Italy 01: During Prehistory

Grotta Guattari - Photo courtesy of Egnoka/Wikimedia

The Italy of today is vastly different than the land our early ancestors discovered back in the early Paleolithic Age. The ice ages had left exposed vast tracts of land that are now submerged under the sea. The very first people to settle what is now Italy arrived nearly half a million years ago and were the Neadertals, followed later by our modern human ancestors. With the arrival of the Neolithic Age, Italy became host to several prominent prehistoric peoples such as the Terramare, Villanova and Camunni .

The earliest archeological findings in Italy so far, have dated back more than 50,000 years ago. More than twenty of the earliest sites in Italy are associated with the Neandertal people. Modern man first appears in Italy's archaeological record starting 34,000 years ago in the grotta di Furmane with other sites discovered in Lombardy, Liguria and Sardinia. The most famous of Italy's prehistoric remains are the rock carvings and paintings in Valcomonica and of course, Otzi the Iceman, the mummy of a Copper Age hunter found in a glacier.

Major Prehistoric Italian Civilizations

The Camuni

Burial sculpture, Archeological museum of Valle Camonica, Cividate Camuno - Photo courtesy of Lord_Hidelan/Wikimedia

The origin of the Camuni people is unknown, their name given to them by classical writers. The people from this civilization lived in the Valcomonica (Comonica Valley) of Lombardy during Italy's Iron Age. Although many groups were known to have lived in the same area since Neolithic times, the Camuni lasted until being conquered by Rome in the 1st century AD.

The Camuni civilization reached their peak of power during the Iron Age since there were many early forms of iron mills in the area. The civilization was famous for their rock carvings which had been found in Valcomonica. Almost 30,000 of such carvings dating back to their times had been found in the region. The Camuni also had a unique language whose script has not been deciphered.

The Nuragic Civilization

The Nuragic civilization had existed between the early Bronze Age to the 2nd century AD on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. It is another example of Italy's early peoples surviving well into the age of Rome. The civilization had been named so because of the now famous towers found in the area known as Nuraghe.

These Nuraghe of Sardinia are the largest and best preserved of Europe's megalithic remains. There are many theories as to what these towers were used for, ranging from tombs, fortresses, prisons, temples or even houses. However their actual use by their orignial inhabitants remains a mystery.

Nuraghe, Archeological building in Sardinia (1500 B.C.)

Archaelogical findings have shown that this ancient tribe had been involved with sea trade with the people from other regions in the Mediterranean. This has been asserted through various remains like bronzes depicting elements and animals from Africa, weapons from the Eastern Mediterranean and even ceramics from Mycenae. Some believe that the people from this civilization could also have been the so-called "Sea People" who had attacked Egypt.

Other ruins and traces for which the civilization had been famous for are sacred pit shrines, dedicated to holy water, and gallery graves that look like the tombs of giants. Some Nuragic goods have been found in the Etruscan tombs.

The Terramare Civilization

The Terramare civilization had developed in the Bronze Age during the 17th to 13 century BC in what is now Northern Italy. They were eventually supplanted in this region once the Celts arrived. Their villages were laid out in what looks like a military camp and their houses were built on stilts. They were part of a large European trade network and were known for their bronze castings. Weapons like axes and daggers are some of the most common finds in Terramare sites.

The Villanovan Civilization

In 1853 a necropolis had been discovered in Bologna by Giovanni Gozzadini which dated back to the Iron Age. This had been related to the Villanovan people. The Villanovan civilization are mostly known for their sepultures where the ashes of the deceased used to be stored in cone shaped urns.

Initially, the people from this civilization were working towards animal husbandry and agriculture in quite a simple order. They later on shifted to various complex activities and crafts related to ceramics and metal making. This resulted in profitable trade for Villanovans in ancient times since such crafts were quite rare during that age. The people in the civilization were known for their social status among the other local tribes for their wealth due to trade goods.

The Castellieri Civilization

This civilization had developed during Middle Iron Age in the areas near Istria and expanded as far as Dalmatia in modern Croatia. The Castellieri civilization had existed for more than a thousand years from the 15th century to the 3rd century BC when the Romans arrived in the area. The name of the civilization was given much later due to their characteristic fortified villages.

The first ever settlement of the Castellieri people was built along the coast of Istria and although their exact origin is unknown their archaeological remains are quite similar to the Mycenae people. Today it is believed that the Castellieri were one of the many Indo-European civilizations that arrived in Italy during this time.

During various excavations in the area, more than a hundred such boroughs have been discovered in Giulia, Friuli and Istria. Their fortified settlements were developed on mountains or hills and only in rare cases on the plains. They are characterized by long stretches of walls that are rounded in appearance. Some of the most well known of these ancient castelliere are found in Elleri in Muggia, Leme in Istria, Monte Giove in Trieste and in San Polo near Monfalcone. The largest of its kind had been the one which was found in Nesactium in Istria close to Pula.