Between August and September 2008 excavations continued on the Copper Age funerary chamber which had been investigated in previous campaigns. Together with still abundant pottery fragments numerous fragments of human skeletal remains were found. The repertory of pottery forms remained homogeneous, conforming to the picture that has emerged to date, and can be dated to a full phase, probably late, of the Eneolithic period. The pottery showed all the characteristics of vase productions in funerary contexts known from the natural cavities in southern Tuscany and grouped together under the generic definition “Grossetan group”. Laterza elements were present, probably Gaudo and Conelle, all elements already seen in the analysis of the pottery finds recovered from the disturbed deposit by the Società Naturalistica Speleologica Maremmana. However, mixed with these were elements more specifically attributable to the early and middle Bronze Age, absent in the pottery assemblage from the funerary chamber.

According to recently acquired data it is the presence of Laterza elements which seems to give the materials from Spaccasasso a particular connotation, distinguishing it from strictly Grossetan archaeological realities and inserting it into the wider context of the central-southern Tyrrhenian. The cultural associations of the Spaccanasso ceramic assemblage are similar to recently published funerary and dwelling contexts for which a series of radiometric dates are known. In particular the necropolis and settlement of Osteria del Curato – via Cinquefrondi, Rome, if two dates that fall within the 4th millennium B.C. in calibrated chronology are excluded, falls completely within the 3rd millennium B.C., in particular within the first centuries. On the other hand the two dates known for Spaccasasso fall within both these centuries. These were obtained from bones recovered out of context during the first interventions by the Società Naturalistica Speleologica Maremmana (Cavanna e Pellegrini 2007).

The strong concentration of archaeological material and the complex depositional model linked to the ritual of secondary burial necessitated an accurate taphonomic study. This was carried out by making a zenithal photographic survey of each stratigraphic unit divided into 50 × 50 cm squares. Each square considered was delimited by numbered markers geo-referenced and leveled. On each photograph, printed in colour at a scale of 1:2, the individual finds were highlighted and given a progressive number, inserted into a table with its three spatial coordinates (x, y, z).

This year a 3D scan was made of one of the layers in the funerary chamber. The 3D scanner employed for the acquisition of data used “time of flight” (TOF) technology consenting the measurement of objects at a distance of over 100 m (optimal range 2-100 m, maximum range over 150 m) with millimetric precision. Thanks to the motorised movement it was possible to make scans with an angle of vision of 360° x 36° in a single session, acquiring over 3000 points per second.

The same procedure was applied to the entire plateau onto which the funerary chamber opened, the aim being to provide a virtual reconstruction of the archaeological complex. One of the objectives behind this operation was the desire to provide an efficient tool for the future exploitation of the site within a museum project.