Excavations at Moio della Civitella :
Final Site Report
Arianna Esposito

The hill of Moio della Civitella reaches more than 800m above sea level and has a good strategic position, overlooking a narrow passage from the mountainous countryside to the sea. Surveys and excavations on the slopes of the hill have revealed various finds of the Greek-Lucanian period (6th century BC and later) and a true settlement of the 4th century BC. The study and publication to be covered by the requested funding regard the finds from the settlement excavated by a combined Italian-French mission in 1976-1978 and 1980. These excavations have brought to light an articulated and complex settlement, probably starting in the 6th century BC but suddenly flowering around the middle of the 4th century B.C., when a powerful defensive wall is constructed. The fortifications consist of a double circuit wall on three sides of the hill, interrupted by five gateways of the classical ‘porta a tenaglia’ type, with a narrow entranceway (prothyron) between walls leading to the wooden door in the gate itself. The construction of the circuit wall, which neatly follows the contours of the upper part of the hill must have been expensive and time consuming and required very specialized craftsmen. Parts of the circuit are preserved up to five or six courses; they show good ‘pseudo-isodomic’ masonry, built up of well placed local sandstone blocks that are perfectly cut and squared. At the flat centre of the hill the excavations have shown a series of inhabited units apparently belonging to an orthogonally planned system; there also is a wide open space paved in stone, and provided with a perfect water canalisation system. This area probably had a public function. A rectangular structure built of stone blocks on the top of the hill has been interpreted as a sacred building.