This was the sixth campaign in the grotto in the sanctuary of the Madonna at Praia a Mare, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Calabria and the administration of Praia a Mare. An area of about 3 × 4 m was opened in an area where the Neolithic occupation levels were preserved, attested by reddish silty matrix containing charcoal fragments, occasional pottery (both plain ware and impasto), and domestic animal bones. Various structures and postholes, some with wedges, were identified that belonged to the earliest Neolithic occupation of the cavern.
A circular hearth (US 552) was made up of a level of stones arranged in a circle around the edges of a depression (upper level) and by a surface of heavily burnt flat stones (lower level). These central stones were selected for their shape and size and were put into place before the stones around the edge. There was an area of baked clay (US 553) associated with the hearth that partially overlay the area of charcoal (US 551). Numerous charcoal fragments and bones from domestic animals were recovered. There was evidence of a Neolithic intervention constituted by a manmade yellow-brown levigated clay surface, between 2-5 cm thick, preserved for several square metres (US 549). This layer covered what at present seems to be the final layer of Mesolithic occupation.
The removal of the Neolithic levels and structures revealed the top of US 548, which probably represents the final Mesolithic occupation and almost completely covers the excavation area, except for the areas of the hearth (US 367) and hole (US 574). Both the latter structures cut into this “Mesolithic” level.

US 548 was only superficially investigated in some quadrants. It was a grey-brown silty soil with whitish inclusions and abundant charcoal fragments. To date, no flint tools have been found apart from rare flakes, nor was any débitage present. The remains of ungulate bones were particularly scarce, while small carnivores were present but the largest assemblage was made up of malacofauna, microfauna and tortoise.

The majority of the layers examined in 2008 still related to the Neolithic occupation phases, attested by the characteristics of the few material finds (plain ware pottery, obsidian, and domestic fauna) and the structures found (postholes, hearths, and preparation surfaces), which reflect an organised and complex occupation of the space. The digging of pits and hearths during this occupation modified the surface Mesolithic layers and caused a partial mixing of some of the archaeological materials. The investigation of the underlying Mesolithic layers has only just begun and therefore at present it is not possible to clearly define the material culture contained within them.