Centro di Paleontologia Vegetale della Foresta Fossile di Dunarobba

The Center for Plant Paleontology Dunarobba, active since 1999, is an important point of reference for an area, such as southern Umbria, rich in paleontological evidence. Inside, a permanent exhibition presents a reconstruction drawing of the ancient forest, accompanied by a series of paleontological finds of ancient mammals found in some deposits known in the areas surrounding the forest itself.
The Fossil Forest of Dunarobba came to light in the late '70s, in a quarry for the manufacture of clay bricks for construction.
The remains of about 50 trunks of giant conifers currently visible are the exceptional and rare evidence of some plants that characterized this sector of the Italian peninsula during the time between 3 and 2 million years ago, that in the geological period known as Pliocene.
Still largely buried by sediment, this ancient forest indicates environmental conditions substantially different from today, characterized by a climate considerably warmer. The preservation of the logs in place of life and the maintenance of the furniture almost complete original, are reasonably attributable to a continuous and gradual burial that took place in a marshy area located on the shore of a lake. In addition, the area was subject to a gradual subsidence, that is, to geological phenomenon known as subsidence.
The unique features of this paleontological site make it a unique natural monument of great scientific importance.
The Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Umbria, in the years after the discovery, began a long process of documentation aimed at the study, the preservation and conservation of paleontological site. Currently, major efforts are designed to counteract the decay of wood by the weather, the main cause of degradation.