Notes on some cultic aspects of Italian Prehistory

Abstract

Many cultural manifestations are known in the Neolithic and Metal Ages in Italy. They were associated with pits, dug in the floors of caverns, and stone circles where vases or votive objects were deposited. They related to agricultural rituals, but also to funerary practices associated with birth, life and death. Another type of cults relates to water and water circulation: to cold or warm springs in underground cavities or in surface; to stalactites and their white water; to geothermal phenomena that attracted the interest of people in the prehistory. Many vases and bronzes were deposited near lakes, sources, rivers and fumaroles.