Riparo dell’Istrice (Canino, VT)

Riparo dell’Istrice is a rock shelter located in the northern Latium along the Fiora river, about 3.5 km north of the Etruscan city of Vulci. This area has been the subject of excavations and surveys since the 1950s. The investigations carried out first by Ferrante Rittatore Vonwiller and later by the Gruppo Archeologico Romano (G.A.R.) allowed to find some caves and shelters with prehistoric and protohistoric pottery. Riparo dell’Istrice was discovered in the 2019 during a survey carried out along the Fiora valley by the University of Naples Federico II which brought to light new caves and shelters that yielded ceramics of the Copper and Bronze ages. The ceramic finds found in the shelter are attributable to an advanced phase of the Early Bronze Age. The material culture of the site is related to a cultural group of central tyrrhenian Italy called Belverde-Mezzano facies. This cultural aspect is attested by other protohistoric sites of the Fiora valley, such as Pontecchio, Grotta di Carli, Felcetone cemetery. Riparo dell’Istrice allows to update the list of sites falling into the Belverde-Mezzano facies.