In 2018, work continued on the cleaning of the slope below terrace 3B, situated in the zone below the monolith denominated “Uomo della Roccia”. This year the aim was to check whether other scattered human remains were present in the area, following the find in 2017 of a sternum fragment in quadrant C10.

The exploration continued to make use of the grid laid out last year across the entire area below terrace 3 and above terrace 4, denominated zone C. In particular, work began in quadrants C7 and C8, to then reach quadrants C10, C11, C12 and C16, removing the layer US1=2 a, underlying the surface layer. Layer US1 =2 was a dark brown, compact clayey-silt layer with a substantial organic component. It was present both at the base of terrace 2 a, which from terrace 4 rested on layer US2, constituted by pebbles of 5-8 cm in diameter. US1=2 seemed to coincide with US 3 in the stratigraphy investigated along the ex-cycle path, which provides the reference stratigraphy for the site.

The cleaning and soil removal revealed hundreds of pieces of flint, and fragments of bone, pottery and metal. The flints included four arrowheads and a dozen implements, in particular a foliate ogive dagger. The pottery included rim fragments, body sherds with notched cordon decoration, carenated wall sherds, rod and “bugne” handles, and fragments with incised decoration. A stone bead and possible Spondylus shell bead were also found. Among the significant bone finds were a fragment of human pelvis and a human tooth found in quadrant C8. The metal fragments were of a slightly later date. At this point it is possible to suggest the presence of a Copper Age burial that was disturbed in later periods, probably from the Bronze Age onwards, period to which the final occupation phases of structure 2a date.

In 2018 work also took place in the area denominated Pelade, just north of the monolith beyond the road at 653 m a.s.l. A survey was carried out here in 2016, followed by two excavation campaigns in 2017 during which a shelter structure and a possible watchtower were identified in the north-eastern corner of the city wall. Therefore, a number of trenches were opened in order to check the layout of the east and south walls. In the zone of the south wall, at the western corner, a 1.60 × 1.60 trench was excavated to a depth of 60 cm. A trench 2.25 m long was opened by the east wall, which was standing to 92 cm towards the west, and up to 1.78 m on the east face. The wall, up to 2.40 m wide, was dry-stone built, probably with an internal fill of gravel and stones in a soil matrix. The wall’s foundation seemed to rest on the natural bedrock, which was also present in front of the wall. A similar intervention took place along the west wall closing the great enclosure of Pelade in order to see whether it was built using the same technique as the east wall, which did not appear to be the case. In fact, the west wall, which stands to a maximum of 75 cm above ground level and is up to 100 cm wide, is built of stones bonded with gravel, grit and soil; therefore, technically it is not a dry-stone wall. Overall, the intervention at Pelade did not resolve the fundamental problem of dating the walls, which however seem attributable to various phases or to have undergone significant modifications. The entire zone was affected by episodes of land slippage that it would be important to date and understand. The few material finds from the area are metals relating to the use of the area in the historical period. The fact remains that the structures excavated in 2017 were dated to the 15th-16th century by the presence of glazed pottery and they clearly abut the east wall, which is thus earlier. The results of the radiometric analyses on the few charcoal remains found at the base of the east wall are awaited with interest.