The Late Bronze Age (12th¿ 10th centuries BC) settlement of Monte Croce Guardia (Arcevia ¿ Ancona) lies on a large plateau of the Apennine ridges at 650/670 meters above the sea level. The excellent position grants this naturally defended plateau a vast territorial control.
The excavations 2015 ¿ 2019 carried out by the Sapienza University - Department of Antiquities at the site have confirmed his huge archaeological potential.
The explorations have provided remarkable data: 1) the complexity and total extension of the settlement (ca. 25 ha.) have been ascertained; 2) three distinct chronological phases of the settlement have been defined 3) ) the foundation of Monte Croce Guardia hillfort is related to a wider transformation of the settlement pattern in Late Bronze Age Italy. Concurrently with the establishment of this new center, predating settlements located in the lower areas near the mountain were abandoned; 4)several large rectangular houses (90/120 mq.) have been identified); 5) Significant traces of metallurgical activities and other specialized craft evidence have been found ; 6) Geomagnetic investigation, conducted in collaboration with the Ghent University (Belgium), have highlighted the occurrence at the site of a number of hidden large huts and other functional structures.
Thus, the excavation at Monte Croce Guardia has become strategic to understand the organisation of the villages and societies during the crucial phase of the Late Bronze Age, which paved the way for the deep historic transformations that occurred in the early 1st millennium BC: the formation of large proto-urban communities and of the cultural and ethnic entities characterising pre-Roman Italy.
The founding granted by the Regione Marche for the valorisation of the site will enable to significantly enhance both the diffusion of the research results to the public and social engagement.
Innovative aspects of the research at Monte Croce Guardia are mainly related to intertwined factors:
1) The site represents a key case study for advancing the knowledge on Late Bronze Age historic trajectories, particularly as regards central issues such as the socio-political transformations occurring between the Middle Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. In the period preceding the foundation of this settlement, hamlets and villages of the region encompassing Emilia-Romagna and Marche were mostly located in both plain and foothill areas, following a pattern that was oriented towards advantageously exploiting agricultural resources. Around 1150 BC this well-established settlement pattern came to an end. The vast area stretching from the Po plain to the Marches foothills depopulated, while the settlement of the Apennine areas of these regions sharply increased. As far as the territory of Monte Croce Guardia is concerned, concurrently with the foundation of the fortified settlement, at least five Recent Bronze Age settlements located in the area surrounding the site were abandoned. From then onwards the site was included in a territorial system centred on the Esino and Sentino valleys that also comprised the largest Proto-Villanovan cremation cemetery of Pianello di Genga.
The rise of confederative political entities in the last centuries of the 2nd millennium BC -coordinated by hilltop centres also embodying religious roles, possibly triggered the processes that lead to the political organisations of the 1st millennium BC (Cardarelli 2018). Thus, the research at Monte Croce Guardia offers many possibilities for understanding the dynamics that led to the collapse of the old socio-economic system and the rise of new political and territorial structures that at the threshold of the 1st millennium BC would develop into the establishment of the first proto-urban centres and formation of large political and ethnical entities.
2) An important innovative aspect is the possibility to extensively explore a wide portion of a large LBA settlement where structural features are well preserved. This opportunity is almost unique in the context of LBA central Italy and will provide critical evidence as regards the demography and socio-economic organisation of these communities.
3) A further factor that makes the excavations at Monte Croce Guardia of particular importance is the possibility to clearly define the chronology and cultural aspect of middle-Adriatic LBA and to compare this with central Tyrrhenian and southern-Adriatic cultural aspects, which developed into different historic trajectories. Particularly in the central Tyrrhenian regions the abandonment of LBA settlements would firstly lead to the establishment of large proto-urban centres and then to the rise of city-states. The evidence from the middle Adriatic regions is but partially similar. Settlement strategies deeply changed, as in the 1st Iron Age mountain areas were eventually abandoned in favour of coastal and hilly ones. Yet, the smaller size of settlements (compared to the Tyrrhenian ones) and the diverse settlement patters indicate that in the middle Adriatic regions actual protourban centres did not established.
4) From a methodological perspective, the research at Monte Croce Guardia has adopted state-of-the-art investigative techniques. In particular stratigraphic data coming from archaeological explorations have been combined with the results of geophysical surveys (carried out in synergy with the University of Ghent). This has provided a detailed insight into the inner spatial organisation of a large Late Bronze Age village: an exceptionally remarkable result whose publication is in preparation.
Moreover, the ongoing anthracological, palynological and archaeozoological analyses will give significant data on both the subsistence economy of the village and the surrounding environment. Isotopic analyses (oxygen and strontium) on animal remains will provide useful information on the possible existence of transhumance practices and the exploitation of high grazing pastures.
5) In the framework of protohistoric studies a decisive innovative factor is the possibility to launch a project for the valorization of the site. Monte Croce Guardia is public property and its is included in the `Gole di Frasassi e della Rossa¿ natural regional park. The Department of Antiquity - Sapienza University has been entrusted with the scientific direction of the project for the realization of the Archaeological park and study of stoni features, conservation issues and idenfication of ecocompatible materials for restoration and reconstruction. A first tranche of the funding (€ 25,000) has been allocated to the Department administration. A second tranche (€ 37, 000) will be allocated in the next months. This project aims at enhancing the social engagement complying with the higher standards of public archaeology and the objectives of the Sapienza¿s third Mission.