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Venosa - Notarchirico Paleontological Park

Info
Località Notarchirico
Tel. 0972 374791 - Mobile 339 1631053
Open: daily 8.30-12.30 and 14.30-15.30
Closed: on Mondays
Free Admission

The Notarchirico Paleontological Park is an open-air site dating from the Inferior Paleolithic, around 359,000 years ago and situated not far from Venosa.

The importance of this Park depends on the fact that this is one of the best preserved and richest in material European sites about the Middle Pleistocene.

This deposit was found in 1979 as a result of recognition by the ‘Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana’ (Italian Institute for Human Paleontology). Several excavations were made from 1980 to 1985, directed by the ‘Sovrintendenza Archeologica della Basilicata’ (Basilicata Archaelogy Board), that have brought to light several extended living layers with manufactures associated with elephant, cow and deer remains.

The scull of an elephant was found up-side-down with both its tusks in anatomic connection and its mandible, lacking both its ascending sides, near the front extremity of the right tusk.

Apart from this found, in the site other animals were found, such as a Paleoxodon antiquus, some bovids (Bos primigenius and Bison schoetensack) and some cervids (Dama clactoniana, Cervus elaphus and Megaceros solihacus), together with some rarer remains of rhinos, hares, turtles and some birds.