Gorgo Baggiano
The eddy is an artificial basin designed to collect rainwater to water animals and irrigate the fields. Ustica, a volcanic island, has no springs. The inhabitants have dug eddies, the origin of which has not yet been ascertained. The oldest mention is found in Massa (1709), it dates back to about fifty years prior to the colonization of the island in 1762. Their state of conservation, very different from each other, due to the neglect of the municipal administration, makes dating difficult, which in any case can only be assigned to one of the two periods in which the island was densely populated: the late Roman parenthesis and the middle Bronze Age. The eddies that still preserve the ancient polygonal structure coating are only two: the Gorgo Baggiano and the Gorgo Maltese. Their coating is the same as the terraces on the southern side of the island and the fortification of the Faraglioni Village, where large pebbles left in the land were also used, especially from the last marine transgression. It is also noted that the eddies are found in the vicinity of large agricultural farms, but also of prehistoric villages, with a greater number of findings first. I went at length to demonstrate their certainly archaeological interest against the belief that they were works of Bourbon colonization. They document the particular historical situation of the island and must be kept in memory of the difficult life of the population who colonized it with so many hardships.
Text source: Giovanni Mannino: Guide to the Prehistory of Palermo - List of prehistoric sites in the province of Palermo - Sicilian Institute for Political and Economic Studies)
Image source of the map of the whirlpools and insights: Aglaia Valenza: The places of water on the island of Ustica between ingenuity and nature from its origins to the mid-twentieth century - Letera 55, June 2019 Study and Documentation Center of Ustica Island. Download file: L55_Sto_LocationsWater_Valence
PRESS: Well cataloged but partially geolocated. We invite you to provide your contribution by providing us with useful information that will allow us to geolocate the listed asset. See also "Cultural Heritage to be Geolocated"
Bibliography and further in-depth documents:
100) FIRST SICILY - AT THE ORIGINS OF SICILIAN SOCIETY - volume first edited by Sebastiano Tusa Palermo 1997.
Ignazio Caloggero: Sicily between History, Myths and Legends. Vol. 1: From Prehistory to the Phoenicians. First edition 2018 - Revised and updated edition of 2022
Ignazio Caloggero:
History of Sicily - 1.4.1: The development of metallurgy
History of Sicily - 1.4.2: Social and cultural development
History of Sicily - 1.4.3: Burials during the Metal Age
History of Sicily - 1.4.4: Religious sentiments during the metal age
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photos:
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero Web
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