The fortified settlement of Monte Croce Guardia (Arcevia - Ancona). A strategic Late Bronze Age political centre overlooking the mountains and the valleys.
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Elisabetta Petrucci | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Melissa Vilmercati | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Giulia Recchia | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Elisa Fraulini | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Componente | Qualifica | Struttura | Categoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Bettelli | Primo ricercatore | ISPC - CNR | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Andrea Di Renzoni | ricercatore | ISPC - CNR | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Maja Gori | ricercatore | ISPC - CNR | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Wieke de Neef | post -doc | University of Ghent | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Ilaria Venanzoni | Funzionario | SABAP MARCHE - MIBACT | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
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.