Featured: Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Random Image


G1 Noordlaren

Rocks & Rows, Sailing Routes across the Atlantic and the Copper Trade

Rocks & Rows, Sailing Routes across the Atlantic and the Copper Trade

Who's Online

There are currently, 349 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Monte Bubbonia - Chambered Tomb in Italy in Sicily (Sicilia)

Submitted by Salvatore on Tuesday, 07 December 2010  Page Views: 10901

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Monte Bubbonia
Country: Italy Region: Sicily (Sicilia) Type: Chambered Tomb
Nearest Town: Gela  Nearest Village: Piazza Armerina
Latitude: 37.251833N  Longitude: 14.342639E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
3

Internal Links:
External Links:

Monte Bubbonia
Monte Bubbonia submitted by Salvatore : Monte Bubbonia dolmen (Vote or comment on this photo)
Travelling from Gela to Catania, taking the road SS. 117, follow the directions to Piazza Armerina; nine kilometres on there is a cross-roads and to the left the old road to Mazzarino. The road sign shows Itinerarium Antoninii, an old road map from the time of the Roman Empire, documented importance of which is pointed out on an opportune tourist chart. The entrance to the mount is just three kilometres further on.

Salvatore Piccolo writes: "The Sicilian dolmen phenomenon has started to arouse interest among scholars, so much so that many reports, initially given little attention, are being reconsidered in the light of a new forma mentis."

The richest source of documentation seems to be accredited to the south-east, while the west, as known to date, has only two presumably megalithic constructions: the first in Sciacca, in the district of San Giorgio, the femmina morta site, and the other in the archaeological area of Mura Pregne, north-east of Monte San Mauro between Termini Imerese and Sciara [Ref 1]. We shall begin with Monte Bubbonia, a majestic hill 595metres high to the north of the city of Gela.

The geological conformation of the hill is quite recent, except for the lower chalk strata formed in the Miocene Age, 23 million to 5 million years ago. Around 700,000 years ago, the lower Pleistocene Age, it was covered by sea silt, quartz sand, quartzarenite and, lastly, by a thin layer of red sand that makes the location rather crumbly and dusty.

At the beginning of the 1900s, Paolo Orsi, led the first excavations [2]. He found an indigenous centre on the summit which had been colonised by Gela in the 6th century B.C. Piero Orlandini recognised this as the ancient Sican city of Maktorion mentioned by Herodotus, the Greek historian par excellence [3]. Paolo Orsi was the first to identify the dolmen we are about to deal [4] with, Cassataro [5] recorded it as did Pancucci [6] successively.

The monument is to be found some three quarters of the way along a track which runs along the eastern side of the hill and goes up towards the acropolis. It is in a position that notably overhangs an area of flat land that is surrounded by hills. Made of colossal splinters of rock, with no significant modifications, the dolmen is rectangular in shape. The chalk slab which acts as the cover, the back being wedged into the natural slope of the ground, rests on two parallel megaliths forming a chamber of about 2.60 square metres. The upright block on the right was shorter from the beginning and was raised with overlapping makeshift quoins, or wedges. The pits formed by the rudimentary wedges were filled with small stones.

The back wall was created by fitting together two polygon-shaped slabs. The slab on the right still today overlaps the cover, evidently protecting it from landslides; the other polygon slab, which was lower, had small irregular-shaped stones added to it. Frequent landslides have resulted in a visible tilting to the right, causing a narrowing of the initial part of the chamber. The entrance, opening north- east, follows the same orientation of the other Sicilian dolmens.
A little lower down, following the natural inclination of the hillside, lies what was probably the closure slab. The dimensions, which correspond quite well to the main structure, indicate it could really be the closure hatch as it matches the two uprights.

The original architectural idea was without doubt a small chamber tomb, also to be found in Sardinia and in Apulia, with the back wall placed against the curve of the hillside to facilitate burial, as was the custom for this type of architecture. Soil and stony overlays are to be seen wherever these are found.

Even though the hill had undergone exhaustive works of reforestation, which will have deprived us of many clues, we do not hasten to connect the monument in question to the already examined prehistoric settlements on this north-eastern side of the hill. The latter date from the early Bronze Age to that of Pantalica III and IV, around 850 – 700 B.C. [7]

At the time of the exploration, Paolo Orsi came across an elegant boccaletto (a small tankard) with faint traces of decoration [8], leading him to date the sepulchre back to the VII century B.C. We must not however forget that in the past, especially among people of less affluent classes, it was normal to use previously utilised objects. Hence, finding chronologically previous objects inside our artefact we must not be led astray. Instead, they will be defined in the light of further Sicilian dolmen research and study. It must be mentioned that Paolo Orsi, born in Rovereto, Trentino, had already collected signs in megalithic slabs he found in 1898 at Monte Racello, near the town of Comiso, Ragusa.

Technical data sheet of the monument

Overall length of the monument 2.20 metres
Overall width of the monument 1.20 metres
Length of the right lateral 1.25 metres
Length of left lateral 2.10 metres
Tilt of right lateral 20° to the left
Width of right slab (back wall) 0.78 metres
Height of right slab (back wall) 1.00 metres
Width of left slab (back wall) 0.60 metres
Height of left slab (back wall) 0.52 metres
Thickness of chalk mass 0.35 metres
Length of closure hatch 1.30 metres
Width of closure hatch 0.69 metres
Thickness of closure slab 0.40 metres
Height of monument 1.40 metres
Orientation (opening) 24° NE

Geographical map references I.G.M. (Italian Military Geographic Institute) 1/25.000-F° 272 I N.E.

References:
1 S. Spadafora, I dolmen di Mura Pregne nel quadro del fenomeno dolmenico Europeo, in Graduation thesis of the “Scuola Universitaria diretta a fini speciali per Op. Tecnico-Scientifici per i beni Culturali ed Ambientali”, settore Archeologico, Palermo University, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Agrigento, Academic Year 1996-1997, , pp. 48-65.
2 P.Orsi ( by D. Pancucci), Esplorazioni a Monte Bubbonia dal 1904 al 1906, in «Archivio Storico Siracusano» n.s. II (1972-73).
3 Herodotus, VII, 153, 2. Cf. P. Orlandini, Omphake and Maktorion, in Kokalos VII (1961), pp. 165 on.
4 P.Orsi, ibidem, p.46.
5 «Sicilia Archeologica», 52-53, XVI year, 1983, p.71.
6 D.Pancucci/M.C.Naro, Monte Bubbonia, compagne di scavo, 1905, 1906, 1955, in «Collana di monografie pubblicate dal Centro di studi storico-archeologici “Biagio Pace”», 1992, p. 151.
7 Cf. D. Pancucci, Monte Bubbonia, in «Sicilia Archeologica», N° 23, December 1973, p. 55 [Pantalica, clinging to the inland highlands of the Province of Syracuse, dominating the valley of the River Anapo, between the cities of Sortino and Ferla, gives its name to the final phase of the Sicilian Bronze Age. This era is subdivided in four periods between 1250 B.C. and 700 B.C. circa].
8 P. Orsi, ibidem.

This article continues with a look at Cava dei Servi Dolmen.

Information from Salvatore Piccolo's book,
"Antiche Pietre. La cultura dei dolmen nella preistoria della Sicilia sud-orientale",
Morrone editore, Siracusa 2007.


Note: Archaeologist Salvatore Piccolo takes a close look at four important dolmens in Sicily in this exclusive feature article for us
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Monte Bubbonia
Monte Bubbonia submitted by Salvatore : Locations of major dolmens in Sicily. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 12.6km N 357° Villa imperiale del Casale* Ancient Palace
 22.3km SSW 200° Archaeological museum (Gela)* Museum
 22.3km SSW 207° Bagni Greci* Ancient Village or Settlement
 22.6km SSW 208° Capo Soprano* Hillfort
 23.2km NNE 31° Morgantina* Ancient Village or Settlement
 43.2km SSE 168° Kamarina Ancient Village or Settlement
 47.6km ESE 108° The neviere of Buccheri* Artificial Mound
 53.5km ESE 114° Akrai* Ancient Village or Settlement
 54.0km ESE 114° Santoni* Carving
 56.4km SE 130° Cava dei Servi* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 61.1km ESE 102° Pantalica Rock Cut Tombs* Rock Cut Tomb
 61.5km ESE 121° Castelluccio Necropolis Rock Cut Tomb
 61.9km ESE 102° The Anaktoron Palace* Ancient Palace
 62.4km SE 135° Cava D'Ispica* Rock Cut Tomb
 64.8km SE 130° Cava Lazzaro* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 65.6km W 275° Temple of Demeter* Ancient Temple
 65.9km W 274° Temple of Juno* Ancient Temple
 66.5km W 274° Temple of Concordia* Ancient Temple
 66.7km W 274° Tomb of Theron* Ancient Temple
 66.7km W 273° Temple of Asclepius* Ancient Temple
 66.9km W 274° Valley of the Temples* Ancient Temple
 66.9km W 274° Ekklesiasterion of Phalaris* Ancient Village or Settlement
 67.3km W 274° Temple of Jupiter (Sicily)* Ancient Temple
 67.5km W 274° Temple of Dioscuri* Ancient Temple
 67.7km W 274° Temple of Vulcanus* Ancient Temple
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Kieselwitz Grabhuegelfeld

Petroglifos de las Tinajas >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Lines on the Landscape, Circles from the Sky: Monuments of Neolithic Orkney

Lines on the Landscape, Circles from the Sky: Monuments of Neolithic Orkney

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Monte Bubbonia" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily by by Salvatore Piccolo by Andy B on Tuesday, 11 October 2016
(User Info | Send a Message)
Details of Salvatore's book:
Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily
by Salvatore Piccolo (Author), Jean Woodhouse (Compiler), with an introduction by Timothy Darvill

A richly illustrated guide to the dolmen culture of Prehistoric Sicily. Scattered around the world in woods and on mountains dolmens have posed a mystery for hundreds of years. The interpretations of these mysteries have been extremely imaginative over the centuries. But in Sicily it has only been in recent years that the presence of numerous megaliths has been revealed. This manual provides a comprehensive guide to the dolmens of Sicily and the artefacts as well as historical and cultural associations of these prehistoric sites. With 26 black and white illustrations

Available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.