2024-01-03 17:13:00
A novel set at the end of the Palelithic, in Abruzzo, when the last ice age was about to give way to the cyclical warming of the planet. This is the theme of the new literary work by the writer Giuseppe Pierdomenico entitled Preistoria, fateful encounter, published by Di Carlo editions.
“The setting in Abruzzo explains – it is not accidental. I drew inspiration from numerous historical findings that the archaeologist/paleontologist Concezio Rosa (1824-1876) found in some valleys of the region, in the hills close to the Apennines and in caves on the slopes of the Gran Sasso. The importance of the finds found and their valuable workmanship have led to the locality of Ripoli, in Val Vibrata being defined as the Milan of the Neolithic, or even the First Capital of Italy”.
In the novel we are during the last ice age. The Abruzzo valleys were inhabited by numerous tribes of Sapiens-Sapiens Man, while the reliefs and plateaus, largely covered by glaciers, were occupied by a few groups of hominids now in danger of extinction, later classified as Neanderthal Man. Starting from a few certainties, evidenced by remains and finds, the author describes the life of these populations, the relationships between the various individuals, the contrasts, the ferocious struggles for survival.
“I describe – explains Pierdomenico – the uses and customs of the two species, how they obtained food, how their hunting trips took place, what skills they had in terms of medicinal herbs, what tools they used”.
The fatal meeting to which the title of the work refers is very explanatory, it is the meeting, which later became a clash, between the two very different, albeit very similar, races. The author, starting from a scientific fact, namely the enormous size of the Neanderthal skull, as opposed to the relatively smaller one of the Sapiens, built a theory, according to which the Neanderthals were born “endowed” with “memories” that is, their children they were born equipped with the wealth of experiences accumulated by countless previous generations. “In the long run, this characteristic – states Pierdomenico – has proven to be a limit because it has conditioned its life and blocked improvements and innovations, which instead has allowed Sapiens to seek new solutions to ever new problems up to man modern”.
It is a work of extraordinary impact and realism, where the author lays bare the ferocity and destructive greed of Sapiens man, contrasted with the goodness of Neanderthal man. The events described and the protagonists of the narrative will give the reader food for thought on how the human race would have been different if the ferocity of Sapiens man had not decreed the extermination and extinction of the generous and kind Neanderthal man. It was not the first nor will it be the last case of destruction of a species due to the blind ferocity of our ancestors. The message sent by the author to the reader is clear: modern man has the means to avoid repeating the same mistakes and committing the same atrocities.
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