Rock Art of Campania (South Italy)

Antropomorphic figure of panel II, Grotta di Fra' Liberto (after DStretch) (figure from Fuscone et al. 2023)

The Scario site, investigated in 2012 by archaeologist Marisa Agrostelli, lies along the Tyrrhenian coastline in a dramatic karst setting where limestone cliffs rise directly from the sea. Within the shelter, red ochre paintings depict human-like forms, cruciform shapes, linear elements that may belong to more complex arrangements, and faint traces of black pigment ⁽¹⁾. Inland, on the western slopes of the Alburni Massif, lies the cave of Fra’ Liberto. This small and difficult-to-access cavity—reachable only with climbing equipment—was first explored in 1958 by Sergio Pericoli, a young geologist at the time, recently appointed as a member of the Society of Naturalists in Naples⁽²⁾ and by other members of the Speleological Group of the Italian Alpine Club, Naples section⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾. The site, largely overlooked by scholarship until recently, preserves red-painted wall motifs that likely span a broad chronological range, possibly from the Neolithic to the Metal Ages. The paintings, initially studied in by Alfonso Piciocchi (Fig. 1), one of the founders of the Naples section of the Italian Alpine Club and, at the time, its president⁽⁵⁾, were recently investigated by the The speleologist and archaeologist Alessia Fusco from the University of Trento and her colleagues. Three field visits were carried out between December 2021 and March 2022, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Salerno and Avellino (SABAP), and with technical support from the Speleological Group of the Italian Alpine Club of Naples. Preliminary documentation from these campaigns has revealed comb-like patterns, curvilinear motifs, anthropomorphic figures, cruciforms, and linear signs painted in red pigment ⁽⁶⁾.