As part of the “Landscape archaeology in the territory of ancient Laos” project, run by the Superintendency of Calabria, the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the Jean Bérard Centre in Naples (USR 3133 CNRS – École Française de Rome) and the University of Salerno’s Department of Heritage Science, the third survey campaign took place between the 29th August and 17th September 2011.

In past decades, various archaeological deposits have been discovered both to the north and south of the river Lao. This research aims to carry out an intensive survey of the Lao valley and surrounding valleys. This will be accompanied by photo-interpretation and a detailed geo-morphological survey. In order to define all geological and geo-morphological aspects of use to the search for archaeological evidence in the territory of Laos, a detailed study was made of the forms and morpho-dynamic processes, ancient and present, and of the deposits associated with them. The study involved the area between the promontories of Scalea and Cirella, in particular the strip of territory between the river Lao and the Abatemarco torrent. The geographical and geo-morphological nature of the area, together with the published finds, define a sample area of particular interest relating to the section of territory with the closest pertinence to the town of Laos. It constitutes the base for a plausible evaluation of the use and organisation of the space in antiquity. It is hoped this will lead to the coding of actual and dynamic settlement models, in which the signs of anthropological activity will have their own specific definition.

The survey covered an area of about 45 hectares on the hills east of ancient Laos and about 150 hectares in the locality of Foresta. The analysis of the chosen territorial sectors was made using the purposive sample within which systematic-intensive investigative techniques were applied and, where necessary, increasing the level of intensity to infra-site. The sample examined, which guaranteed sufficient percentages for a reliable assessment of the collected data (in statistical terms defined “population”), was equal to 15 ha. in the hill area and about 45 ha. in the locality of Foresta. The archaeological survey was flanked by a detailed geological and geo-morphological survey, aimed at a gaining an understanding of the morpho-dynamic, structural and environmental phenomena within the territory and of the processes leading to the formation of the archaeological deposits.