The Monte Croce Guardia settlement, one of the most important sites of the Proto-Villanovan culture, stretches over a naturally defended hill top plateau, which overlooks a wide part of the surrounding territory from the Adriatic coast to the Apennine ridge.
In 2015 the Sapienza University of Rome - Department of Antiquity started new excavations at the site granted by the Unione Montana Esino-Frasassi and the Arcevia Municipality.
The results are remarkable: 1) several large rectangular huts and significant traces of metallurgic activity have been identified; 2) the complexity and total extension of the settlement (approximately 16 ha.) have been ascertained; 3) a reliable chronology of the settlement, whose occupation spanned from a late phase of the Recent Bronze Age to the Final Bronze Age (1200-1000 BC), has been defined.
The foundation of Monte Croce Guardia hillfort appears to be related with a wider transformation in the settlement pattern of Late Bronze Age Italy. Concurrently with the establishment of this new centre, predating settlements located in the lower areas near the mountain were abandoned, thus it is possible that these communities moved on the hilltop, choosing a more strategic location. On a general scale, this evidence indicates that the beginning of the Late Bronze Age in mainland Italy was a period of socio-economic instability that gave rise to significant historical transformations.
The aims of the new excavation project are:
A- Identify the spatial organisation of the settlement, in order to define both the demography and socio-economic structure of a large Late Bronze Age centre. These aspects in fact are very scarcely known as regards Central Italian Bronze Age settlements.
B - Compare and contrast the data from the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian sides of Italy during the Late Bronze Age.
C - Improve the knowledge of the historical phenomena of socio- economic and cultural transformations characterising Late Bronze Age Italy.
The Monte Croce Guardia settlement represents a pivotal context for the investigation of some crucial aspects related to the Late Bronze Age in Italy.
A) Indeed the site is illustrative of the processes of transformation of the settlement and political patterns that took place during the 12th century BC.
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 principally 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. This was a momentous change, possibly correlated with a general situation of instability in the Aegean and central Mediterranean, that impacted on other Italian regions too.
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 known so far, that is Pianello di Genga.
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.
B) A significant and innovative aspect for the Italian archaeology is the possibility to extensively explore a wide portion of a large Late Bronze Age settlement where structural features are well preserved. This opportunity is almost unique in the context of Bronze Age central Italy and will provide critical evidence as regards the demography and socio-economic organisation of these communities.
C) 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 Late Bronze Age and to compare and contrast this with middle-Tyrrhenian and southerm-Adriatic cultural aspects, which were differently connoted and developed into different historic trajectories.
D) The presence of well-preserved structural features at the site and the fact that it is planned to become an archaeological park constitute added values for the research project and the excavations, which have been fostered and supported by the Arcevia Municipality and the Unione Montana Esino-Frasassi.
The research project is deeply committed to public archaeology and public engagement. Not only will the site become an open-air museum, but also the local community and the large community of migrants, which are hosted in the help centre for immigrants located near the site, are variously involved in the research activities. In particular, following the request from the Prefecture of Ancona several groups of migrants were engaged in side activities related to the excavations during the 2015-2016 seasons. This has had very positive results in the process of integration, improving the relationships between the migrants and the local community.