The town of Atella is situated in the province of Potenza (Basilicata), about 10 km from the summit of the Vulture. The Palaeolithic deposit is located south of the town, behind the cemetery, on a terrace about 90 m above the present riverbed of the Fiumara di Atella. Continuing the research begun over 20 years ago by Prof. Borzatti of Florence University, this season the aim was to obtain new data about the ways of life, the landscape and environment of the people who inhabited the territory of Atella 600,000 years ago.

During the 2017 season, the excavation investigated context F present in two different areas in the upper and middle parts of the deposit, which seemed to attest complex and varied taphonomic histories. The reconstruction of these dynamics is one of the objectives of the micro-morphological analyses that are being carried out. This year the excavations uncovered 136 pieces, including 95 lithic elements (small tools and flakes) and 42 faunal elements.

Furthering the work begun in 2016, the conservation and first restoration of the faunal remains present on the site continued, concentrating primarily on the lower tusk of Elephas Antiquus.
In synthesis, as regards the chronological-stratigraphic picture, the various human occupations occurred during 0.65 and 0.6 MA, in various palaeo-geographic environments and are preserved in diverse deposits. The continuation of the excavations and analyses will further define these preliminary suggestions regarding the depositional context, the paleo-geography, and the human activities that took place on this site.