A Study of Holocene Environmental Changes and Human Responses

Barbara Voytek

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.