Riparo Cassataro in Centuripe
Riparo Cassataro in Centuripe, also known as Rifugio Cassataro, is a site of archaeological interest that testifies to a first phase of frequentation of the territory dating back to the Paleolithic and includes the only rock paintings , known to date, of eastern Sicily .
The name of the site derives from dr. G. Cassataro who discovered the red wall paintings in the refuge.
The site looks like a sort of gallery created by the combination of three blocks of sandstone, very similar to dolmens. It is a Paleo-church and this is evident from the presence of circular bowls dug into the floor, attributable to religious rites.
In the Cassataro refuge there are rock paintings attributable to different eras. A series of cave paintings were made with black dye. Today they are hardly visible to the naked eye but can be identified with infrared photography. A second series of paintings is made with the red ocher color, obtained from minerals present in the area, rich in iron oxide, ground with rudimentary tools. Stylized anthropomorphic figures are depicted with their arms in various positions that can be placed in the Bronze Age. Among these stand out two Neolithic figures representing an ox and someone who could hold a drum. But it is undoubtedly the central part of the block that constitutes the fulcrum of the whole representation: a lattice that scholars have interpreted in two different ways. According to the first interpretation it should represent a sort of hut, according to the other interpretation the lattice is interpreted as the very particular knurled dress of a sovereign, a shaman or some deity worshiped during the Neolithic. It is believed that the rock paintings of Riparo Cassataro can therefore represent a propitiatory dance, a ritual around a deity or a shaman.
