Riparo di Grotti

Rock Art Site Description

Riparo di Grotti is a limestone rock shelter decorated with black-colored paintings, discovered by archaeologist Dr. Tommaso Mattioli in March 2003. Accessible via the 'Via dei Monti' hiking path, it connects the village of Grotti to the sanctuary of the Madonna dei Balzi. In 1953, Italian archaeologist Antonio Maria Radmilli (1922-1998) surveyed the area and collected pottery fragments described by the author as 'di fattura preistorica ma di datazione imprecisata' (lit. prehistoric-like pottery sherds of uncertain dating - personal translation). Riparo di Grotti stands out for its strategic visual dominance over the Salto River valley. In 2008, GIS Viewshed analysis suggested that the site offers optimal visual control over the middle-distance landscape, particularly the valley floor where human or animal movement would occur. At the same time, its steep approach and elevated position ensure that the site remains partially hidden from below, suggesting a deliberate selection for both visual control and concealment. This duality implies that Grotti may have been chosen not only for symbolic or artistic purposes, but also for its perceptual and defensive advantages within the prehistoric landscape.

View of the Salto River valley from the Riparo di Grotti, January 2022 (photo by Tommaso Mattioli)

In 1972, archaeologist Lucio Valerio Mandarini reported the discovery of Early Neolithic impasto sherds from the nearby village of Calcariola. Additionally, Early Bronze Age pottery sherds have been identified in the vicinity of the Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Balzi. Finally, a Mousterian lithic industry, attributed to the Middle Paleolithic and associated with Neanderthal occupation, was recently discovered (2018) not far from the rock art site, providing key evidence for prehistoric human presence in the area.

Container collecting water seeping from the rock beside the statue of the Madonna dei Balzi (from lemiepasseggiate.it)

In 2018 archaeological investigations inside the Madonna dei Balzi grotto revealed no signs of human activity prior to the current Marian devotion, which remains actively practiced. Current findings included votive offerings, devotional objects, and containers used to collect dripping water from the cave walls, indicating a strong association with water symbolism. The site is still the destination of an annual pilgrimage held on the first Sunday of September, drawing two religious processions from the villages of Grotti (Cittaducale) and Casette (Rieti).

Figure gallery

Rock Art Figure Descriptions

Riparo di Grotti - one of the anthropomorph of the right niche in 2022
(photo by T. Mattioli)

- Original picture

- DStretch YBK filter

The rock art of Riparo di Grotti consists of 17 figures in black colour (anthropomorphs, tree-shaped figures, lines). The most interesting figure is a big masculine anthropomorph (approx. 12 cm in height) with a “T-shaped” head, shown frontally, the trunk decorated with ‘globules’ motifs. This figure, possibly holding a small animal in the right hand and a curved object (crook?) in the left, is located in the small niche on the right side of the shelter. This iconography is very similar to that of the anthropomorphs of Riparo di Caprara rock art site (Civitella Messer Raimondo, Chieti) (number 2 above) and the famous ‘sorcerer’ from the Fumane Cave (Verona) (number 3 above). In recent years, the local association Terre delle Grotte has installed information panels to enhance the site featuring the rock paintings.

Figure gallery

Riparo di Grotti References

@article{nokey,

title = {Dalle scoperte alla valorizzazione in un’area dell’Appennino centrale. Progetto di studio, ricognizione e scavo nelle valli del Velino e del Salto a Cittaducale (RI)},

author = {Daniele Albertini and Michele Bassetti and Paolo Boccuccia and Ilenia Bove and Francesco, Di Gennaro and Rosa Anna Di Lella and Nadia Marconi and Alessandro Potì},

url = {https://www.academia.edu/39304764/Dalle_scoperte_alla_valorizzazione_in_un_area_dell_Appennino_centrale_Progetto_di_studio_ricognizione_e_scavo_nelle_valli_del_Velino_e_del_Salto_a_Cittaducale_RI_in_Prehistory_and_protohistory_in_mountain_environment_discoveries_and_territorial_research_Abstract_book_2019_pp_107_109},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-01-01},

urldate = {2019-01-01},

journal = {Preistoria e protostoria in ambiente montano: scoperte e ricerca territoriale, tutela e valorizzazione},

volume = {7},

pages = {107-109},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@inbook{RN17,

title = {Landscape analysis of a sample of rock-Art sites in Central Italy},

author = {Tommaso Mattioli},

editor = {Axel G. Posluschny and K Lambers and I Herzog},

url = {https://proceedings.caaconference.org/files/2007/107_Mattioli_CAA2007.pdf},

isbn = {ISBN 978-3-7749-3556-3},

year  = {2008},

date = {2008-01-01},

urldate = {2008-01-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA)},

pages = {342-343},

publisher = {Rudolf Habelt},

address = {Bonn},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inbook}

}

@book{RN13,

title = {L'arte rupestre in Italia centrale : Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo},

author = {Tommaso Mattioli},

url = {http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio7293493},

isbn = {9788887594997},

year  = {2007},

date = {2007-01-01},

urldate = {2007-01-01},

pages = {230 p., 16 p. of plates},

publisher = {Ali&no},

address = {Perugia},

series = {Quaderni di protostoria},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {book}

}

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title = {L'arte rupestre del riparo sottoroccia di Grotti (Cittaducale, Rieti)},

author = {Tommaso Mattioli},

url = {https://www.academia.edu/210070/Larte_rupestre_del_riparo_sottoroccia_di_Grotti_Cittaducale_Rieti_},

year  = {2006},

date = {2006-01-01},

urldate = {2006-01-01},

journal = {Quaderni di Protostoria},

volume = {3},

pages = {1-17},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

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keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Esplorazioni paletnologiche in alcune grotte nelle province di Rieti e Chieti},

author = {Antonio Mario Radmilli},

year  = {1955},

date = {1955-01-01},

journal = {Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche},

volume = {VII},

issue = {1-2},

pages = {1-6},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}