From Cave to Dolmen

Bringing together the scientific contributions of a wide panel of Sicilian and mainland Italian specialists in prehistory, this book focuses on the Sciacca region and its landscape which is extraordinarily rich in natural geological phenomena and associated archaeological activity.

This book brings together the scientific contributions of a wide panel of Sicilian and mainland Italian specialists in prehistory. Taking inspiration from a conference organised by the Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali e Ambientali of Agrigento and by the municipal council of Sciacca in November 2011, the decision was taken to broaden and deepen some of the main themes discussed on that occasion. Therefore this book focuses on the Sciacca region and its landscape which is extraordinarily rich in natural geological phenomena and associated archaeological activity, for example the Grotta del Kronio and the numerous dolmens present nearby. This volume seeks to explore the various aspects – habitational or ritual – of the prehistoric use of the numerous caves present in the region and to analyse the many features of the island’s megalithic architecture. The text includes an historical review of the processes of discovery of the archaeological evidence, also an account of the current research projects and research activities.

From cave to dolmen. Ritual and symbolic aspects in the prehistory between Sciacca, Sicily and the central Mediterranean. The reasons for a volume (Domenica Gulli)
Sciacca terra di prodigy (Ernesto De Miro)
The prehistory of Sciacca between old acquisitions and new research (Domenica Gulli)
The 'Progetto Kronio': history and problems of an extreme exploration in an intact archaeological deposit (Giovanni Badino - Louis Torelli)
The stratigraphic sequence of the Grotta del Kronio and the neolithization of Sicily and Calabria A brief chrono-cultural summary (Vincenzo Tine)
The cultic presence at Stufe di S. Calogero complex: the historical levels (Donatella Pian)
Notes on naturalistic archaeological documentaries: the example of Monte Kronio (Tullio Bernabei)
Ad Aquas. Historical sources and archaeological evidence about Sciacca's thermalism in antiquity (Valentina Caminneci)
I luoghi degli zolfi selinuntini Architettura, miti e simboli delle 'macchine naturali' di Monte San Calogero a Sciacca (Bernardo Agro - Antonino Frenda)
Cracks, crevices and caves in the Serraferlicchio hill (Ornella Adamo - Domenica Gulli)
The meanings of caves in the prehistory and protohistory of the Agrigento territory (Domenica Gulli)
Forme di popolamento nella Sicilia centro-meridionale durante l'eneolitico (Rosalba Panvini)
The social significance of caves and rock-shelters in the prehistory of the Erei (Central Sicily) archaeological investigations at the Riparo 1 di Contrada San Tommaso near Enna (Enrico Giannitrapani)
The ritual use of caves in Sicily between the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic burial and figurative practices of the hunter-gatherers (Domenico Lo Vetro - Fabio Martini - Zelia Di Giuseppe)
Contestualizzazione delle grotte nell'archeologia del paesaggio della provincia di Palermo prospettive di ricerca (Giuseppina Battaglia)
Caves from the Tyrrhenian side of the Messina province (North-Eastern Sicily) (Maria Clara Martinelli - Gabriella Mangano)
The Grotta del Vecchiuzzo (Petralia Sottana, Palermo): a multi-purpose cave in a karst system (Massimo Cultraro)
Caves and environment: the case of Etna (Francesco Privitera)
Child burials in the Grotta Petralia at Catania (Orazio Palio)
The Sanctuary of the Palikoi at Rocchicella (Mineo): the Copper Age structures and the 'boiling waters' phenomenon (Laura Maniscalco)
Exploring underground paths. Caves and human landscape in the Siracusa district during prehistory (Anita Crispino- Massimo Cultraro)
Strategie insediative nella Sicilia sud-orientale: le grotte dei Monti Iblei nella preistoria (Dalma Cultrera)
Grotte sepolcrali dell'area iblea fra il Neolitico e l'eta del bronzo (Lorenzo Guzzardi)
Il fenomeno del Bicchiere Campaniforme in rapporto alle culture della Sicilia centro-occidentale (Primo Veneroso)
Apporti megalitici nelle architetture funerarie e abitative della preistoria siciliana (Sebastiano Tusa)
L'enigma del muro megalitico e dello pseudo-dolmen di Mura Pregne (Stefano Vassallo)
Old and new dolmens for the Hyblean elites of the Castelluccio culture? (Giovanni Di Stefano)
'Ex Occidente lux': considerazioni sull'antica eta del bronzo nel Mediterraneo central (Enrico Procelli)
L'occupazione delle grotte in epoca preistorica e protostorica nell'Italia centro-settentrionale (Daniela Cocchi Genick)
Lighting up the dark. The role of Ghar Mirdum in Maltese prehistory (Davide Tanasi)

• Edited by Domenica Gullì