From Mont Viso to the Gulf of Taranto at the turn of the 5th to 4th millenium B.C.: the jadeitite axe from Laterza (Puglia, Italy)

Abstract

The fine granular jadeitite axe from Laterza originates from quarries of Monte Viso (Piedmont) lying at an altitude of 2,300 m, some 950 km from the find-spot as the crow flies. The axe belongs to the drop-like form of Durrington-type, the production of which dates to the second half of the 5th millennium in the Alpine quarries, but ceasing before 4,000 B.C. The special status of this rare object with its bored butt and very careful polish is underlined by its central position in an opulent grave and through the comparisons with other groups of axes with bored butt in Western Europe. The assemblage with Serra d’Alto and Diana pottery allows a dating in the first half of the 4th millennium at the latest. Thus, the southern border of the distribution of large Alpine axes may coincide with the northern border of the distribution of Serra d’Alto pottery in the Apennines, whereby these objects express hierarchical mechanisms of the society. Finally, the question of the relationships between the axe of Laterza and the Alpine axes with bored butt from the southern coast of Brittany is touched upon and a reverse flow from Morbihan to Italy assumed.