Similarities and Differences Between Italian Early Neolithic Groups: The Role of Personal Ornaments

Roberto Micheli

doi:10.1515/opar-2020-0194

Abstract

Abstract The Early Neolithic is an interesting period for observing the changes that took place in material culture and also in the ideology that influenced the production of personal ornaments. Objects of adornment are useful for understanding how past peoples differentiated themselves on the basis of gender, age, or group affiliation. The Early Neolithic in Italy developed throughout the entire sixth millennium cal. BC, during which the first farming communities settled in the Italian peninsula and islands, with diverse Neolithic groups related to wider-ranging cultural spheres. Early Neolithic ornaments were mainly ring bracelets, manufactured beads and perforated shells or teeth. Through their choice and the raw materials used for their production, individuals and groups emphasized their diverse identities based on shared traditions. Focusing on some of the more significant sites, this article considers similarities and differences in forms and raw materials employed for ornaments by different Early Neolithic groups and how these could have been useful attributes to emphasise identities and in particular the membership of particular social or cultural groups.

Highlights

The Neolithic is an interesting period for observing the changes that affected the material culture and the ideology of prehistoric groups
Additional disc and arched or semilunate pendants of uncertain cultural attribution were discovered in the course of the 19th century investigations of the cave’s Neolithic deposits (Bernabò Brea, 1946, 1956; Borrello, 2005; Taborin, 1974). Since these ornaments have no parallels from other Impressed-Cardial Ware contexts, with the exception of a single isolated find from Passo di Corvo in Apulia (Tiné, 1983), they demonstrate that a local ornament tradition originated within this Early Neolithic group in western Liguria
Ornaments do not seem to have been significant in death for Impressed Ware peoples in Italian territory. This situation differs from that documented in southern France, where Early Neolithic burials contain grave goods and personal ornaments including beads, pendants, and bracelets made from shells, bone, and stone (Beyneix, 1997; Zemour, 2011; Zemour et al, 2017)

Summary

Introduction

The Neolithic is an interesting period for observing the changes that affected the material culture and the ideology of prehistoric groups. The development of Impressed Ware was initially subdivided into three main phases (early, advanced and recent), until it merged with the Neolithic cultures with graffito and painted pottery (Cipolloni Sampò, 1992; Tiné, 1983, 2002). The formation of Po Plain Neolithic groups can be explained taking into account multiple factors and the interaction of different peoples and traditions, in which even a late Mesolithic component played some roles, its real influence has recently been debated (Biagi, 2003; Binder, 2000; Pearce, 2013; Pessina & Tiné, 2008; Pessina, 1998; Starnini et al, 2018). The Catignano group in Abruzzo marks the transition from late Impressed Ware features to those of painted figulina pottery (Radi & Tozzi, 2009) In this multifaceted picture, personal ornaments for bodily adornment show a mainly twofold division. The following observations are based on a descriptive comparison of the assemblages, so as to offer some insights on personal ornaments and the categorization of body adornments in Early Neolithic groups

Adorning the Body to Attract Social Attention

Personal Ornaments in the Impressed-Cardial Ware Complex

Mortuary Practices and Personal Ornaments During the Early Neolithic

Personal Ornaments in the Early Neolithic

Conclusion