Grotta della Lea, a new Early Epigravettian site in southern Italy (Uluzzo Bay)

Grotta della Lea, discovered in the 1970s, is located in the Municipality of Nardò (LE), southern Italy, and has been systematically investigated only in recent years. This cave remains an untouched environment, ideal for the application of modern analytical methodologies from the beginning of its excavation. Its unexplored status, combined with its proximity to other significant Palaeolithic sites such as Grotta del Cavallo and Grotta-Riparo di Uluzzo C, renders it a promising site for our understanding of the Palaeolithic in Italy. Earliest results from the initial four years of investigations at Grotta della Lea brought to light both Upper Palaeolithic and Copper-Bronze Age human occupations. This paper is aimed at presenting Grotta della Lea for the first time, focusing on preliminary information about the site formation processes, the characteristics of the stratigraphic succession, and the establishment of both relative and absolute chronologies according to the initial results of a comprehensive AMS radiocarbon dating programme. Central to this research is also the analysis of pottery and lithic artefacts as well as the taphonomic and taxonomic assessment of macro mammal remains. The study of the lithic industry from the Palaeolithic deposit highlighted the production of shouldered backed bladelets and points on high-quality chert, which are typologically and technologically indicative of an advanced phase of the Early Epigravettian. This attribution is corroborated by radiocarbon dating between 21,821–18,281 cal. BP, aligning with the timeline for the Early Epigravettian in Italy. In the Palaeolithic occupation, the large mammal association revealed an abundance of equids and large bovids, along with several carnivore, leporid, turtle and bird remains. Taphonomic analysis highlighted the occurrence of butchery marks, but also some carnivore activity.