Preliminary data about the territory of Castronovo di Sicilia (Palermo, Sicily): survey 2013

Preliminary data about the territory of Castronovo di Sicilia (Palermo, Sicily): survey

2013 Angelo Castrorao Barba (Collaborator of the Archaeological Service of the Superintendency of Palermo)

28th International Mediterranean Survey workshop

Groningen, 21th– 22th of November 2014

Case study area

Preliminary data about the territory of Castronovo di Sicilia (Palermo, Sicily): survey 2013

The territory of Castronuovo di Sicilia (Palermo) is located in western Sicily's inland, in the Upper Platani Valley.

The area corresponds to the central part of the road that links Palermo to Agrigento.

The landscape


A) western part: the Sicani Mountains B) Central part: the Platani river valley

C) eastern part: hilly area suitable for agro-pastoral exploitation.

This variety of landscapes, in addition to the river network and the position between The Tyrrhenian

and Mediterranean seas, have turned this area into a strategic centre for the communication between

the north and the south of Sicily. �

The long-term anthropization of this area (dating back to prehistory) is marked by the persisting

importance of the link between the inland and the coasts. �

Moreover, it confirms the high agricultural potentiality of the hills and valleys of this area. The aim

of this contribution is the presentation of the main Roman and Byzantine rural settlements identified

through archaeological surveys and excavations. �

In fact, the consistent number of recognized contexts can lead the studies to a new understanding of

the longue-durée in the Sicilian countryside.


��Direction: Archaeological Service of the Superintendency of Palermo (Dr. Stefano Vassallo) �Collaboration: CNRS/Centre Camille Jullian of Aix-en-Provence (Dr. Tomoo Mukai)��1) "Update" of sites already known from the archaeological literature ��2) Starting to contextualize the excavation data in the framework of the settlements' dynamics ��3) Interest focused mainly to the changes in the of settlements' dynamics between the Roman time and Early Middle Ages��4) Main interest for sites with presences of African Red Slip Ware as part of a largest research focused in the Mediterranean scale (conducted by dr. Tomoo Mukai)��5) Creation of a GIS platform ��6) Plan a more extensive research project on the entire municipality of Castronovo di Sicilia


Reasons for research

1) Period of work: 11 days from the end of November to the beginning of December two thousand and thirteen (2013). ��2) Human resources: the team was formed of only two people, me and Tomoo Mukai.��3) Surveyed area: the prospection was focused mainly on the sites already known, but we have also expanded the investigations over new areas surrounding these sites. ��4) Strategy for the collection of finds: In the surveyed fields it was performed a random sampling without the use of grids and it has been chosen a selective collection of diagnostic fragments (not all pieces but all periods) ��5) Documentation: For the georeferencing it has been used a mobile GPS and the data collected in the field were stored in a simple database, essentially a compact version of the traditional recording sheets for the topographic units.


Survey methodology

1) The villas and farms system of Roman period�

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2) The central place of Casale San Pietro along the ancient roads: best long-term occupation �

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3) Mapping caves and roky-cut tombs (Late Antiquity and Byzantine period) �

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4) Late Antique evidences inside the Byzantine castrum of Monte Kassar�

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5) The hilltop settlement of Ministalla (6th - 7th c. AD)


Preliminary rusults

San Luca: roman villa (2nd/1st BC - early 3rd c. AD; 4th – first half 7th c. AD)


The villas and farms system of Roman period

Magaloggino: rural settlement (2nd BC - 5th c. AD)



Regalsciacca - North Pellitteri’s House: Roman farm (1st – 5th c. AD)



Le Querce - Celauro’s House: Late Roman farm (2nd - 5th c. AD) �




The central place of Casale San Pietro along the ancient roads: best long-term occupation

Area Ovest Area Nord-Est Area Sud-Ovest

Chiesa di San Pietro

Casale San Pietro (1st - 13th c. AD)


Casale San Pietro: Western Area (1st - 13th AD)



Casale San Pietro: NORTHEN-EASTER AREA (1st - 4th AD)



Casale San Pietro: Souther-western Area (4th - 6th AD and 7th - 10th AD)

African Red Slip Lamp, Atlante X (5th c.)



MAPPING CAVES AND ROKY-CUT TOMBS (LATE ANTIQUITY AND BYZANTINE PERIOD)

Regalsciacca

Le Grotte - Capelvenere


Le Grotte - Capelvenere

MAPPING CAVES AND ROKY-CUT TOMBS (LATE ANTIQUITY AND BYZANTINE PERIOD)

Regalsciacca

LATE ANTIQUE EVIDENCE INSIDE THE BYZANTINE CASTRUM OF MONTE KASSAR

Monte Kassar: Byzantine castrum (end 7th - 8th c. AD)


LATE ANTIQUE EVIDENCE INSIDE THE BYZANTINE CASTRUM OF MONTE KASSAR

Monte Kassar: Areas occupied during the Late Antiquity (4th – end 6th c. AD)

North African Amphorae, Keay 57

North African Amphorae, Keay 62

African Red Slip Ware, Hayes 61B

African Red Slip Ware, Hayes 61C

African Red Slip Ware, Hayes 99A


The hilltop settlement of Ministalla (6th - 7th c. AD)

African Red Slip Lamp, Atlante X (6th c.)


Conlusions ... research agenda

- Extensive archaeological survey for a reconstraction of the rural settlement patterns in the long-term - Excavations in San Luca villa�s pars

rustica and Magaloggino - Study of the commercial trajectories

(distribution of imported pottery and petrographic analysis) - Systematic mapping of the rocky-cut contexts and typological-comparative

studies - Intensive prospections inside the Kassar

fortification - Analysis of road networks in relation to settlement patterns - Excavation of the site occupied for longer time: the �central place� of

Casale San Pietro


Preliminary data about the territory of Castronovo di Sicilia (Palermo, Sicily): survey 2013

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