Grotta di Pozzo is an important archaeological site of the Italian Paleolithic as it preserves traces of human attendance from the ancient Epigravettian (about 23.000 years ago) to the Sauveterrian (about 9.000 years ago), both datings calibrated to C14; in areas close to the surface, few traces dating back to the Middle Neolithic have been found, with the remains of disrupted burials.

Due to its geographical position (at the center of the Apennines) and the complex stratigraphic sequence that emerged, the cave is an important point of reference for the study of the phases of repopulation after the last Glacial Maximum up to the ancient Holocene, giving significant contributions on the analysis of human adaptation to mid-latitude mountain environments in the Late Glacial. It is located about 720 above sea level, on the southern side of the Avezzano basin, in the heart of Marsica, in Abruzzo, near an area that during most of the Holocene was occupied by Lake Fucino, one of the most large ones in Central Italy, characterized by strong fluctuations in level according to the seasons and the geological era. This lake was completely drained and reclaimed on the initiative of the Duke of Torlonia between 1852 and 1878 and today the area is characterized by a large plain surrounded by mountains that exceed 2000 above sea level. The cave is a small cavity of about 12 x 3 x 1.50 meters which owes its formation to processes of gelifration, collapse and erosion of the water; in particular, the numerous collapses facing the entrance testify that in the past the cave was certainly more extensive also because in the innermost part there are the most interesting archaeological remains of wall art which suggest a greater extension in depth.

The shape of the ante-grotto is a hemicycle and ends with a small vertical back wall on which 4 elements of wall art have been identified, at a regular distance of about 2-3 meters from each other, at an almost constant height:

• A horizontal groove 47mm long, about 5mm wide and deep; it is located near a badly preserved portion of the wall, where presumably there must have been other engravings now lost;
• A first vertical vulva in bas-relief, 9 cm high. with an overhang of about 15-35 mm., symmetrical in shape with a smooth surface and traces of shaping all around, in an elongated triangle and with a central hole in the upper wall;
• A second vertical vulva 5 cm high. and up to 6 cm. wide, with a maximum overhang of 2 cm., obtained starting from a natural fissure in the rock, with a smooth surface and with traces of parallel furrows engraved laterally to accentuate its relief;
• A stylized female silhouette 75 mm high, obtained starting from a natural edge modeled both by percussion and by abrasion; the figure has a straight, flat and vertical torso, with pronounced buttocks and straight and joined legs. This female silhouette falls within the typical canons of the final upper Paleolithic and fully corresponds to the so-called Gonnersdorf-Lalinde style of which numerous other examples stand out both in the form of wall art (in Italy Romanelli cave) and movable art (in Italy a pebble engraved by the rearranged by Paglicci cave, reported by Mezzena and Palma di Cesnola), found in hundreds of specimens in over 40 sites in central-western Europe, dated to the Magdalenian and less frequently to the Azilian.

The dating of these finds was possible not only for the reference to other examples in Europe, but also thanks to the stratigraphic sequence obtained during the excavations at the site; in particular, the excavation has shown that the finds are all at eye level relative to the dated layer calibrated between 16.000 and 14.000 years ago and therefore the stylized figure of Grotta di Pozzo can be linked to the most ancient phase of these female representations. The furrow and vulvae are now in full view, while the Gonnersdorf-style silhouette is partially hidden behind a boulder that must have already collapsed at the time of the final Epigravettian levels; to be able to engrave it it was certainly necessary to slip into the narrow space between the boulder and the wall by working crouched and therefore one gets the impression that this secluded position is not accidental, a hypothesis also supported by the fact that the shape is visible only in particular light conditions, when this penetrates the environment, illuminating it effectively and only during a few hours of the day. The wall art of Grotta di Pozzo with a typically feminine iconography so well known beyond the Alps, testifies to the circulation over great distances of ideas, cults, myths and religious beliefs spread from Cantabrian Spain to Poland; the use of techniques, supports and raw materials diversified from one place to another confirms the existence of symbolic codes common to these populations so geographically distant from each other.

The area where these finds were found is rich in traces of domestic activity, with an oblong and shallow basin of about 2 meters in diameter and wells of about 25-50 cm. in diameter, with a flat bottom and straight walls, containing burnt stones, ashes, charred branches interpreted as structures for cooking, often used for cooking on embers or as underground ovens (for steam cooking on embers and/or red-hot stones ) or as if it were boiling (the hole was covered with undegreased animal skins to make it waterproof).

A curiosity is that in the cave numerous intact shells of terrestrial gastropods were found in the Mesolithic levels, from 700 to about 1500 specimens; generally the shells found in the typical Algerian snail shops have a circular hole in the opposite position to the natural opening which was used to extract the animal while in the case of Grotta di Pozzo the hole does not appear and therefore, through experimental archeology activities of the University of Rome "La Sapienza" assisted by the Superintendency for Cultural Heritage of the Municipality of Rome, the hypothesis of steam cooking for the extraction of the mollusc without damaging its shell was confirmed.

The hunted fauna is varied, typical of mountain landscapes: chamois, ibex, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, idruntino, aurochs, fox, badger, wild cat, marmots and hares. The ungulates in Grotta di Pozzo represent the major source of meat, with evident traces of slaughtering and for the recovery of raw materials. In addition to mammals, there is no lack of remains of birds (black grouse) and fish (trout), the latter found in large numbers inside the cave, probably because here they were prepared by cutting off their heads and dried or smoked before being transported and consumed somewhere else.

The variety of animal resources exploited with the different hunting techniques during one or more seasons of the year as well as the characteristics of the site described so far testify that the cave, being in a strategic position to control the movements of herbivores, was inhabited on and off by small heterogeneous groups of people; enjoys good sunshine during the first half of the day, has water points nearby (a stream that is currently active only after prolonged rains) and is located between two different environments, that of the plain with its wetlands and that of the mid-mountain, thus granting access to multiple resources for both gathering and hunting.

In the various levels some lithic artifacts with traces of ocher were found as well as fragments of ochre, a perforated deer canine and small flint artifacts, the latter found at no less than 30 km as the crow flies from the cave; ocher is relatively frequent on chipped stone elements, probably used as an additive for glues and mastics to mount lithic artifacts on wooden supports to make tools and instruments.

The use of ocher on marine shells (gastropods) instead testifies to the use of these elements as personal ornaments applied or sewn onto clothing.

A particular find is a single specimen of the Glycimeris species found during the 2011 excavation campaign in the innermost part of the cave; the ornament, about 41 mm. in length and 5 mm. wide, it consists of a fragment of the shell with a semi-moon profile (probably the result of an anthropic manufacturing process) decorated with deep incisions to form 10 groupings of notches filled with ocher, for a total of 49 notches. The ornament has no suspension hole and has been dated to a calibrated time interval between 12.320 and 9.370 years ago.

The Neolithic material is composed of a few ceramic fragments and lithic artifacts dated to the Early Neolithic. The remains of 5 burials were also recognized, 2 of children between 7 and 16 years of age, 2 female bodies between the ages of 20 and 25 and an adult male of 40-50 years.

Historical notes

The cave was discovered in 1992, following research activities by the Department of Ancient Sciences of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome and subsequently systematically excavated with annual campaigns from 1993 to 2014 under the direction of the archaeologist Margherita Mussi. The investigations were mainly conducted inside the cave, with approximately 24 m7 of surface investigated, while the exterior was tested on a surface of approximately 2008 m2009. The wall art was instead taken over during the works of the XNUMX-XNUMX campaign, following a thorough cleaning of the wall from the lichens that had accumulated hiding the surface.