I ciottoli decorati di Paglicci: raffigurazioni e utilizzo

This paper analyzes nine pebbles coming from the mobiliary art assemblage of Paglicci cave (Foggia - Italy). The principals aims of the study are: 1) to understand the production process of artistic incisions on the pebbles, through the study of the engravings, as the starting point for deciphering their symbolic and cognitive value. The importance of re-enacting the sequence of actions which led to the creation of the artistic object is given not only by the possibility to understand in depth the technique employed during such events, but, more importantly, by the possibility to test their cultural significance. 2) To assess the cultural value of the artistic production, also through functional analysis. The identification of use-wear traces on such objects, or at least on those which possess the necessary characteristics to suggest their likely utilization, is undertaken in an attempt to find out whether such objects were used before and/or after they were engraved. Use-wear analysis has highlighted that the majority of pebbles has been used as retouchers or hammer stones (active percussion). All pebbles have been used before being engraved. This observation may suggest that pebbles, at a certain moment, lost a functional value for a different one.