Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age funerary evidence from the Sant'Angelo IV Cave (northeastern Calabria, Italy)

Abstract

The earliest settlement evidence in the Sibaritide in northeastern Calabria comes from the complex of caves of Sant’Angelo near present-day Cassano allo Jonio, and dates from the Late Eneolithic (Copper Age) and the beginning of the Bronze Age. In cave IV, the pottery and skeletal remains indicate the presence of at least three burials dating to three different periods and showing cultural links with northern Sicily and southern Calabria. In this paper the funerary function of cave IV is considered from a chronological, cultural and functional perspective and analysed within the wider context of the Sant’Angelo cave complex, in order to assess the communities’ changing perception of caves as places for funerary and dwelling purposes.