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Paolo Petrignani

The sun rises outside the Cala dei Santi Cave on Italy's Argentario promontory into the Mediterranean Sea. In the late Pleistocene, approximately 50,000 years ago, the waters had receded, and the plains where Neanderthals likely hunted would have been visible.

Excavations were carried out in Cala dei Santi on the west coast of Italy by Ivan Martini and Vincenzo Spagnolo from the Università di Siena. The site was occupied by Neanderthals between 50,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Between 2019 and 2022, excavations in the Guattari Cave in Circeo brought to light the remains of nine individuals dating back to a period between 100,000 and 57,000 years ago. The excavations were carried out by the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the regions of Frosinone and Latina, and by the Università di Roma Tor Vergata, under the guidance of Francesco Di Mario.

The Monte Circeo Promontory is full of coastal caves, such as Fossellone (the entrance can be seen in the photo), Breuil, and Guattari, where excavations have unearthed Neanderthal finds. Between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, Circeo was surrounded by plains and inhabited by some of the last Neanderthals.

Anthropologist Giorgio Manzi examines the "Saccopastore 1" and "2" Neanderthal skulls at the Museo di Antropologia G. Sergi della Sapienza in Rome. An excavation where the skulls were found also brought to light stone tools and elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros bones, which attest to the antiquity of the human fossils, dating to approximately 130,000 years ago.