Grotta Romanelli has been considered a key site for prehistoric studies in Italy, since the beginning of XX century. The cave, located on the Adriatic coast of southern Apulia (Italy), was discovered in 1871, but only in 1900 P.E. Stasi realised the remarkable importance of the site as the first evidence of the Palaeolithic in Italy. In 1914, G.A. Blanc started a pioneering excavation campaign, during which the first systematic paleontological and stratigraphical study with scientific methods was performed. The cave and its deposits were object of extensive studies until the end of the seventies, when the site fell in a sort of oblivion.
The stratigraphic section of Grotta Romanelli lays on a marine terrace referred to the Tyrrhenian Stage (MIS 5), which strongly constrains the whole sequence to the Late Pleistocene. The in-filling deposits are considered mainly of eolian origin and be subdivided in two main parts: (1) the upper Terre Brune bearing upper Paleolithic lithic tools and a cold vertebrate fauna including Pinguinus impennis; (2) the lower Terre Rosse bearing a diversified vertebrate fauna and limestone artefacts. Despite decades of researches many open issues need to be investigated and clarified about the age of the lower deposits due the apparent contradiction of the supposed archaicity of the lithic artefacts and the vertebrate fauna. In 2013, a detailed revision of fossil carnivores from Grotta Romanelli started and the wolf remains from terre rosse have been taken into account. The peculiar features of the two fossils considered can be evaluated within the variation range of Canis lupus, therefore these fossils cannot be considered a biochronological constrain restricted to the Middle Pleistocene.
In 2015, the reopening of the excavation campaign after more than 40 years broke the spell of inactivity in the field. New field activities were carried on and a new stratigraphical framework have been defined, new materials have been collected.
Italy has played and plays a role of great importance in the study of prehistory and geology and Quaternary palaeontology, both for the presence of internationally renowned scholars as early as the end of the Nineteenth century, and for the quality of its geological deposits and its fossil records, as well as for its "strategic" position in the heart of the Mediterranean. The Italian sites have enabled the international community to define chronological schemes, palaeobiogeographical models and to develop new methods of investigation. Yet there is a real risk that this heritage, still able to provide new important research topics, could be forgotten, especially as regards the central and southern regions of the country. In fact, the Italian peninsula is a region of great importance for the study of the environmental changes that occurred during the Pleistocene and early Holocene, when the climatic oscillations have profoundly influenced the terrestrial ecosystems and its components. The two different human species Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens have played a major role in shaping the ecosystems and are the subject of lively scientific debate.
The Grotta Romanelli deposits have the potential to provide the key elements to clarify the time and mode of the Neanderthal-Homo sapiens transition, through excavations and research with a strong multidisciplinary character. The analyses of the faunas, of the human artifacts and of the sediments from the stratigraphic sequence preserved in Grotta Romanelli for too many years did not have adequate attention, despite the wealth of documentation and material from the cave. Moreover, the studies have focused only on some aspects and, although of great interest, they left many questions still open. The undertaken resume of excavations and research will therefore provide numerous data of scientific interest on an international scale. The new excavations and the study of cave, constitute not only an extraordinary site for multidisciplinary research but also a major opportunity to be used as a veritable open-air museum, an element of great cultural and tourist attraction for the development of the area. In this regard, in addition to the progress of the studies, the project aims to provide tools for the conservation and use of geo-paleontological and archaeological emergencies of such a special area. The adoption of innovative techniques for virtual models of both the site and elements such as fossils, artifacts, engravings is here presented as a possible answer to these needs and therefore also a great potential for economic applications. Both the sediment and the walls are subject to erosion caused by increasingly frequent storm surges and water percolation actions. The presence of an active microflora causes a continuous attack of archaeological and paleontological materials in the hypogean environment.
The 2016-2018 excavations suggests that the "traditional" stratigraphical scheme for the deposit has to be deeply modified. The revision of the literature and three years of sampling and lab analyses provides a more articulated framework if compared to that depicted by Blanc in XX century. Such data are of great interest because Grotta Romanelli has been considered as a reference for the archaeology not only of the Salentine peninsula, but also of the Mediterranean region and at European scale. The new chronological scheme extends the time span of the sequence from the late Middle Pleistocene to Early Holocene. Therefore, the new age provided for the lower complex suggests an early occurrence of Neanderthal in the region (and the possible occurrence of late H. heidelbergensis), and, on the other hand, the latest human occupation of the cave has to be related to the Mesolithic. This new chronological framework is going to have a deep impact on the traditional models of human occupation of the area and climatic changes.
The main aim of 2019 campaign will be to refine the chronology of the stratigraphical succession, with new radiocarbon dating for the Terre Brune (in particular level E, where no 14C age are available), and the U/Th dating for the lower complex. However, such a complex issue can be faced only by a multidisciplinary approach.
In particular, in order to investigate the climatic changes in the region, two different analyses never provided for the deposit will be carry out: the palaeontological study of the small mammals, with particular focus on the lower complex, and the palaeobotanical study of the succession.
Finally, the detailed map of the parietal rock art in the cave has been completed, including the revision of the published zoomorphic and geometric figures as well as others never detected before. Previously, the Grotta Romanelli has been considered a main reference site for the "Mediterranean artistic province" for both parietal and portable art. The new analysis provides an alternative model for the Euro-Mediterranean area rock art.