Grotta dell'Addaura
| Addaura grottoes | |
|---|---|
 The graffiti of Addaura | |
| Location | Palermo, Sicily |
| Coordinates | 38°11′15″N 13°21′8″E / 38.18750°N 13.35222°E |
| Elevation | 70 metres (230 ft) |
| Discovery | 1952 |
The Addaura cave (Italian: Grotta dell'Addaura) is a complex of three natural grottoes located on the northeast side of Mount Pellegrino in Palermo, Sicily, Southern Italy. The importance of the complex is due to the presence of cave-wall engravings dated to the late Epigravettian (contemporaneous with the Magdalenian) and the Mesolithic.
On the side of Mount Pellegrino, overlooking Palermo, to the southeast of
History
The discovery of the graffiti of Addaura was recent and came about quite casually. The three grottoes that make up the Addaura complex in the massif of Mount Pellegrino had already been studied by paleoanthropologists, as the skeleton of a dwarf elephant had been discovered there.
It was after the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily and their arrival in Palermo that the Allies, in search of a suitable site, decided to use the grottoes for storing munitions and explosives. The accidental explosion of the arsenal at the end of the war brought about the crumbling of the main grotto walls and the collapse of a rock wall, bringing to light the graffiti covered with the patina of time. The graffiti were carefully studied by the archaeologist Jole Bovio Marconi, whose studies were published in 1953.[2]
Since 1997 the Addaura grottoes are no longer open for visitors; the site was closed because of the danger of falling boulders, due to the instability of the rocky ridge above. As of 2012[update], the necessary measures to reinforce the ridge have not been implemented, and the site is in a state of decay from vandalism.[3][4]
The rock carvings
In one of the grottoes is found a vast and rich complex of carvings, dated between the late
The Addaura carvings represent a figurative cycle of the greatest interest because of the unusual attention dedicated to representation of the surrounding scenery, an extreme case in all of paleolithic art. The treatment of the human figure, even within the context of a stylistic trend present in the Mediterranean basin, especially on Levanzo (Grotta del Genovese), and in the Franco-Cantabrian region, and even though using the same techniques, is something absolutely new as to stylistic forms and spirit in the Addaura grotto, compared to the other finds.
References
- ^ Brincat, J.M. (1995). Al-Himyari's Account and Its Linguistic Implications (PDF). Valletta: Said International. p. 28. Retrieved June 1, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Tusa, Vincenzo. "Biography of Jole Bovio Marconi". Breaking Ground. Brown University. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Battaglia, Pippo (2008-03-05). "Reopen the Addaura caves". La repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Ferrante, Valeria (2011-11-13). "In the abandonment of the Addaura graffiti, spray paint and refuse in the prehistoric site". La repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ISBN 1-57863-281-1. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
They encircle two other bird-masked men, both with erect penises. Parallel lines connect the neck to the buttocks and ankles and the penis of one man to the buttocks of another. Thought by most scholars to be a sacrificial rite in which the parallel lines represent bindings, other interpreters see this as a homoerotic initiatory rite, with the lines possibly representing male energy, or even ejaculation.
- ^ "Queer heritage: a timeline". Archived from the original on 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ^ Purpura, Giovanni (2010). "Addaura". In Saetta, Toni; Gallo, Silvio (eds.). Palermo e il mare: itinerario della memoria (.pdf). Palermo: Qanat Edizioni. pp. 174–179. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
Bibliography
- Bernabò Brea, Luigi (1966). Sicily Before the Greeks (Rev. ed.). New York: Praeger.
- Mannino, Marcello A.; et al. (November 2011). "Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence in Mediterranean coastal environments: an isotopic study of the diets of the earliest directly-dated humans from Sicily". Journal of Archaeological Science. 38 (11): 3094–3100. hdl:10447/61514.
- Spoto, Salvatore (2002). Sicilia antica: usi, costumi e personaggi dalla preistoria alla società greca, nell'isola culla della civiltà europea (in Italian). Rome: Newton & Compton. ISBN 88-8289-750-8.
External links
- Pictures of the Addaura grottoes[permanent dead link] (in Italian)
- Reference site (in Italian)
- Illustration of rock carvings
