Four excavation campaigns have been carried out on the fortified site of Cuol di Ciastiel, uncovering about half of the area inside the perimeter wall. The investigation is part of the “Alta Valle del Tagliamento” project, started in Carnia during 2004 by the Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia – School of Medieval Archaeology, directed by Prof. Sauro Gelichi.

The defensive wall enclosed the hill summit along the entire eastern edge, then gradually sloped down to mid slope on the western side, following the line of the present pathway. The area contained by the fortifications was fairly restricted and characterised by the presence of a series of small towers spaced along the perimeter wall (to date three have been identified) which represent the archaeological contexts with the greater deposit of occupation levels.

In fact, the overall stratigraphy of the site was generally shallow. The main occupation evidence was present inside the towers and along the recently investigated glacis at mid point on the south-western hill slope. In each of these contexts clear traces of a fire were found, constituted by a thick layer of charcoal in which the greater number of archaeological finds were preserved. The data provided by an analysis of the pottery, glass and metal finds indicated that occupation was circumscribed to between the 4th-5th century A.D.

The structural characteristics of the fortress and the identified archaeological levels suggest that it was occupied by a limited number of people. The most likely hypothesis is that it was a small garrison which enabled a high ranking person to maintain control for financial purposes: collection of taxes or tolls and the transit of goods and people.