Excavations at the Grotta dell'Edera in the Italian Karst
Barbara Voytek
Grotta dell'Edera is one of over 100 caves that are located in the karst
surrounding Trieste, Italy. Several of the caves have, like Edera, evidence
for human occupation during both Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods
which in this area date to the 6th and 7th millennia BP. The caves of the
karst are found on both sides of the border, and given that the border has
changed over the past 50 years or so, many of the caves have two names,
one Italian and one Slavic - for example, Vlaska jama=Caverna del Pettirosso;
Pecina na Leskovcu=Grotta Azzurra.
The interesting history and cultural traditions
of the karst are matched by the geological setting. Karst is a limestone
terrain characterized by several geological features. Sinkholes or sinks
are common in the landscape, as are small depressions known regionally as
dolinas. Surface water is scarce, but there are underground streams and
rivers draining into the sea. Some of the caves in this region are well-known
for their Pleistocene record. For example, not far from Edera is the well
known cave of Visogliano which has Middle Pleistocene fauna and lithic industries
described by the excavator as 'Clactonian'.
Grotta dell'Edera was first documented in 1969 during a detailed survey
of the caves in this particular area of the karst. In 1974-75, archaeologists
from the Society for the Prehistory and Protohistory of the Friuli-Venezia
Giulia Region excavated three one-meter sectors. The majority of their finds
were chipped stone tools, affiliated with Mesolithic and Epipaleolithic
industries. Although all excavations had been systematically done and incorporated
screening techniques, no attempt had been made to retrieve botanical or
other samples for environmental reconstruction.
In September of 1992, a new joint Italian-US project was launched at Edera,
with the assistance of a grant from the National Science Foundation. Four
square meters were excavated to a depth of approximately 3 meters. In 1993,
with support from the Stahl Endowment Fund, another 50 cm were excavated.
Pollen samples were taken, flotation samples were processed, and all excavated
soil was water-screened with 2 mm screens. The excavations were directed
by Dr. Barbara Voytek, representing the Archaeological Research Facility
at the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor Paolo Biagi, of
the Department of History and Oriental Studies at the University of Venice.
The student archaeologists came from UC Berkeley, the University of Venice,
the University of Leicester, and the University of Belgrade.
A sequence of deposits was uncovered with several undisturbed fireplaces
and cooking floors dating from the Roman to the Early Neolithic periods.
The Early Neolithic pottery is undecorated and poorly fired, while the chipped
stone tools are morphologically the same as types found in the Mesolithic
period of the region and are made of local flint. These cultural materials
were found in association with a fireplace or firepit that was full of marine
shells (Patellae and Trochus). The shells clearly represent the remains
of a meal. Their presence suggests that this level and the feature date
to the early Holocene when the sea level had risen considerably. Edera is
part of a larger regional research project to examine the process or processes
of neolithisation in the Northern Adriatic during the late 8th to early
6th millennia when the earliest evidence for food production is known from
that area. In this respect, the Early Neolithic levels are especially important
to our efforts in exploring the links between the environmental changes
of the Holocene and the economic changes of the Early Neolithic.