The preliminary work for the plantation of a beech wood on the ridge at the border between the municipalities of Valgrana and Caraglio, in the Maritime Alps at 1020 m a.s.l., exposed a substantial amount of archaeological material dating to the middle Neolithic period (first half of the 5th millennium B.C.). The material included pottery fragments with meander-spiral decoration attributable to the culture of the Vasi a Bocca Quadrata, flint flakes and waste from the working of smooth green stone.

During the first excavation campaign, a stone “cassetta” was found at the edge of the area with Neolithic stratigraphy. Made of wide stone flakes, its base was circa 50 cm in diameter. Inside was a globular vase with a short neck, which an examination in the laboratory of the Superintendency revealed contained neither burnt bone nor grave goods. There were no traces of any covering (stone slabs, pottery vessels etc) for the “cassetta” or the vase. This type of structure is similar to examples found in cemeteries in the Cuneo area, while the vase form is similar to funerary urns at Chiavari (Genoa). This find may be interpreted as a ritual offering, or better, a burial monument dating to the middle Iron Age, reproducing the structure and characteristics of a tomb.