In 2004 the School of Medieval Archaeology at Ca’ Foscari University Venice, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency for Friuli Venezia Giulia, began the “Alta Valle del Tagliamento” project for the study of a number of fortified sites in Carnia. The investigation undertaken from 2005 onwards at Pra’ di Got, in the territory of Forni di Sotto, Udine, falls within this project.

The site is indicated by two toponyms on the Regional Technical Map, Piazza Castello and Pra’ di Got, which consented the recognition of the exact point in which the structures were found. Little or nothing is known of the site’s history and the only certain attestation is in the bill of sale from 1326 when the castle was sold to the Savorgnano family.

The summit area of the site is large, elongated in an east-west direction, with very steep cliffs along the south and north sides. On the western side is a depression, interpreted as a ditch, from which it was probably possible to enter the site.

Two distinct structures were identified, one in the western part of the site and one to the east. The western structure, completely excavated, seemed to have two distinct occupation phases: the first, visible in the two rooms furthest east, was dated by C14 to the early medieval period (between the end of the 7th and beginning of the 8th century). The second occupation phase attested in the room to the west seemed to be of different date (13th-14th century), on the basis of the construction technique and the finds (iron buckle, pottery fragments).

As regards the structures found on the eastern part of the hill, the excavation is still in its initial phase and therefore no date can be provided.

However, the investigation on the site of Pra’ di Got is at a very early stage and thus it is not possible to give a precise definition of the significance and duration of its relationship with the settlement patterns in the valley.