Cry wolf! The engraved pebble of Grotta Polesini (central Italy)

Canids are extremely rare in the in the artistic record of the Palaeolithic, as Leroi-Gourhan (1992) remarked. Here we describe an engraved wolf on a pebble from Grotta Polesini near Rome, discovered in the middle of last century by A.M. Radmilli, a professional archaeologist of the time. Not only is it an exceptional depiction, but ever since Radmilli (1954, 1957, 1974) described it as an outstanding example of hunting magic, it has been often quoted recurrently as supporting evidence of this magic activity, and even as a “smoking gun” validating the theory itself. We discuss how this theory arose, some of its critics, and why the engraved wolf in question is not a case of hunting magic.