Guattari Cave, Archaeological site in San Felice Circeo, Italy.
Guattari Cave is an archaeological site in San Felice Circeo on the Italian coast containing skeletal remains of Neanderthals and large animals within its limestone chambers. The bones of aurochs, deer, rhinoceros, and elephants are preserved here alongside evidence of human habitation from tens of thousands of years ago.
The cave went largely unnoticed until systematic excavations began in the 2010s, revealing fossil remains of at least eleven Neanderthals. The oldest bones found there date to around 90,000 to 100,000 years ago.
The cave draws attention as a site where you can see the material traces of human survival thousands of years ago through the bones and artifacts left behind.
The cave is open to visitors only through guided tours to protect its archaeological resources and maintain the site's scientific value. During a tour you will learn how researchers interpret the fossils and what they reveal about life in ancient times.
Hyenas once used the cave as a den and food cache, leaving behind thousands of gnawed bones that reveal details about the ancient environment. These animal traces help researchers understand the landscape and conditions that existed when humans inhabited the site.
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