Uluzzo C

The Uluzzo C rock shelter is located in the Parco Naturale di Porto Selvaggio (Nardò, Lecce, southern Italy), on the western Apulian Coast facing the Ionian Sea. The site was discovered in 1963 by Prof. Edoardo Borzatti during investigations conducted by the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory (IIPP). Uluzzo C preserves a long stratigraphic sequence spanning from the Mousterian to the Bronze Age, including key Uluzzian layers.

The site is central to the LAST NEANDERTHALS project, as it contains well-preserved deposits that allow high-resolution excavation and detailed stratigraphic analysis, combined with strong potential for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Its sequence provides crucial evidence for the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in southern Italy, making it an important context for understanding Neanderthal and Homo sapiens interactions at a broader European scale.

Current excavations focus on Sector A, targeting Late Mousterian layers and the base of Uluzzian deposits. The recent exposure of tephra (US27) at the base of the Uluzzian confirms the Pantelleria tuff (~45 ka BP) as a secure chronostratigraphic marker.

Interdisciplinary sampling – including zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, sedimentology, micromorphology, ancient DNA, OSL, radiocarbon dating, and pollen analysis – is ongoing to reconstruct site formation processes, paleoenvironmental conditions, and patterns of human activity. 

Results will provide critical insights into the cultural and environmental dynamics of the last Neanderthals in southern Italy.

Further reading: Borzatti von Löwenstern, 1965; Silvestrini et al., 2022; Spinapolice et al., 2022; Ochando et al., Fiorillo et al., (ongoing publications within the LAST NEANDERTHALS project)