<< Other Photo Pages >> Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo - Hillfort in Italy in Umbria

Submitted by AKFisher on Wednesday, 30 October 2024  Page Views: 4662

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo Alternative Name: Monte Santa Croce
Country: Italy
NOTE: This site is 39.752 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: Umbria Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Villa Santa Croce
Latitude: 41.183300N  Longitude: 14.327160E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo
Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo submitted by AKFisher : Aerial view looking from west to east showing the site with the plateau of Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo in the foreground and the summit of Santa Croce in the background. The village of Villa Santa Croce is on the left. Photo by Giancomo Fontana/Wieke de Neef/Antiquity Publications Ltd. under Creative Commons licence. (Vote or comment on this photo)
This hillfort in Italy occupies a strategic location at a pass formed by the Volturno River, connecting the coastal and inland regions of Campania. This area is traditionally seen as the border between the territories of the Samnites and another pre-Roman group, the Campani. The hillfort encloses 18ha including the twin summits of Monte Santa Croce (580m) and Monte Cognolo (518m), separated by steep slopes descending to a saddle (499m) where a modern-day cemetery is situated. This defensible location, its proximity to fertile soils and other natural resources suggested that the site was well-suited for permanent habitation and for potential urban development. However this seems not to be the case.

This ancient Samnite hillfort (c. 1st C. BCE) near the town of Villa Santa Croce in the Caserta Province, central Italy, has recently been under scientific scrutiny and surprising findings published in the journal Antiquity by archaeologists Giacomo Fontana from Texas Tech University in the U.S. and Wieke de Neef from the University of Bamberg in Germany.

Ancient Samnite Connections
It has been assumed for decades that the ancient Samnite peoples occupying what is now peninsular Italy, known for their conflicts with early Romans, had constructed numerous hillforts ostensibly to protect their populations and livestock from attack by neighboring tribes. This assumption has now been called into question based on findings by the two archaeologists[1]. Using LIDAR, photogrammetry and ground penetrating radar to map the site, their recent findings indicate these hillforts were most probably used as livestock pens and for agricultural activities, not constructed as proto-cities. The archaeologists found little evidence of human occupation as a settlement, but instead found evidence of walls and structures consistent with animal husbandry and associated agriculture.

Local Community Inputs
Based on interviews with current local residents the scientists found a long history of agriculture and domestic animal husbandry at the Monte Santa Croce site[2], but lack indications of permanent settlement such as cooking areas, housing foundations and pottery sherds. The findings call into question the use of such hillfort structures as Samnite proto-cities ~ archaeologists must now re-assess assumptions about hillforts' occupation by proto-Italian populations throughout the region.

References:
1. "Italy's empty hillforts: reassessing urban-centric biases through combined non-invasive prospection methods on a Samnite site (fourth–third centuries BC);" Cambridge University Press (online), 21 October 2024.
Read the paper, Open Access at doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.157 and there's a good summary here: http://www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/DBbORO9tnHS
2. "Prehistoric Samnite Hillforts Used for Livestock, Not Human Occupation;" Ancient Origins website article, 29 October 2024.

Directions:
Monte Santa Croce is located near the town of Villa Santa Croce, which is approximately 1km from the site on an unnamed road.

Note: Recent research found very little evidence for permanent habitation at this Italian hillfort - which was unexpected. Instead, it seems it was used for pasturing animals.
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Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo
Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo submitted by AKFisher : Detail of wall and nearby excavations that produced no signs of human habitation. Photo by Giancomo Fontana and Wieke de Neef/Antiquity Publications Ltd. under Creative Commons licence. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo
Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo submitted by AKFisher : Photo of magnetometry survey at the north-western wall of Monte Cognolo, which is nearly invisible on the ground today; bottom) soil scraping results from animal activities (left) and exposure of soil and bedrock as a result of erosion (right). Photo by Giacomo Fontana and Wieke de Neef, authors, and depicted through Creative Commons licence as cited in the article. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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"Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo (Italy's empty hillforts:) by Andy B on Wednesday, 30 October 2024
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A recent archaeological study has questioned one of the most widely accepted theories about the hillforts of the Samnites, an ancient Italic people. For a long time, it was believed that these hillforts, or fortified hill enclosures, were built as residential settlements in the mid-first millennium BC, considered an early stage on the path to urbanization in prehistoric Italy.

However, recent research suggests this view might be wrong, and instead, these structures may have had a more pastoral purpose, related to animal herding, rather than being proto-cities as once thought.

The study, published in the journal Antiquity, focused on the investigation of the small fortified hill enclosure of Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo in central Italy. Unlike previous studies, which were based on limited analysis of a few large enclosures, this work focused on a small to medium-sized one, typical of the hundreds of forts scattered across the region that had mostly been ignored.

Doctors Giacomo Fontana and Wieke De Neef, the researchers behind this analysis, used a series of advanced technological tools, such as geophysical surveying, aerial photogrammetry, and the use of lidar (light detection and ranging technology), in addition to on-foot explorations.

The research uncovered remains of a wall with two entrances, which local inhabitants said stood on the hill until it was dismantled for reuse in later construction projects. Despite this finding, the researchers found no conclusive evidence of permanent occupation, such as residential structures, more extensive fortifications, or installations like ovens that would be typical of continuous settlements.

Read more at
www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2024/10/the-enigmatic-and-empty-prehistoric-fortified-hill-enclosures-of-the-samnites-were-not-what-they-seem/
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Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo (Italy's empty hillforts:) by Andy B on Wednesday, 30 October 2024
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During the second half of the first millennium BC, hundreds of hillforts dotted the central Italian Apennines. Often interpreted as ‘proto-towns’, the authors of this paper present results of investigations at Monte Santa Croce-Cognolo that challenge this idea. Previous studies identified a small area ( less than 1ha) of occupation and suggested that habitation extended across the whole 18ha site. Combining geophysical and pedestrian survey with remotely sensed data, and local ethnographic accounts, the authors detect little evidence for permanent habitation and instead argue for activities connected with animal husbandry. The results challenge urban-centric interpretations by demonstrating the coexistence of monumental but uninhabited hillforts and urban sites—usually seen across the Mediterranean and Europe.

Italy's empty hillforts: reassessing urban-centric biases through combined non-invasive prospection methods on a Samnite site (fourth–third centuries BC) by Giacomo Fontana and Wieke de Neef, 2024

Read the paper, Open Access at doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.157 and there's a good summary here: www.threads.net/@antiquity_journal/post/DBbORO9tnHS
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