The University of Kentucky’s final season of fieldwork at Monte Palazzi included both excavation and remote sensing and confirmed the presence of a small Greek fort on this mountaintop in south-central Calabria. Prior investigations in 2005, 2007, and 2008 had uncovered a portion of a massive, double-faced defensive perimeter on the northwestern side of the summit and revealed extensive disturbances.

The cultural material indicated that the site was occupied by Greeks from Locri Epizephyrii from the second half of the 6th to the mid-3rd centuries BC. Excavation in 2010 was focused on two adjoining units in the southern area of the mountaintop. Its main objectives were to investigate the stratigraphy of the archaeological deposit and to uncover the inner face of the southern rampart. A geophysical survey involving the use of a fluxgate magnetic gradiometer and an electrical resistance meter was also conducted to determine the boundaries and the characteristics of the site, and the possibility of interior structures.

Dry-built and 2.5 m wide, the excavated segment of the southern perimeter wall was constructed with blocks of native granite and other types of stone, including a rock similar to a garnet chlorite schist that was quarried from a nearby outcropping. The height of this rampart, which protected the least steep side of the mountaintop, would have reached at least 4 m. Since its foundations rest upon a layer of soil containing Greek fineware datable mostly between 500-450 BC, it was probably constructed or refurbished in the late archaic period. However, the earliest ceramics found in 2010 is datable between 580-540 BC and suggests that the Locrians were at Monte Palazzi by the second half of the 6th century BC. Finds of projectile points and stone slingshots inside the rampart attest to the military importance of this outpost, which would have functioned as a control point on an overland route leading from the Ionian to the Tyrrhenian coast. Other significant non-ceramic finds include two bronze coins of Dionysius I of Syracuse (405-367 BC) and a bronze issue of Locri Epizephyrii (300-250 BC), in addition to seven expedient stone tools made from micaschist.

The results of the resistance survey demonstrate that a large structure, encompassing an area of at least 1,300 m², occupied the entire summit. Its design followed the contour of the mountaintop and enclosed a central courtyard with an entrance on the southern side. Its dimensions and general configuration are consistent with those of a military installation and are comparable to those of the fortifications at Serro di Tavola and San Salvatore. The northwestern corner is considerably thicker than the rest of the rampart, and may have supported a tower or lookout. Linear anomalies along the eastern and western walls suggest the presence of additional structures (possibly barracks or storerooms).

The ceramic data indicate that this outpost was continuously occupied throughout the 4th century BC. Scant evidence suggests that it may still have been operational in the first quarter of the 3rd century BC.