The figurine is a small head in yellowish figulina clay: it consists of only the upper part of the body (shoulders and neck) and the head, the latter with a sort of headgear that frames the face. The somatic characters of the latter are stylized, composed only of the superciliary arches marked by two horizontal notches and the protruding nose, together forming a single model with a "T" pattern; no other signs are evident on the face, the details of the eyes and mouth are completely missing, while the headgear is marked by vertical strokes of variable length, some of which are painted in red. At the height of the throat there is a swelling, as if it were a collar, while on the part of the bust no anatomical detail is evident, it ends flat in the lower part as if to be placed on a plane. On the back side there is no mark, the only detailed part is the headdress, with further strokes engraved vertically and painted in red, as on the front; the head and neck are rounded and both contribute to giving the statuette a regal appearance.

Due to its figurative characteristics, the statuette has clear similarities with the two specimens found in the Province of Bari, those of Pacelli cave and Cala Scizzo, all referable to the cultural facies of Serra d'Alto-Diana; in particular, with Grotta Pacelli it has similarities for the stylized face and the use of roundness, while with Cala Scizzo the affinities are on the rendering of the face with the "T" pattern (even if the example of Cala Scizzo is aesthetically more refined ), characteristics that suggest the existence of recurring stylistic modules to which the Neolithic communities of this period and of this geographical area seem to refer. With the resumption of archaeological investigations in 2007, an anthropomorphic protome referable to the Ancient Neolithic was found in the primary position. The protome identified by "nose, eyes and mouth", is placed just below the rim of a large vase, made of a coarse yellowish mixture. The somatic features are stylized: the eyes are indicated by two horizontal incisions, the nostrils by two small holes and the mouth by a vertical incision, "... it is possible that this position, certainly unusual, recalls the female genital organ as a propitiatory element of fertility and fecundity…” (M. Langella, 2012).

Historical notes

The statuette was found in a completely casual way, once the excavation was completed, by Antonio Virgilio (active member of the local Archeoclub), during an excursion which took place in November 2001 in an area at the bottom of the valley, along the left bank of the Cervaro stream, at an altitude of about 322 meters above sea level, where, it has been discovered, in the Neolithic there was a settlement site covering an area of ​​about 630 square meters. After the usual site inspections, an excavation campaign was organized by the Archaeological Superintendency of Benevento, Avellino and Salerno, entrusted to the archaeologist Mario Langella, to understand the extent and stratigraphy of the site. The investigations carried out made it possible to ascertain that the settlement had developed in a portion of territory at the time in a protected and elevated position with respect to the course of the river, with fertile soils also due to the presence of the river, characteristics which meant that the area was occupied in 3 main phases of attendance.

The first phase, the oldest, referring to the Early Neolithic (mid-XNUMXth millennium BC), made the Baselice site one of the oldest in southern Italy; in this period it was occupied for a short time, using subsistence techniques related to hunting.

With the second phase of occupation, always referring to the ancient Neolithic of the sixth millennium BC, we are witnessing a more conscious use of the territory, with the use of plaster for the floors or to support the poles of the huts and with the consolidation of practices for agriculture and animal taming. The III phase of attendance, the one in which the statuette was found, refers to the middle-final Neolithic, i.e. IV-III millennium BC (Serra d'Alto-Diana facies), a period in which the stability of the settlement was reached , with the awareness of being a community.

The investigations then ascertained a catastrophic flood that occurred at the end of the middle-final Neolithic, which completely covered the site, changing the morphology of the area in such a way as not to allow a new occupation of the area by man.

Currently, the continuous erosion of the Cervaro torrent has brought to light the site, otherwise undetectable due to the thick layer of debris that covered the area at the time of the flood, but this action is also putting the conservation of the site at serious risk archaeological. At the Baselice site, an eclogite ax was found, a material from the western Alps, and several obsidian artifacts, the latter from the island of Palmarola, testifying to a certain vitality of the time in the exchange of raw materials from even several thousand kilometers away.