3.900-year-old ceramics unearthed in the Maria Colombo Cave

Salerno – New ceramic finds dating back approximately 3.900 years have emerged from the Maria Colombo Cave in Montesano sulla Marcellana, in the Salerno area. The large fragments were recovered during excavations conducted last August in the cave near Pattano, not far from the Calore River, the southern watershed between Campania and Basilicata.

According to the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Salerno and Avellino, the materials date back to the cave's main occupation phase, dating to the Early Bronze Age. Their concentration may be linked to a funerary and cultic function of the site, although ongoing analyses will need to confirm this.

The resumption of excavations

The initial topographic survey and stratigraphic investigation activities were carried out between 2013 and 2015. This year's campaign instead involved the removal of the collapsed layer of the vault and the mudslide that had blocked access to the main room of the cave.
It was precisely this phase of stratigraphic reclamation that yielded concentrations of ceramic fragments of considerable size. This discovery expands the range of occupations in the cave, identified in 2007.

The analyses continue

The research will continue with the study of ceramic materials and the analysis of bone remains, entrusted to Sapienza University of Rome and the Museum of Civilizations. The goal is to reconstruct more precisely how the cave was used and the role it played for local communities.

The Maria Colombo Cave is part of a network of prehistoric and protohistoric cave settlements in the Vallo di Diano, an area considered strategic for understanding the population dynamics of those periods.

Valorization of heritage

The Superintendency explains that the ongoing activities in Montesano sulla Marcellana and in the other caves of the Vallo di Diano "will allow us to expand our knowledge and develop initiatives, including thematic ones, to enhance the local archaeological heritage."

The research was conducted under a grant from the Ministry of Culture by the ORTA Ets association, in collaboration with the ABAP Superintendency of Salerno and Avellino and the Municipality of Montesano sulla Marcellana. Scientific coordination was entrusted to the Saras Department of Sapienza University, with Federico Nomi as coordinator, and involved the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan and the Bioarchaeology Service of the Museo delle Civiltà.