The site of La Pietra (442 m a.s.l.) is situated at the confluence of the Farma and Farmulla rivers (Roccastrada, Grosseto). The archaeological area extends for about 3 hectares around an imposing rocky outcrop (diam. 500 m) of radiolarites, part of the formation of the Jaspers of Dominio Ligure.

The site was first noted by Marroni and Gambassini in 1998. Surface surveys were undertaken in the 1990s that showed that the main occupation phase on the site dated to the Copper Age. In fact, similarities were documented between the lithic industries present on the surface and those of the known quarry-workshop of Valle Lagorara in Liguria.
Therefore, it was possible to suggest that an important quarry with a lithic industry producing preforms for foliate points was also present at La Pietra.

In 2013, the Archaeological Superintendency for Tuscany and Siena University carried out new surveys and dug a trench. An area was identified in contact with the south face of the outcrop, where a landslide had created a space, closed on three sides and protected by a slight overhang from the rock face, favourable for flaking activities and the subsequent preservation of the archaeological traces.

The surface of this area, denomminated “Riparo”, about 20 m,2 showed clear evidence of this débitage activity. It was decided to concentrate the investigations here in order to check the consistency of the deposit. Overall, two 1 × 1 m quadrants, divided into 33 × 33 cm squares, were excavated.
A single layer was identified, formed by an artificial accumulation of detritus from quarrying and lithic industry. The matrix was constituted by soil with a high organic content. Preforms, mainly fragmented, were recovered that had been abandoned at various stages of their preparation. Flakes and fragmented hard hammer stones were also present.

The first excavation season, in April 2014, concentrated on the “Riparo” area. Digging took place in quadrants B1 and B2, adjacent to those investigated in 2013. Four 33 × 33 cm squares were opened.
The recovered material comprised large quantities of residue from lithic working and a number of discarded preforms, as well as numerous fragments of hammer stones made from ophiolitic rocks and, more rarely, quartzite.

A number of cores and fragmented blades were found in correspondence with illegally excavated holes on the hillside plateaux below the outcrop in the direction of the river Farma. Part of these finds dated to the Epigravettian period. Furthermore, abundant evidence of lithic industry was recovered from the earth dug out of a hole by a mechanical digger during road repairs. The materials also related to workshop activity and probably date to the Upper Palaeolithic period.

A close inspection at the base of the outcrop showed that the entire south face was characterised by quarrying marks on the radiolarite rocks. Traces of quarrying were also visible above the “Riparo” area, and in various points of the face at a height that could not be reached without some sort of supporting structure.