The site contains, from top to bottom, occupations dating to the Bronze Age (level I), Neolithic (levels II-III), Mesolithic (levels IV-VII), Epigravettian (levels VIII - X) and Paleolithic (layers XII- XXXI). The vast majority of the Paleolithic material pre-dates the Campanian Ignimbrite (Y5) volcanic eruption, well-documented in layer XI, which consists of volcanic tephra. Below this layer, which is dated to 40 ka (Giaccio et al. 2017), layer M1 contains material indicative of an Uluzzian occupation, including laminar and microlaminar technology and backed tools. The lithic material in the 10+ m long sequence below is Middle Paleolithic in character.

It is exciting to hold, in your hand, a stone point made and used by Neanderthals 50,000 years ago!

Every artifact is stored permanently with a paper tag that documents its precise position (in X, Y, and Z dimensions) in the site, along with its geological layer, number within the square, and date it was found. The bar code helps it to be quickly looked up in the computer database that stores the same information.