by G. L. Pesce & G. Ciccarese The "Grotta dei Cervi" cave represents only a small portion of a more extensive subterranean karstic aquifer in the Salentine Peninsula, which includes also the "Zinzulusa", "Buco dei Diavoli" and "L'Abisso" caves, and numerous phreatic, coastal and inland wells. The cave, discovered in the year 1970 by the " Gruppo Speleologico Salentino "P. de Lorentiis" Ente Morale- Maglie (Lecce), is placed along the Ionian coast, at Porto Badisco, south of Otranto (Lecce). It is home of one of the most complex and remarkable painting show of the European Prehistory: numerous red and black paints of hunting, stags, men and small animals groups are showed on the white walls of the cave. The large amount of fragments of stone manifactures and clay articles in the cave prove a men frequentation during late Neolithic and Eneolithic periods. No documentation is available regarding post-Eneolithic presence of men in the same cave. MAPS OF THE CAVE LINKS La Grotta Dei Cervi Grotta dei Cervi Grotte Provincia di Lecce Pietre Miliari www.artepreistorica.it CAVE ARCHAEOLOGY SITES The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc IMAGES | BIOLOGICAL SECTION |