Use-wear and Technological Analysis of the Knapped Lithic Assemblage from the Early Bronze Age Hut of Calicantone (Sicily, Italy)

ABSTRACT

The archaeological site of Calicantone (Sicily, Italy) is known since the 1970s for its necropolis. In 2012, after a survey, archaeologists found close to the necropolis a bi-apsidal hut. The use-wear and technological analysis of the knapped lithic assemblage revealed the presence of artefacts crafted by specialists with advanced technical skills alongside expedient flake tool production. Some technological solutions, such as an obliquely-hafted long pressure-lever blade used as a sickle, are unprecedented for Sicily but find earlier comparisons in the east and north-west Mediterranean. This fact raises questions about the neolithisation in Sicily. Other solutions are novel and shed new light on the function of a particular tool typology, such as the bifacial cleaver used to scrape hides. Furthermore, the lithic assemblage exhibited peculiarities, such as the single functionality of the tools and their brief use, which could be correlated with communal funerary functions performed within the hut.

KEYWORDS:

• Use-wear
• lithic technology
• Early Bronze Age
• lever pressure
• long blade
• Calicantone

Acknowledgement

This paper is written in memory of Anna Maria Sammito. We want to thank the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage of Ragusa for having offered us their collaboration and permission to carry out this study. The University of Catania, and the Department of Humanistic Science (DISUM), for their support.

CRediT Author Statement

Sferrazza Paolo: conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, writing original draft, visualization.

Pietro Militello: conceptualization, resources, writing review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Geolocation Information

36.8346534027282, 14.842485081656008.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Social Fund PhD scholarship of the University of Catania (DISUM department) under Grant 2014.IT.05. SFOP.014/3/10.5/9.2.02/0013.

Notes on contributors

Paolo Sferrazza

Paolo Sferrazza is a post-doc researcher at the Prehistoric Museum of Halle (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany). He specialises in lithic technology and use-wear analysis. His interests revolve around the lithic assemblages from late prehistory (from Mesolithic on), and he has participated in the study of various contexts such as Calicantone and Calaforno in Sicily (Italy), Schiepzig, Bad Durrenberg and Pommelte (Germany). He is also focused on developing and learning quantitative methods applied to use-wear analysis.

Pietro Militello

Pietro Militello is a full professor in prehistoric archaeology at the University of Catania. His interests revolve around the Aegean, particularly Crete, prehistoric Sicily, and public archaeology. He is the director of the excavation at the palace of Festos (Crete, Greece). In Sicily, he co-directed excavations in Calicantone and Calaforno (with the Ragusa Superintendence), in Pantalica (with the Siracusa Superintendence), and in Molona (Caltagirone) (with the Catania Superintendence).