There is the financial contribution of the Castellana Caves (Ba), together with that of the Apulian Speleological Federation, behind the study published on Nature Ecology & Evolution with the title “Speleothem record attests to stable environmental conditions during Neanderthal–modern human turnover in southern Italy”.
This is a research by a group led by scholars of the University of Bologna, which was also attended by experts from theUniversity of Innsbruck (Austria), of the University of Melbourne (Australia) and of the Xi'an Jiaotong University (China), which established that the extinction of Neanderthals in the western Mediterranean was not caused by climate change, but probably by the more advanced hunting technologies used by Homo sapiens. This is the conclusion drawn by the research team, which managed to obtain a detailed paleoclimatic reconstruction of the last ice age by analyzing a series of stalagmites collected from several caves in Puglia, including one stalagmite in particular, sampled from the Pozzo Cucù cave, in the area of Castellana Grotte, has yielded significant information. The study focused on the karst plateau of the Murge, where Neanderthals and Homo sapiens coexisted for at least three thousand years, from approximately 45.000 to 42.000 years ago. According to the researchers, during this period, data extracted from stalagmites show no significant climate change. The researchers' analyses showed that the Apulian stalagmites were characterized by continuous deposition throughout the last glacial cycle, and even in previous glacial cycles. This means that over the millennia considered, there was no drastic climate change: according to the study, in fact, a significant drop in rainfall would have caused a halt in stalagmite formation.
"We are proud to see the name of the Castellana Caves associated with such a significant and important discovery. The caves are not only mysterious and fascinating places, but also a source of study and knowledge." – said the president Victor Casulli, who together with the vice president Francesco Manghisi and to the councillor Maria Lacasella makes up the Board of Directors of the Castellana Caves srl.
Meanwhile, guided tours of the Castellana Caves, one of the most important tourist attractions in Puglia, continue to attract tourists, and given the many requests received and the success of the first appointment after the lockdown, the visit Speleonight, Saturday, July 18 (meeting at 7.30pm, departure at 8pm) the exclusive visit to the caves will be repeated with the guidance of the speleologists of the Puglia Caves GroupA nighttime experience that reveals a different side of the karst site to visitors who, equipped with helmets and lights, walk the entire route to the White Cave with the lights off, with an alternative section to the tourist route. Speleonight can be booked by writing to segreteria@grottedicastellana.it or by calling 080.4998211.
The Castellana Caves are also open daily at the following times: full tours (an approximately 3-kilometer itinerary leading to the White Cave, lasting 100 minutes) in Italian at 9:00 am, 10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 15:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 17:00 pm; full tours in English at 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 15:00 pm, and 17:00 pm; and partial tours (an approximately 1-kilometer itinerary lasting 50 minutes) in Italian at 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 13:00 pm, 14:30 pm, 15:30 pm, and 18:00 pm. Tours can also be booked in German and French.
Tickets for guided tours can be purchased online on the circuit TicketOne or at authorized retailers, until midnight on the day before the desired tour, or directly at the Castellana Caves ticket office. For information, call 080.4998221 or write to segreteria@grottedicastellana.it.
