Inside La Caverna delle Fate. Excavation area c.1986

 

Reunion of dig participants 40 years after. July 2024. From left to right: Antonella, Frederic, Giacomo, Federica, Giancarla, Gaëtan, Paola, Annie.

Archeological team in front of the cave during the first years of the dig.

 

Two bear skulls (Ursus Speleus) found in the dig area

 

Tamisage in front of the cave (early years of the dig) Federica and Chiara.

A short video showing aerial views of the caverna delle Fate. Click on the photo to see the video.(April 2018)

View of the cave entrance of la caverna delle Fate. (April 2018)

 

Main cave entrance showing different deposits (2015)

Bell shaped domes formed by abrasive wind currents

 The cave walls are made of "Pietra di Finale"a fossiliferous sedimentary rock, slightly pinkish in colour

 Entrance to the cave (2015)

Several other caves along the cliffs on the way to La Caverne delle Fate

Cave entrance with dig equipment. (1988)

Antonella, Melody, Estel, Marlène at the entrance of the dig area. Zones N25, N24, M23. (1988)

Giuliano chiseling away at the stalagmite used for dating. (1987)

Antonella. (1987)

Claire working on the "champignon". (1987)

Gaetan in front of the cave. (1987)

Giacomo and Anne-Marie sieve through "remanié" sediment from inside the cave. (1988)

Cave bear, remains (Ursus spelaeus). Rib, mandible, tibia, vertebra. Zone M23. (1987)

Florence digging in the "sondage" in the entrance of the cave. (1988)

Vincent "au tamisage" in front of the cave. (1987)

Federica, Chiara, Nadia marking objects in the entrance of the cave. (1987)

Arméle clears away sediment,  professor Giacomo Giacobini looks on.(1988)

Anne-Marie reading the "Z", zone N24. (1988)

Lunch break in front of the cave (photo taken from above the cave entrance). Cisque is seated at the table, Vincent opposite. (1987)

Laurence and Francesco digging with chisel and hammer on the I25 square. (1987)

Monique, Antonella, Cecile, Marlène working in the excavation area. (1988)

Serving lunch in front of the cave. Armèle, Antonella, Wai, "Cip", Giacomo, Olivia, Marelène, Monique (1988)

Visit of the caverna delle Fate by professor Henri de Lumley (center), Giuseppe Vicino (center left), and archaeology students (2003?)

Excavation area in the second part of the cave (1988). Photo courtesy of Dominique Cauche, Laboratoire de préhistoire du Lazaret.

An early photo from the dig (1985). Looking throught sediment in the cave entrance, Giuseppe Vicino "Cisque" (left), Francesco d'Errico (middle), Marie Perpère (right).

In front of the cave. La Rocca di Corno in the background.(1988)

 

View of Arma delle Manie cave and La trattoria "La Grotta" where the excavation team had so many wonderful meals. Click here for a link to la Trattoria La Grotta.

Plan of the Caverne delle Fate showing the area of the excavation. The cave is some 250 metres in length.

Photo from inside the main cave entrance looking outside. The cable in the foreground was used to transport buckets of sediment from the excavation area down to the processing area.(2011)

Another photo from inside the main cave entrance looking out. (2012)

Looking from the outside of the cave entrance to the inside. (2011) 

A wood ladder leads to the excavation area. 

A passage way after the wood ladder leads to the excavation area, located in the second part of the cave.

Rocca di Corno as seen from the Caverna delle Fate.

Close up of the entrance of la caverna delle Fate.

The entrance to the Caverna delle Fate as seen from the Rocca di Corno.