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Excavation

  • Grotta Reali
  • Rocchetta a Volturno
  •  
  • Italy
  • Molise
  • Province of Isernia
  • Scapoli

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Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • The Neanderthalian site of Grotta Reali is situated in the municipality of Rocchetta al Volturno, a short distance from the source of the river Volturno, at circa 500 m a.s.l. Discovered by the amateur archaeologist P. Berardinelli in 2001, the site was surveyed in 2001 and 2005 and excavations were undertaken in 2006 and 2007. This research produced a picture of how the deposit was formed and of the settlement dynamics.

    The site opens in a wall of calcareous tufa partially eroded by quarrying activity which has limited the legibility of the original morphology. However, it appears that this was a small cave occupied by a group of Neandertals during the last inter-glacial period at a time of interruption in the tufa’s formation.

    The stratigraphic analysis of a deposit circa two metres deep showed two occupation horizons (US 5 and US 2β-2γ) characterised by the presence of numerous flint artefacts, bone fragments and two hearths, alternating with sterile layers (US 3 e 4). Following the abandonment of the cave it was occupied by carnivorous animals. Traces of their activity was present in the more recent layers (US 1 and US 2abc) and were predominant over the traces left by man.

    The lithic industry of Grotta Reale was constituted by 8000 artefacts, made of local flint collected in the vicinity and taken to the site in its natural state where it was refined and worked. Therefore, all phases of the working process were undertaken on the site. In fact, elements from the various stages were present in the occupation layers: flakes from the initial rough preparation, by-products from the formation of the nucleus, waste products, finished artefacts, nuclei.

    Various methods were used for producing flakes and retouched tools such as scrapers and toothed implements from opportunist production aimed at the fast production of the largest number of usable flakes possible to a predetermined production such as Levallois flakes.

    The faunal study established that the group of humans had occupied the cave and had mainly eaten deer, roe deer, ibex and primitive ox, all species probably hunted in an area relatively close to the cave and characterised by the presence of forests, open areas and rivers.

    The archeo-zoological analyses identified diverse traces linked to anthropological activity. Examination under a stereoscopic microscope revealed the presence of cut marks on a number of bones produced by lithic tools during the butchering of a carcass, and signs of intentional fracturing in order to get at the bone marrow.

    The site of Grotta Reale represents some of the earliest evidence, analysed in depth, of the occupation of Homo neanderthalensis in the territory of Molise. Its radiometric dating to 33-40.000 years BP places it in the final phases of the middle Paleolithic, making it one of the reference sites for this period.

  • Ettore Rufo - Università degli Studi di Ferrara 
  • Marta Arzarello - Università degli Studi di Ferrara 
  • Annarosa Di Nucci - Centro Europeo di Ricerche Preistoriche di Isernia 
  • Giuseppe Lembo - Centro Europeo di Ricerche Preistoriche di Isernia 
  • Antonella Minelli - Università degli Studi del Molise 
  • Carlo Peretto - Università degli Studi di Ferrara - Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici 
  • Ursula Thun Hohenstein - Università di Ferrara - Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici 
  • Carmela Vaccaro - Università degli Studi di Ferrara 

Director

Team

  • Pierluigi Pieruccini - Università degli Studi di Siena
  • Silvia Ravani - Università degli Studi di Siena
  • Elena Marocchino - Università degli Studi di Ferrara
  • Maria Angela Rufo - Università degli Studi di Ferrara
  • Benedetto Sala - Università degli Studi di Ferrara
  • Mauro Coltorti - Università degli Studi di Siena
  • Ciro Tartarini - Università degli Studi di Ferrara

Research Body

  • Centro Europeo di Ricerche Preistoriche
  • Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Molise
  • Università di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione

Funding Body

  • Agenzia di Sviluppo Rurale MOLI.G.A.L. – Programma Comunitario LEADER
  • Università degli Studi di Ferrara, fondi di ateneo e PRIN

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