Early Humans in Schio

Last week I went on a small trek to visit the underground caves of Bocca Lorenza near Schio. In early 20th century, objects from late neolithic period were found in those caves.

This post is a result of that visit and relates to archaeological objects found in 3 areas close to Schio - Bocca Lorenza underground caves, Monte Magre and the summit of Monte Summano.

After the end of the last ice-age and the beginning of Holocene some 10-12 thousand years ago, slowly humans must have expanded to the northern mountainous areas of Italy. 

Guido Cibin's Archaeological Collection

In early 20th century, an amateur archaeologist from Schio, Guido Cibin (1860-1947) was responsible for finding and safe-guarding most of those archaeological objects in this area. The map below shows the different locations around Schio, from where Cibin collected archaeological materials. 

Guido Cibin  was instrumental in setting up the first archaeological museum in Schio in the newly built Technical school on the Castello hill in 1912. There are around 4 thousand archaeological objects of the the Cibin-Gori collection, including Roman coins and Greek vases. Some of these will hopefully, soon be displayed at the new city museum being created in Palazzo Fogazzaro in Schio.

Let me start with the archeological finds from Bocca Lorenzo underground caves.

Bocca Lorenza Caves in Santorso

In late 1908, Guido Cebin together with Don Rizieri Zanocco from Piovene, they explored these caves located on the southern flank of Summano mountain. Among the objects they found were hundreds of neolithic tools made from flint-stones, and many prehistoric decorative bones. The materials collected cover a 7000 years period, starting from late Neolithic period (around 6000 years ago) till about a 1000 years ago.

The flint-stones found here are not local and thus it means that persons living here were in contact with other groups and probably had some kind of commercial exchange system. Image below shows some objects from neolithic period found here.

Cibin also found many vases from late iron age 4th century BCE, as well as a bronze axe-piece. These vases are hand-modelled and they have different decorations such as fish-spine, triangles, zig-zag lines and lines of dots. The area is full of animal bones, including deer, wild goats and pigs, rabbits, and buffaloes, they had enough wild animals to hunt in this area. Some vases from Bocca Lorenza are shown in the image below.

In late neolithic period it was used as shelter by shepherds. During the copper age (3300-2300 BCE), it was also used for some burials. During the bronze age (2300-900 BCE), groups of persons were living here. During the second iron age, around 4-5th centuries BCE, shepherds again started using it, while some feel that it was also used for religious and ritual use. Only a few Roman period objects have been found here.

The structure is composed of a vestibule and a series of deeper underground caves, as shown in the image below from the publication, "Grotte d'Italia".

Monte Magre in Schio

In 1912, a person called Giovanni Piccoli was excavating a cave for limestone on Monte Magre near the ruins of an old castle. He found some archaeological objects including deer-antlers with incision-signs. He informed the authorities and thus, Monte Magre also became an area of archaeological interest.

The archaeological objects found in Monte Magre start from the bronze age (2300 - 900 BCE) and go on till medieval period. Most interesting findings are from late iron age, 4th to 2nd century BCE, when there was an important shrine in this area. Parts of a stone building where the shrine was located can still be seen. Here some animal bones, a stone axe, and some bronze and ceramic objects were found.

The most interesting finds from Monte Magre are pieces of deer-antlers with incisions in southern Rhaetic (retico) alphabet. This language was used in alpine and pre-alpine areas in north Italy during the second iron age (around 4th century BCE). It has been given the name of Magrè alphabet.

These bones have a hole at one end and were probably used to hang them from trees. It was probably a shrine dedicated to Diana or Artemide, as it was located in a forest and probably used by hunters. Some say that the incisions refer to a Venetian divinity called Reitia. It is thought that Magrè was the border area between the Veneto speaking persons and Reti speaking persons living to the north, who controlled the Alps and its mineral wealth.

Among the archaeological objects found at Monte Magre, the antler-pieces with Reti incisions are in the museum of Este. Some other objects can be seen in the archaeological museum in Vicenza.

The Shrine at the Summit of Monte Summano

The Summano mountain (around 1300 metres) dominates Schio and the surrounding towns and countryside. People say that its name comes from the antique cult of god Summanus. Its name reminds me of the ancient Indian myth of Manu (som+manus), at the time of universal floods (Noah in Christian mythology).

There are stories about sacrificing black rams on the summit of Summano. Bone-ash deposits and old medals and coins have been found here. In 2007 a silver statue of Mars was found in the area. Thus, during 2008-10, some preliminary archaeological tests were conducted here, during a second silver statue of a mother-goddess or Salus was also found. Archaeological objects found here can be seen at the Alto Vicentino Museum in Vicenza.

Near the summit there are areas where there are traces of regular fires dating back to second iron age (4th century BCE), indicating that there may have been a shrine or a sacred place here (shown in the image below). There are also traces of Roman period buildings near the summit.

Conclusions

Most of the information for this post came from an exhibition on the Cibin-Gori collection held at Fogazzaro Palace in Schio in 2023.

I loved the visit to Bocca Lorenza, even if I didn't try to explore any of the caves. I am hoping to write specific posts on how to visit Bocca Lorenza and Monte Magre.

I have already written about the visit to the summit of Summano mountain in my post on Sacred Sites to visit in Schio. 

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