Marks on the Rocks

For more than a 100 years research on ice Age cave art was focused mainly on the record from southern France and northern Spain. On this background, the cave art of Sicily was for long time neglected or just considered peripherical. Things changed thanks to the seminal work of Paolo Graziosi, right after the first discoveries at Levanzo, in the late 1940s. Since his extensive researches in the following decades though, only limited field work has been conducted: major ideas related to the early colonization of the island as well as the authenticity, the dating and the context of the cave art remained doubtful or unanswered. In 2011 an Italian-German team initiated first new field work on the engravings of the Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi on the island of Levanzo and this marked the starting point for a new approach towards the cave art of Sicily. Gianpiero Di Maida, born in Palermo, was the ideal candidate for a comprehensive investigation. The publication of his dissertation contributes to a much better understanding of the first peopling of the island and of the record of Lateglacial art. His systematic work and his fresh new ideas will stimulate the discussion and contribute to a better perception of the ice Age art in the Mediterranean.