Nuove ricerche alla Grotta dei Santi (Monte Argentario, Grosseto)

This preliminary work summarises the results of new research work carried out at Grotta di Cala dei Santi by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana and by the Università di Siena, in collaboration with the Universities of Pisa and of Firenze, together with the Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana in 2007-2008. The cave, which was explored by Aldo Segre in 1959, opens in the “Calcare cavernoso” formation, on the south-eastern side of Monte Argentario; the infilling is preserved within about 2/3 of the inside of the cave, with a thickness of about 10 m, while it was removed by the sea erosion in the outer part.With reference to the observations carried out by Aldo Segre, our sondages put into evidence a new sequence of Middle Palaeolithic levels within the Pleistocene succession. The excavation of the anthropic levels has put into evidence a large quantity of faunal remains (molluscs, reptiles, birds and mammals) dominated by ungulates; among these, two incomplete ibex skulls are noteworthy. The lithic industry is less abundant and is mainly made up of unretouched artefacts, and from the technological point of view the Levallois method is apparently common. The tools are mainly scrapers and points. Some aspects of the lithic assemblage of the Grotta dei Santi—e.g. the exploitation of flintpebbles as raw material- resemble the “Pontinian” complexes of the Latium coastal area. Nonetheless, it is still untimely to carry out more accurate comparisons on the basis of the data available at present.