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197 18 Thin Sections (Notes on an Eastern Calabrian Assemblage in the Stentinello Tradition) Recent excavations (1987, 1990) at the site of Capo Alfiere on the eastern seaboard of Calabria, Italy, have brought to light a stratified deposit of Middle Neolithic date (5th millennium BC).1 Petrographic analysis by thin-section and XRD mineralogical analysis have been used to discern and contrast local production of impressed finewares in the Stentinello tradition with painted finewares using a “pseudo-figulina” paste which appear to have been imported to the site. In addition, changes in the style of impressed Stentinello -style decoration at the site seem to have been accompanied by minor modifications to paste treatment in local products over time. Introduction This paper looks at the ceramics from excavations at the Neolithic site of Capo Alfiere. This is on the eastern seaboard of Calabria, just south of the harbour town of Crotone. Excavations in 1987 and 1990 by a team from the University of Texas at Austin have revealed a Neolithic site with preserved stratification and ceramics in the Middle Neolithic, Stentinello, tradition. This is the first large sample of such pottery from an excavated context in this part of Calabria. Being a stratified deposit, with a series of radiocarbon dates, one can begin a preliminary distinction of the development of the local Stentinello style decoration over the course of the site’s occupation in the 5th millennium; and this can include consideration of technological as well as stylistic differences. Identification and technological distinction of pottery types that might be exotic or imported to the site has also been attempted. Stentinello-style Ceramics Stentinello-style Neolithic ceramics were first distinguished by Orsi following excavations at the type site 1This chapter is republished from Morter and Iceland 1995, by kind permission of Techna Monographs in Materials and Society and Dr. Harry Iceland. (JR) at the close of the last century.2 Distribution of these ceramics is restricted to Sicily, Malta, the Eolian Islands and the southern half of Calabria.3 The distinctive feature of this Middle Neolithic or 5th millennium pottery is that the decoration on the finer vessels is in the form of elaborate impressed and incised designs. This contrasts with the (now) more well documented finewares of most of the rest of the southern part of the Italian peninsula where painted decoration is the norm, and any impressed decoration is more crudely done. As such, the Stentinello sphere represents an interestingly bounded area of distribution, and there has been some discussion over the extent to which painted ceramics co-occurring at sites with Stentinello style pottery are local products or imports,which if resolved has interesting implications for the ways in which dramatically different styles of finewares might have been produced and circulated across Neolithic communities.4 The recognition of Stentinello material in Calabria has been a relatively recent phenomenon.5 To date, the most extensive work has been that of Ammerman , concentrated particularly in west-central Calabria, who has documented extensive Stentinello activity in that area. The site at Capo Alfiere was first recorded in 1973 by Salvatori after it was revealed by agricultural work. The excavations there by a team from Texas were stimulated by the likelihood of preserved stratified deposits and the problems of site erosion stimulated by nearby agriculture and tourism. These excavations represent the first major work at a site of this period in this area of Calabria.6 2 Orsi 1890. 3 See most recently Ammerman 1983, 29; Marino, 1983. 4 Malone 1985; Holloway 1991. 5 Ammerman 1985; Costabile 1972, 5; Hodder and Malone 1984, 121; Marino 1983; Salvatori 1973, 29. 6 The excavations were directed by Morter, while the overall director of the ICA project is Professor Joseph C. Carter. Considerable gratitude is owed to the Superintendent of Antiquities for Calabria, Dottoressa Elena Lattanzi, and the Ispettore for the Crotone area, Dottore Roberto Spadea, for their encouragement and support of the work. Jon Morter and Harry Iceland 198 Thin Sections The Site of Capo Alfiere Capo Alfiere is a coastal promontory about eight kilometers south of Crotone on the eastern coast of Calabria . It is on the south side of the major headland of Capo Colonna. The Neolithic site sits on the tip of the promontory; it and the cliff below have been subject to active erosion for an indeterminate length of time. To date, the excavations have opened about 100 square meters, mostly in one contiguous area. After the 1990 season, two strata...

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