Italian solar megaproject under fire for threatening Neolithic archaeological site

A planned 80-hectare agrivoltaic plant in southern Italy is facing demands for an immediate halt after excavations uncovered an exceptionally important Neolithic settlement at the site.

The project is planned for Masseria Maramonti, in the municipality of Nardò in Lecce province. The civic platform Save the Arneo Rings says the development threatens a site identified during preventive excavations carried out in June and July 2024 under the supervision of the archaeological authorities.

Those excavations confirmed the presence of a settlement from the Recent and Final Neolithic periods, dating to the fifth and fourth millennia BC. Archaeologists found residential structures, areas of worship, tombs containing human remains, pottery and obsidian. They also identified the route of the ancient Via Augusta Sallentina Roman road.

The area also contains the famous Arneo Rings, concentric structures stretching for more than two kilometers. Known popularly as the “Salentine Atlantis,” the formations can be seen only from the air, and their scientific origin has not yet been fully established.

The project received environmental approval from Italy’s Council of Ministers in February 2024, despite an initial negative opinion from the archaeological authority. Apulia’s regional government granted the final single authorization on Aug. 6. The civic group says foundations, utility trenches and electrical structures would affect areas at the highest archaeological risk, while the project would also lack a protected zone. It is seeking the withdrawal of the permits and archaeological and landscape protection for the entire area.

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This is not about opposing renewable energy, but about preventing poorly planned development from causing the definitive loss of a site that, in terms of its scale, complexity and scientific potential, has already emerged as one of the most important in southern Italy.