Prehistoric village of Omo Morto
The term Omo Morto originally assigned to the overhang of the Falconiera for the suicide of a Swiss gendarme, on which the Lighthouse stands, over time has been extended to the bottom of the crater near the cliff, an area now occupied by the purifier. In 1976, after my long absence in Ustica, Father Carmelo, parish priest of the island, showed me some fragments that a worker had brought him during the excavations for the construction of the purifier. These were perfectly identical to those of the Villaggio dei Faraglioni, therefore datable to the Middle Bronze Age. I immediately went to the Omo Morto where the works were almost completed. To the left of the building, that is to the west, I saw a sort of square of about 300 square meters whose floor was lower than the surrounding land still in place. The section of the excavation had a height of about 1-1,60 m; the burial had two different characteristics: the upper layer with a thickness of 0,25-0,40 m was "mixed", the lower layer of about 0,75-1,20 m was a compact, homogeneous filling, which incorporated some prehistoric structures (walls) related to three huts. The floor of these was made up of a beaten earth of modest thickness, with a few embedded fragments. I then got the impression that this settlement must have had a much shorter and much more modest life than that of the Village of the
Faraglioni, I estimated a minimum width of about 3000 square meters. F ° 249 IV NE, Ustica Island; UTM: UC43348664, Altitude: 15 m.
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)
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:
Photo: Obsidian from Pirozza. Fig. 8 Franco Foresta Martin, Robert H. Tykot Characterization and Provenance of Archaeological Obsidian from Pirozza Spalmatore, a Site of Neolithic Colonization on the Island of Ustica (Sicily) 2019
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero Web
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