On the Ossiferous Grotta di Maccagnone, near Palermo

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Abstract
D r . F alconer first described the physical geography of that portion of the north coast of Sicily in which the ossiferous caves abound, namely between Termini on the east and Trapani on the west. The geological structure of the tract had been ably investigated and mapped by Hoffmann. A great mass of Hippurite-limestone stretches from Termini to the eastern side of the Bay of Castellamare, which on the side towards Termini forms rugged precipitous or scarped cliffs skirting the sea-shore. From Cape Zaffarana to Capo di Gallo, a distance of about twenty miles, the coast-line is deeply indented by the Bay of Palermo; west of Capo di Gallo there is a smaller indentation, backed by Carini; and still further to the west there is the deep Gulf of Castellamare. At the bottom of these indentations the mountains of Hippurite-limestone recede from the coast, forming inland precipitous cliffs or rugged slopes, from the base of which stretch slightly inclined flats of marine Pliocene deposits, which disappear under the sea. These latter form nearly horizontal strata of a calcareo-argillaceous sandy breccia, full of marine shells and fragments of corals, &c. Philippi identified 209 species of Mollusca from this deposit in the neighbourhood of Palermo, the great majority being of living species. The ossiferous caves had been known from remote antiquity, and notices of them occur in Valguarnera, II Mongitore and other Sicilian historians. The botanist Cupani had figured and identified some of the bones. The author’s investigations had been directed to the caverns near Palermo and Carini. At Palermo the littoral pliocenc plain, celebrated for its richness as the “Concha d’Oro,” or shell of gold, is from a mile to one and one-half mile broad, and where it abuts against the Hippurite-rocks is from 180 to 200 feet above the level of the sea. The ancient Pliocene sea-margin is very distinctly seen at this elevation all round the bay, and the ossiferous caverns chiefly occur at from 30 to 50 feet above this level. Some of them, such as the “Grotta di Belliemi,” are at a higher level. The caves are studded all round the bay. The Hippurite-limestone hills skirting the coast are here from 1200 to 1800 feet above the sea; some of the heights more inland, such as Monte Griffone and Monte Cuccio, attain a height of upwards of 3000 feet.

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