Riparo delle Mummie

Riparo delle Mummie rock art site

Riparo delle Mummie is a limestone rock shelter with a slight overhang facing south, fully exposed to sunlight throughout the day, located near the meviedal village of Precetto. The shelter features two niches positioned at different levels, one above the other. Inside, the soil is rocky and slopes outward, while the walls are adorned with significant veils and flows of concretion. Below the shelter, on the slope, archaeologist Tommaso Mattioli collected two fragments of impasto pottery. This rock art site is located opposite another rock art site, Mesa Rosa. Historical evidence of the shelter’s use is limited to some traces of soot (possibly from hearths); the site – along with the entire surrounding area – is popular for sport climbing. At the base of the cliff facing the shelter, on the left bank of the Castellone ditch, the author identified numerous ceramic fragments from the Middle Bronze Age inside a rock shelter (Riparo di S. Ippolita), including a fragment of a miniature vessel.

The naturally dark orange rocky surface is overlaid with substantial veils and flows of concretions, which appear to have formed atop an original rock surface. This underlying rock surface seems to have been intentionally coated with a uniform layer of red pigment (possibly ochre) in ancient times. This red layer forms a strip approximately 1 meter high, running at a height of about 50-75 cm from the ground along the entire rear wall of the rock shelter.

Riparo delle Mummie seen from the other side of the gorge (photo by T. Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie seen from the other side of the gorge (photo by T. Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

 

Riparo delle Mummie rock art figures

There are 7 black-colored paintings and several engraved figures. The rock art was discovered by archaeologists T. Mattioli in October 2003. Among the most notable figures is a zoomorphic depiction of a quadruped seen in profile, likely belonging to the subfamily Caprinae. It features short horns pointing backward, with the body outlined and the neck filled in with a solid color. This figure is located a few centimeters above a schematic anthropomorphic phi figure.

Additionally, the rock art shelter contains several engravings, including a tree-like filiform motif superimposed on a black-painted representation of a horse. There are also two deep incisions with a sinuous pattern resembling a polissoir (a rock used for polishing metal or stone axes, commonly found in the Alpine region), as well as a circular cupule measuring 10 cm in diameter and 5 cm in dept

Riparo delle Mummie, zoomorphic figure (photo by T. Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, zoomorphic figure (after DStretch by T. Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, possible 'polissoire' (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, anthropomorphic figure (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, anthropomorphic figure (after DStretch)

Riparo delle Mummie, the zoomorphic (above) and the anthropomorphic figure (below) (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, the zoomorphic (above) and the anthropomorphic figure (below) (after DStretch))

Riparo delle Mummie, possible horse (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

Riparo delle Mummie, possible horse (after DStretch))

 

References

@article{RN22,

title = {L'arte rupestre preistorica e protostorica dell'Umbria},

author = {Tommaso Mattioli},

url = {https://www2.muse.it/pubblicazioni/7/46/vol2/08%20Mattioli.pdf},

year  = {2012},

date = {2012-01-01},

urldate = {2012-01-01},

journal = {Preistoria Alpina, Museo Tridentino Scienze Naturali},

volume = {46},

number = {II},

pages = {155-163},

abstract = {This paper presents four new prehistoric rock art sites recently discovered in Umbria (Cen- tral Italy). The chronology of these figures, based on iconographic comparison, is ranging from Neolithic to Copper age. The landscape analysis of sites provides other information about patterns in place selection.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@book{RN13,

title = {L'arte rupestre in Italia centrale : Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo},

author = {Tommaso Mattioli},

url = {http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio7293493},

isbn = {9788887594997},

year  = {2007},

date = {2007-01-01},

urldate = {2007-01-01},

pages = {230 p., 16 p. of plates},

publisher = {Ali&no},

address = {Perugia},

series = {Quaderni di protostoria},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {book}

}