The Final Phases of the Palaeolithic Period and Prehistoric Art

_{edited by Medica Assunta Orlando}

The Late Palaeolithic Era began 45 thousand years ago, in the midst of Wurmian glaciations, with the appearance of modern man, or Homo sapiens. In the Salento area he established important shelters sites in natural caves from which he could dominate broad areas of plains, such as the caves near Uluzzo Bay and Grotta Romanelli near Castro, using them when the climate permitted access into the caves.

Grotta Romanelli is the first cave in Italy to document the industry of the Late Palaeolithic Era; the study of this cave is still of paramount importance today in the reconstruction of environmental, wildlife and human environments during the last phases of the Palaeolithic Era.

Its thick layer includes two different anthropic horizons, which are clearly separated by a stalagmite horizon. The oldest anthropic horizon, known as “red earth”, belongs to the Mid Palaeolithic, while the most recent, “brown earth” refers to the Wurmian cataglacial phase, and therefore to the last stages of the Late Palaeolithic Era which is characterized by the industrial horizons of the Epigravettian era (15-10 thousand years).

During this period Man replaced his stone tools with others much more reduced in size, which for this reason were defined is microlithic or romanellian works. These were needle-pointed instruments, backhand tools and above all small and mainly circular scrapers, rarely more than one centimetre in length, but whose production indicates the degree of skill achieved by Man in splitting stones. Their dimensions were appropriate for new hunting strategies, basically for small and middle size animals, rather than large animals such as elephants, rhinoceroses, wild oxen that in early times had populated the broad coastal plains, which emerged in full during the ice age and which opened just below the cave.

With the first appearance of the great thaw, this plain gradually became occupied by the sea with long lagoons, rich in bird life: cranes, arctic pigeons, penguins from the north, etc. which were more easily captured using small and tiny hunting instruments.

The hours spent by man in the cave were dedicated to other activities, among which "artistic" activities stand out. Engravings, graffiti and pictures on the walls of the caves (cave drawings) on stone, pebbles and statues made of bone or rock (decorative art) mark the Late Palaeolithic Era as the start of one of the most unique inclinations of Man: communication through representations.

Once again, Grotta Romanelli was the first place in Italy to show artistic remains dating back to this period. Its walls were covered with semi-naturalistic motifs, such as a large animal, like a buffalo, pierced by spears and a man with a bow ready to strike; as well as abstract drawings made of oval engravings and thick lines of graffiti, also found on stones and pebbles. The clear difference in style and technique between these forms and those expressed in the caves of France and Spain have led to thoughts of a different “artistic style” which development mainly in Italy and on the Mediterranean coast: hence its name, Mediterranean Art.

The small female statues extend beyond this name, as they are found in largest areas of the two above-mentioned artistic regions. Made of bone, ivory and stone, they have indeed been documented all over Europe. Although there are some variations of type, the emphasis is always on the female figure, with reference to motherhood. It is not by chance that they are called “Palaeolithic Venus figurines”. In Italy alone, 19 have been found, two of which in the Salento area, in Grotta delle Veneri in Parabita.

Further studies:

_{M. A Orlando, L'Alca. Città di Maglie. Guida al Museo Civico di Paleontologia e Paletnologia, Maglie, 2003.}

_{F. Fabbri, E. Ingravallo, A. Mangia (a cura di), Grotta Romanelli nel centenario della sua scoperta (1900-2000), Atti Convegno, Castro 6-7 ottobre 2000, Galatina, 2003.}

_{R. Grifoni-Cremonesi, Grotta delle Veneri. Le veneri, in E. Ingravallo (a cura di), La Passione delle Origini. Giuliano Cremonesi e la ricerca preistorica nel Salento, Catalogo Mostra, Lecce, 1997.}

_{P. Graziosi, L'arte preistorica in Italia, Firenze, 1973.}

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The Final Phases of the Palaeolithic Period and Prehistoric Art