Caves at Km 9 or Prehistoric Caves of Contrada Emiliana

As for the whole north-western coast between the Egadi and Palermo, the foot of the northern slope of Monte Erice is also characterised by numerous caves and shelters frequented as early as the Palaeolithic (the shelters of San Francesco, the Maltese and Polyphemus).

In particular in the Emiliana district, in recent excavations by the Sapienza University of Rome, the discovery is estimated of some fragments attributable, albeit with great caution and uncertainty, to the Lower or Middle Palaeolithic, and if this dating were confirmed they would be the oldest finds ever found on the island.

Engravings on the rock walls are also found in the Grotta del Racchio, near the cove of the Isulidda, not far from San Vito lo Capo, showing two figures of deer, while numerous other caves, in the territory of Valderice and Custonaci, show instead numerous signs of linear engravings whose meaning is still unknown.

In the cave of Polyphemus, next to the one in the Emiliana district, an ellipsoidal meandering figure with parallel and concentric lines can also be identified.