atti della Prima Riunione dell’ Istituto
Italiano di Paleontolologia Umana, 365-518. Firenze.
Bosinski, G. 1991. The representation of Female Figures in the Rhineland Magdalenian. Proceedings of the
Prehistoric Society 57, 51-64.
Fig. 4: Distribution map of Gönnersdorf-style engravings and figurines. Parietal art (at some sites with
parietal art portable art was also discovered): 1 Romanelli – 2 Gouy and Orival – 3 Margot – 4 Les Com-
barelles, Saint-Cirq, Comarque, Vielmouly II, Fronsac, La Font Bargeix – 5 Carriot – 6 Lagrave – 7 Pestil-
lac – 8 Planchard – 9 Deux-Ouvertures – 10 Gazel – 11 Gourdan – 12 El Linar. Portable art: 13 Megarnie
– 14 Gönnersdorf, Andernach, Niederbieber – 15 Nebra – 16 Oelknitz – 17 Teufelsbrücke – 18 Wilczyce – 19
Pekarna – 20 Bycí Skála – 21 Hohlenstein bei Edersheim – 22 Felsställe – 23 Petersfels – 24 Neuchâtel-
Monruz – 25 Goutte Roffat – 26 Rond-du-Barry – 27 Faustin – 28 Lalinde, Gare de Couze, Rochereil – 29
Murat, Le Courbet, Fontalès – 30 Las Caldas. After Bosinski et al. 2001, with additions from Sacchi 1986,
Egloff 1995, Ipiens et al. 2000, Sentis 2003, Pigeaud et al. 2006 and Fiedorczuk et al. 2007.
A Gönnersdorf-style engraving in the parietal art of Grotta Romanelli
104
Bosinski, G. and Schiller, P. 1998: Représentations féminines dans la Grotte du Planchard (Vallon Pont
d’Arc, Ardèche) et les figures féminines du type Gönnersdorf dans l’art pariétal. Bulletin de la Société
Préhistorique de l’Ariège 53, 99-140.
Bosinski, G., d’Errico, F., and Schiller, P. 2001: Die gravierten Frauendarstellungen von Gönnersdorf. Stutt-
gart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Cassoli, P., Fiore, I., and Tagliacozzo, A. 1997: Butchery and exploitation of large mammals in the Epigra-
vettian levels of Grotta Romanelli (Apulia, Italy). Anthropozoologica 25-26, 309-318.
Cassoli, P. F., Gala, M., and Tagliacozzo, A. 2003: La caccia e l’utilizzo alimentare degli uccelli a Grotta
Romanelli durante le fasi finali del Pleistocene. In: Fabbri, P. F., Ingravallo, E., and Mangia, A. (eds.),
Grotta Romanelli nel centenario della sua scoperta (1900-2000). Galatina: Congedo, 91-112.
Compagnoni, B., Curci, A., and Tagliacozzo, A. 1997: Exploitation of the fox in the Epigravettian levels of
Grotta Romanelli (Apulia, Italy). Anthropozoologica 25-26, 319-328.
Delporte, H. 1993: L’image de la femme dans l’art paléolithique. Paris: Picard.
Egloff, M. 1995: Les figurines féminines magdaléniennes de Neuchâtel (Suisse). In: Delporte, H. (ed.), La
Dame de Brassempouy. Actes du colloque de Brassempouy (juillet 1994). ERAUL 74. Liège: Université
de Liège, 71-87.
Fiedorczuk, J., Bratlund, B., Kolstrup, E., and Schild, R. 2007: Late Magdalenian feminine flint plaquettes
from Poland. Antiquity 81, 97-105.
Fiore, I. 2003: Lo sfruttamento dei mammiferi di piccola e media taglia nell’Epigravettiano di Grotta Roma-
nelli. In: Fabbri, P. F., Ingravallo, E., and Mangia, A. (eds.), Grotta Romanelli nel centenario della sua
scoperta (1900-2000). Galatina: Congedo, 137-148.
Fiore, I., Curci, A., and Tagliacozzo, A. 2003: Tecniche di macellazione e sfruttamento dei grandi ungulati
(Bos primigenius, Equus hydruntinus, Cervus elaphus). In: Fabbri, P. F., Ingravallo, E., and Mangia, A.
(eds.) Grotta Romanelli nel centenario della sua scoperta (1900-2000). Galatina: Congedo, 149-168.
Graziosi, P. 1932-1933: Les gravures de la Grotte Romanelli (Puglia-Italie). Essai comparatif. Jahrbuch für
Prähistorische und Ethnographische Kunst 8, 26-36.
Ipiens, A., Luraine, M., and Salgues, T. 2000: L’abri de Lagrave à Faycelles (Lot). Une nouvelle cavité ornée
paléolithique en Quercy: Prise de date. Préhistoire du Sud-Ouest 7, 59-64.
Mussi, M. 2001: Earliest Italy. An overview of the Italian Paleolithic and Mesolithic. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Mussi, M. and Zampetti, D. 1988: Frontiera e confini nel Gravettiano e nell’Epigravettiano dell’Italia. Prime
considerazioni. Scienze dell’Antichità 2, 45-78.
Pigeaud, R., Rodet, J., Devièse, T., Dufayet, C., Trelohan-Chauve, E., Betton, J.-P., and Bonic, P. 2006:
Palaeolithic cave art in West France: an exceptional discovery: the Margot Cave (Mayenne). Antiquity
80, No 309; http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/pigeaud/index.html.
Piperno, M. 1974: L’industria musteriana su calcare di Grotta Romanelli (Otranto). Memorie dell’Istituto
Italiano di Paleontologia Umana 2, 69-90.
Sacchi, D. 1986: Le Paléolithique supérieur du Languedoc occidental et du Roussillon. XXI. Supplément à
Gallia Préhistoire. Paris: CNRS.
Sentis, J. 2003: Analyse des principales figures gravées de la grotte de Pestillac (Montcabrier, Lot). Préhi-
stoire du Sud-Ouest 10, 181-203.
Spinapolice, E. 2008: Technologie lithique et circulation des matières premières au Paléolithique moyen
dans le Salento (Pouilles, Italie méridionale): perspectives comportementales. Thèse de Doctorat, Uni-
versité de Bordeaux I – Università di Roma La Sapienza.
Tagliacozzo, A. 2003: Archeozoologia dei livelli dell’epigravettiano finale di Grotta Romanelli (Castro, Lecce).
Strategie di caccia ed economia di sussistenza. In: Fabbri, P. F., Ingravallo, E., and Mangia, A. (eds.),
Grotta Romanelli nel centenario della sua scoperta (1900-2000). Galatina: Congedo, 169-216.
Vogel, J. C. and Waterbolk, H. T. 1963: Groningen Radiocarbon Dates IV. Radiocarbon 5, 163-202.
Margherita Mussi and Alessandro De Marco
