English
ItalianoGrotta Perciata, which means “perforated”, takes its name from the spur of rock above it that has a hole probably originated from a combination of karst events and wind erosion. It opens to the west on the Castelluzzo plain in front of Mount Cofano. The cave is also referred by the name “Great Cave” of Macari by Raymond Vaufrey, French archaeologist who, at the beginning of the twentieth century, identifies a number of Palaeolithic sites in Sicily. The vault has a height of 15 m above the current ground level and a width of 20 m. The cavity has a maximum depth of 35 m and is located at a height of 65 m above sea level. Below the entrance a wide talus reaches the plain below. To the south, you can see a conoid of big stones produced by a huge landslip dropped from the top split between the easternmost spurs of friable rock of the massif. The leveling and terracing with stone walls in the area in front of the cave by shepherds do not permit to fully appreciate the collapse of the outer part of the vault that a few thousand years ago, was much more projecting as we see it today. The large plates and stones inside the cave make us understand it is not well established yet.
The simple exploration of the talus below the cave allows us to understand how long the area has been frequented. The numerous stone tools made of flint that are found scattered,are essentially related to types widespread during the end of the Upper Paleolithic (backed points in the first place). The neolithic presence, witnessed by ceramic fragments with etched surfaces, seems less documented.
On the contrary, there are abundant remains of greek ceramic vases ( black painted ), of roman age ( amphorae e ceramic fragments ) and medieval ( both of islamic and norman tradition ).
Insights:
Grotta Perciata and is territory »»
Grotta Perciata: the archaeological investigations »»
In collaboration with the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Trapani and University of Bologna. 
