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| Grotta Continenza | |
|---|---|
| Name | Grotta Continenza |
| Map type | Italy |
| Location | Poggiofiorito, Abruzzo |
| Region | Abruzzo, Italy |
| Type | cave |
| Epochs | Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic |
| Excavations | 1970s–2000s |
| Archaeologists | Graziano Battaglia, Domenico Fabi, Sandro di Lernia |
Grotta Continenza is a key Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene cave site in the Abruzzo region of central Italy, renowned for its long stratigraphic sequence and rich assemblages that illuminate human occupation from the Upper Paleolithic through the Neolithic transition. Located near Poggiofiorito, the site has produced lithics, faunal remains, botanical traces, and human burials that have informed debates on Mediterranean forager mobility, Mesolithic adaptations, and the spread of farming across Italy and the wider Mediterranean basin. Excavations have been multidisciplinary, involving collaborations among Italian universities, regional museums, and international specialists in zooarchaeology, paleoenvironmental studies, and isotopic analysis.
Grotta Continenza sits on a karstic outcrop of Apennine Mountains limestone within the Valle del Vomano near Poggiofiorito, positioned between the Adriatic Sea coast and the interior highlands of Abruzzo National Park. The cave's geomorphology is controlled by karst processes, Quaternary uplift of the Italian Peninsula, and local fluvial dynamics related to the Vomano River, producing a sheltered chamber with well-preserved stratified deposits. Regional tectonics linked to the Apennine orogeny and Pleistocene climatic oscillations influenced sedimentation, colluvial inputs, and microstratigraphy that record alternating cold and warm phases correlated to North Atlantic stadials and interstadials recognized in marine cores and Greenland ice core records.
Initial attention to the site arose during 19th–20th century surveys of Abruzzo karst, but systematic excavations began in the late 20th century under Italian teams from institutions including the University of Chieti and the Soprintendenza Archeologia Abruzzo, with project partners such as the Museo Archeologico Nazionale d'Abruzzo and collaborations with researchers from the University of Rome La Sapienza and the University of Cambridge. Principal field seasons led by archaeologists including Graziano Battaglia established a comprehensive stratigraphic sequence through open-area trenching, sieving, and micromorphology sampling, complemented by radiocarbon dating performed in collaboration with laboratories affiliated to CNR and international facilities such as Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. Post-excavation analyses engaged specialists from the Natural History Museum, London, the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, and other European research centres.
Stratigraphic investigations revealed a deep Pleistocene-Holocene sequence with discrete lithostratigraphic units correlating to cultural phases analogous to those recognized elsewhere in southern Europe, including layers assignable to late Gravettian, Epigravettian, Mesolithic hunter-gatherer horizons, and Neolithic occupations associated with incoming agro-pastoral traditions from the Balkan Neolithic and western Mediterranean trajectories. Sedimentological analysis and micromorphology tied occupational surfaces to episodes of hearth use, trampling, and midden formation; tephrochronology and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates anchored cultural phases to specific Late Glacial and Early Holocene intervals comparable to sequences at Grotta Paglicci, Riparo Tagliente, and Arene Candide.
The artifact assemblage comprises backed bladelets, microburins, end-scrapers, and osseous tools reflecting Epigravettian and Mesolithic techno-typologies comparable to collections from Riparo Gaban, Grotta Romanelli, and Grotta delle Veneri. Neolithic levels yielded impressed-pottery sherds, polished stone axes, and bone ornaments that resonate with material traditions documented at sites such as Sassari area settlements and Danilo-style complexes. Raw material sourcing studies incorporating petrography and portable XRF linked lithics to chert outcrops in the Majella and Gran Sasso areas, paralleling procurement patterns observed in contemporaneous sites across Abruzzo and the Adriatic Neolithic corridor.
Human skeletal remains and isolated teeth recovered from Mesolithic and Neolithic contexts underwent osteological and palaeogenetic analyses in collaboration with laboratories at the University of Florence and the European Centre for Bioinformatics and Human Paleogenomics. Osteobiographic studies assessed age-at-death, sex, stature estimates, and pathology including dental wear and periostitis, while stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen explored dietary shifts across the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition analogous to patterns reported from Grotta di São, Cave of Taforalt studies and other Mediterranean sequences. Ancient DNA results contributed to regional phylogeographic models alongside data from the Neolithic Expansion and late Pleistocene hunter-gatherer genomes published by consortia at institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Zooarchaeological work identified hunted taxa including red deer, ibex, wild boar, and small mammals, with fish and marine shellfish indicators reflecting exploitation of coastal resources analogous to patterns seen in coastal sites like Grotta dei Moscerini. Botanical macrofossils, pollen spectra, and charcoal analysis documented shifts from open cold-steppe vegetation to mixed deciduous woodland during the Late Glacial–Early Holocene transition, paralleling regional palaeoecological records from pollen cores in the Adriatic basin and lacustrine sequences in the Gran Sasso region. Zooarchaeological seasonality studies and use-wear analysis on lithics reconstructed scheduling of hunting, fishing, and plant-gathering activities comparable to subsistence reconstructions at Riparo Mochi and other Mediterranean forager sites.
Grotta Continenza provides an integrated long-term record crucial for understanding postglacial demographic, economic, and cultural processes in central Italy, contributing empirical data to debates on Mesolithic mobility, the timing and mechanisms of Neolithic diffusion, and human responses to environmental change documented across the Mediterranean Sea littoral. Its assemblages have been cited in comparative syntheses addressing Epigravettian persistence, Mesolithic adaptations, and the complex interactions between indigenous foragers and incoming farming communities, informing interpretive frameworks developed at research centres including the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford, the University of Barcelona, and the British School at Rome.
Category:Archaeological sites in Abruzzo Category:Caves of Italy