The most ancient Stone Age shore village in Western Europe has been discovered, submerged in Lake Bracciano. Eight meters deep and about 360 meters from the shore and under a layer of dense mud, it was discovered in 1989 during excavation for a new aqueduct carried out by ACEA, Rome’s electricity and water board. Underwater archaeologists found painted ceramic pottery, some still containing pìant remains, utensils, roof timbers, and were able to identify and date the objects. According to CI 4 estimates this village dates between 5750 and 5260 b.C (the Neolithic Age is from 10.000 - 8.000 b.C). In this period humans cease their nomadic life and begin to farm and construct the first settlements. The village was located near the mouth of the Arrone River on the lakeshore, in the area called La Marmotta, Anguillara. The supposition is that itwas settled by seafaring travelers navigating the river in boats from the open sea. Confirming this supposition is the discovery of obsidian artifacts originating from Lipari and Palmarola. Underwater archaeological excavations began in 1992. The most significant find was in 1994: a large wooden dugout canoe carved from a single massive oak trunk 10.5 meters long and I meter wide. During the Neolithic period, being the last period of the Stone Age, tools were made only of stone. The interior of the trunk had to be burned, and then hollowed by scraping with stone axes and adzes. Marks are still visible on the inside of the canoe. Four strips of oak at intervals on the floor are supposed to have acted as ribs to strengthen and stabilize the canoe. Three blocks of wood pierced with holes were also found loose in the bottom, probably used for fastening sails. The archaeologists have no doubt that this canoe was seaworthy. This wooden canoe and other findings are on exhibit in the L. Pigorini National Ethnographical Museum in Rome. During further excavations in 1998 another and smaller dugout was found, measuring 6 meters. Altogether five have been extracted. Already after the first findings it was possible to reconstruct the typical way of living of a Neolithic community. The village was formed by rectangular huts positioned directly on the ground. The floor was pressed with bamboo canes and leaves, walls and roof built with beams and planks of bay and ash trees. Ceramic pottery, vases, jugs and pots of many sizes, some decorated on the outside, has been brought to the surface. Of particular significance was discovery of a statuette carved soapstone of a female figure resembling other sculptures from the Near East and Greece representing the mother goddess, found in a place dedicated to worship. Small models of clay boats in the same location as the statuette may be linked to ancient cult practices or ritual offerings, totemic symbols. The importance of these models lies in the fact that they are proof of the use of crafts which were more complex than simple rafts or canoes, documenting a type previously unknown in the Mediterranean during the Neolithic era.

Most Recent Discovery

July 2005

On July 31, 2005 another dugout canoe was found 12 meters deep in the waters of the Marmotta area, during the annual excavation in Lake Bracciano coordinated by superintendent Antonietta Fugazoila Delpino and supported by the Soprintendenza alla Preistoria (Department for prehistoric archaeology), government agency responsible for ensuring that Italy’s undiscovered prehistoric archaeological treasures are not carelessly destroyed. The wooden canoe consists of two parts, one 6 meters and the other 3,50 meters, of solid structure and in a good state of preservation. Thanks to agreements made between the Soprintendenza alla Preistoria and the municipality of Anguillara Sabazia through the offices of the councilor for Tourism Carmelo Capone, who followed all the phases of this important discovery, restoration of the canoe will be completed in our town. The various phases of restoration will last from two to four years. For the moment the canoe is being preserved in a heated liquid essential for its consolidation inside a 12-meters-long container. From October 2005 it will be on exhibit to the public into Visitor Center.