Riparo di Anticoli and Grotta di Anticoli

Site description

Riparo di Anticoli and Grotta di Anticoli (Anticoli shelter and cave) are two adjacent decorated sites. The cave opens along the slopes of Monte Licino and extends over the Fosso di Casalromano, on the left bank of the Aniene river. It comprises a chamber approximately 5 meters by 5 meters in size. Part of the entrance is obstructed by a large boulder. This boulder, facing the graffiti, has a wide smoothed surface at its base, which is challenging to interpret according to Piero Ceruleo, the discoverer of the rock art figure: it could be due to the continuous and repeated passage of people or animals, or it may result from other causes such as the magical-religious practice of incubation (en. incubation), also hypothesized in the rock art corpus of Central Italy for the decorated site of Pastine or Parete Manzi (Civitaluparella, Chieti) in Abruzzo region. Incubation is a Latin term referring to the practice of seeking guidance or prophetic visions by sleeping in a sacred space, with the belief of receiving divine messages or recovering from ailments during sleep. The shelter is also situated at the base of Mount Licino, close to the previously mentioned cave. In the initial survey, Ceruleo discovered a black anthropomorphic figure drawn in charcoal on the rocky wall of the shelter. A subsequent survey by Ceruleo unveiled numerous additional graffiti and charcoal drawings.

Incubation is a Latin term referring to the practice of seeking guidance or prophetic visions by sleeping in a sacred space, with the belief of receiving divine messages or recovering from ailments during sleep.

Figures description

The surfaces of the Anticoli cave walls in are rough and feature numerous concretions, rendering them unsuitable for supporting wall art. Nevertheless, near the entrance vault, opposite the boulder, a small smooth area, roughly 10 x 10 cm in size, displays a series of graffiti composed of parallel lines angled in various directions, forming a grid. In additional sections of the cave vault, also near the entrance, there are other clusters of similar graffiti that have previously been surveyed and studied. In the Anticoli shelter, the graffiti are positioned at roughly the height of an average person. The graffiti adorn a section of the rocky wall approximately 50 cm in height and 30 cm in width, situated at a height of about 100-120 cm from the current floor level.

In the Anticoli rock shelter the engravings are barely discernible to the naked eye but become clearly visible when photographed and enlarged.

References

@article{nokey,

title = {Nuovi contributi alla conoscenza della preistoria della Valle dell'Aniene},

author = {Piero Ceruleo },

url = {https://www.academia.edu/3630507/Nuovi_contributi_alla_conoscenza_della_preistoria_della_valle_dellAniene},

year  = {1982},

date = {1982-01-01},

urldate = {1982-01-01},

journal = {Atti e Memorie della Società Tiburtina di Storia e d'Arte},

volume = {LV},

pages = {7-49},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}