Grotta della Ciota Ciara

The faunal assemblage found during the excavation of the Palaeolithic levels of the Ciota Ciara is mainly composed by carnivores: cave bear, brown bear, wolf, fox, badger, marten, lynx and lion. Herbivores are present but less represented: deer, roe deer, bison, primeval ox, wild pig, rhinoceros, marmot, roe deer, ibex and beaver.
The association with micro-mammals of US 13 and 14 it is characterized by a large quantity of remains that attest to the presence of a relatively warm climate, even if progressively worsening. The microfauna association of unit 13 allows us to reconstruct the presence of a forest environment with few open areas and climatic conditions like the current ones. Unit 14 is characterized by species suitable for a mixed type of environment, characterized by the alternation of forests and large clearings and grasslands. In unit 15 the association attests a colder climate than the higher levels.
The artisans of the Ciota Ciara have used essentially local raw materials (quartz and spongolite). The exploitation of these raw materials took place entirely inside the cave by knapping methods typical of Middle Paleleolithic and Neanderthals (opportunist, discoid and Levallois). In addition to the raw materials available in proximity of the site, rhyolite and radiolarite, allochthonous rocks, artifacts were also found which were probably brought on the site in the form of finished tools, sharpened several times (this time on the site) following their use.
Ciota Ciara shows how there has been a change in the mode of occupation of the site between levels 13 and 14: during the oldest phases the cave had to be occupied by smaller groups and for shorter periods, in the central phase (that of US 14) there is an increase in the period of use of the cave and probably also an increase in the population present on the site, in the final phase, however, the cave is again occupied for short periods and used, probably, only as a hunting lodge.
The interdisciplinary approach made it possible to define how the deposit was formed during two climatic oscillations, one temperate-cold and one warmer, probably towards the second half of the Middle Pleistocene. Three teeth of herbivores from US 14, were analysed and dated with the Uranium-Thorium method at the laboratory of the Muséum National d'Historie Naturelle in Paris. The obtained dates are respectively 310 ± 30 ka BP, 294 ± 32 ka BP and 281 ± 45 ka B.P.
The human remains found inside the Ciota Ciara over time are very numerous when compared to most contemporary sites. Among the materials resulting from clandestine excavations, a skull bone was found, identified as a right temporal scale of Homo neanderthalensis; while the discovery of two teeth attributed to Homo neanderthalensis found on the path that passes in front of the natural entrance to the cave is completely accidental. Unfortunately, it was not possible to identify the stratigraphic context of these important findings and consequently to obtain in-depth information. During the excavations conducted by the University of Ferrara, 7 new human remains were found from 2019 to 2021: an occipital bone and six teeth of Homo neanderthalensis.