The pre-Roman hilltop settlement of Monte Torretta di Pietragalla: preliminary results of the geophysical survey

Monte Torretta (Pietragalla, PZ) represents one of the most interesting and less known settlements of ancient Lucania. The site was investigated in the last 50 years by several archaeological activities, but no result has been published so far. In order to study and disseminate the archaeological value of the site, the Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and the Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin has established the joint Pietragalla Project. The project is based on a multidisciplinary approach, which aims at studying the settlement and at recovering the lost information obtained by the previous archaeological works. The first geophysical activities conducted on the site offer important results, which increase the knowledge of the site and will help the archaeologists in their future investigation. Through the comparison and integration of different geophysical methodologies, including ground penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography and geomagnetic measurements, various information was obtained in proximity of the fortification walls and the two main gates of the site. Moreover, geological and geomorphological interpretations highlighted important information on the archaeological site. The obtained results show the importance of geophysical activities in a context strongly damaged by rural activities of the last century. From an archaeological point of view, the geophysical surveys conducted in 2017 and 2018 show a dense building activity within the area enclosed by the walls. Thanks to these results, we are now able to understand the settlement pattern in the longue duree, at the least for the western part of the infra-muros area.

Automated summary

Monte Torretta in ancient Lucania is an interesting yet lesser-known settlement. In order to study and promote its archaeological value, the joint Pietragalla Project was established by Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne and Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin. The geophysical activities conducted on the site revealed important results, increasing the knowledge of the settlement and aiding future investigations.