Salina. Village of Portella (middle Bronze Age)

Middle Bronze Age settlement of La Portella (excavated in 1956) - Hut A

In the course of the 14th century BC, while the Milazzese culture was flourishing, the Bronze Age settlement on the island of Salina, like that on Filicudi, had to move to safer ground, evidently in response to the growing danger of enemy incursions. In fact it was transferred to an extremely inconvenient but impregnable position on the summit of a narrow crest of land between two deep ravines with almost inaccessible vertical walls on all sides.
A substantial part of the site was explored by Bernabò Brea and Cavalier in 1955. They uncovered ten circular huts built into the steep slope of a terrain composed of compacted pumice and lapilli; the huts were semi-interred on the mountain side and built over raised foundations in drystone walling on the side facing the sea. The village presented evident signs of having been violently destroyed, in many cases by fire.
At the end of the campaign in the 1950s the huts were covered over again; only in 1998 were they brought back to light again during the work on the creation of the archaeological park of La Portella. A new campaign of excavation began under the direction of M.C. Martinelli in 1999-2000; it explored many other huts on the site.

Middle Bronze Age settlement of La Portella (excavated in 1956) - Hut C

Bibliography:

L. Bernabò Brea M. Cavalier, Meligunìs Lipàra III, 1968, pp. 144-180.
M.C. Martinelli, (a cura di) Il villaggio dell'età del bronzo medio di Portella a Salina nelle Isole Eolie, con testi di: A.M. Beietti Sestieri, G. Calderoni, C. Ferlito, G. Fiorentino, R. E. Jones, S.T. Levi, P. Lo Cascio, L. Lopes, I. Martelli, R. Mazzarella; Origines. Studi e materiali pubblicati a cura dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, Firenze, 2005, pp. 1-339.

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	▪Homepage ▪Biography ▪Bibliography ▪The places of his activity ▪Download ▪Link The places of his activity Salina. Village of Portella (middle Bronze Age) Middle Bronze Age settlement of La Portella (excavated in 1956) - Hut A In the course of the 14th century BC, while the Milazzese culture was flourishing, the Bronze Age settlement on the island of Salina, like that on Filicudi, had to move to safer ground, evidently in response to the growing danger of enemy incursions. In fact it was transferred to an extremely inconvenient but impregnable position on the summit of a narrow crest of land between two deep ravines with almost inaccessible vertical walls on all sides. A substantial part of the site was explored by Bernabò Brea and Cavalier in 1955. They uncovered ten circular huts built into the steep slope of a terrain composed of compacted pumice and lapilli; the huts were semi-interred on the mountain side and built over raised foundations in drystone walling on the side facing the sea. The village presented evident signs of having been violently destroyed, in many cases by fire. At the end of the campaign in the 1950s the huts were covered over again; only in 1998 were they brought back to light again during the work on the creation of the archaeological park of La Portella. A new campaign of excavation began under the direction of M.C. Martinelli in 1999-2000; it explored many other huts on the site. Middle Bronze Age settlement of La Portella (excavated in 1956) - Hut C Bibliography: L. Bernabò Brea M. Cavalier, Meligunìs Lipàra III, 1968, pp. 144-180. M.C. Martinelli, (a cura di) Il villaggio dell'età del bronzo medio di Portella a Salina nelle Isole Eolie, con testi di: A.M. Beietti Sestieri, G. Calderoni, C. Ferlito, G. Fiorentino, R. E. Jones, S.T. Levi, P. Lo Cascio, L. Lopes, I. Martelli, R. Mazzarella; Origines. Studi e materiali pubblicati a cura dell'Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria, Firenze, 2005, pp. 1-339. Return to the list info@luigibernabobrea.it