Influssi balcanici e genesi del Bronzo antico in Italia meridionale. La koinè Cetina e la facies di Palma Campania

Some findings in Campania, partly also very recent, suggesting affinity with the facies of Cetina, solicit a reflection on the problems relating to the moment of transition between the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age. The distribution map of the sites belonging to the Cetina culture on the Italian territory, shows how they attest primarily in the eastern half of the peninsula, while respecting the barrier/border function exercised by the Apennines. This configuration can be seen for northern and central Italy. Although there are no physical barriers blocking a possible transition of the Cetina culture remains in northern Italy, they have been attested in the caves of the Carso near Trieste and in the plains of Friuli, however not beyond the west-end side the Venetian region, located along the east-west path of the river Bacchiglione and, through the Madarosa mountain, entering into the Trentino region (Montesei di Serso). The Apennine chain is the core area for the sites with Cetina elements located between Emilia Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo (it is noteworthly that the sites are found inland but always on the river paths linking to the coast). The Gargano area, with adjacent Fortore, Cervaro and Ofanto riverbeds, exhibits a frequent and substantial amount of findings, considering the presence of two strategic coastal sites, Torre Mileto and Rodi Garganico, in perfect match with the “bridgehead” constituted by the islands Tremiti-Palagruza in the Dalmatian archipelagos which play a vital role for the dissemination of the facies of Cetina culture, thus explaining the abundance of remains in the Puglia region, especially in the central part where other remains are recorded, including the famous t.3 of Laterza. New discoveries in Campania show how the Apennine border is crossed right at the joint-Sele-Tanagro Ofanto, appearing in the Caggiano area and in the northern part of the Vallo di Diano, in Fossa Aimone (Atena Lucana), and finally appearing on the Tyrrhenian Sea in Oliva Torricella (near Salerno) and Agerola (Na) on the Sorrento Peninsula leading to north, in the Campanian Plain at Acerra (Na) in località Gaudello and Gricignano (Ce). The two coastal sites in Campania, Oliva Torricella and Agerola, show a probable relation with the facies of Zungri, located on the promontory of Tropea and other sites located on the Ionian coast of Calabria-Lucania, where we find a Cetina jug from the coastal site of Cariati. A final consideration concerns the C14 dating evidences available for the facies of Cetina in Dalmatia and in the Carso region, bearing in mind the differences of the internal chronologies corresponding to different phases of the culture, they can be compared with the dating evidences relating to the Eneolithic facies of Laterza and those belonging to the facies of Palma Campania (Early Broze age). It is possible to argue that the Cetina culture in Campania represents an intermediate phase between the Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age. In this regard the pottery from Oliva Torricella can be located in an earlier phase of Palma Campania. There would seem to be a continuation with the typical Cetina decoration characterized by small opposite carved triangles which survives in Campania on some shapes typical to the facies of Palma Campania.