This was Milan University’s third campaign of excavations on Monte Zara, locality of Is Obias, in the territory of Monastir (CA).

The interventions continued in several sectors of the area investigated during the previous seasons, towards the west, in the areas denominated_room Beta and area Gamma. Excavation also took place towards the south beyond the curtain wall (US 10) bordering the access road (area Delta) (Figs. 1-2).

In room Beta, the removal of the layers of collapse including the collapsed walls of the room itself, revealed a probable floor surface of small slabs of andesite associated with a threshold, beneath which more andesite slabs emerged probably belonging to an earlier floor.
Several bronze coins were found in this area, illegible but attributable to Roman types (two of which may have been issued by the mint of Aurelian) and Sardinian-Punic types.

In area Delta, south of the wall US 10, the collapse was removed, exposing four steps cut into the bedrock (US 40), already seen last year. The steps were quadrangular with a rounded profile and a central groove running west to east (Fig. 3). Their southern part was irregular and jagged, while the northern part appeared to have been smoothed by the action of water. The northern part of the second step presented a quadrangular cut interpreted as the housing for one of the blocks of the south façade of the fort wall, as it was in line with the preserved profile. The block in question was probably dislodged by the structure’s collapse. The function and dating of the wall remain to be established.

In correspondence with and underlying the offering table incorporated within the curtain wall, there was a channel in the wall itself linking the area of the rock-cut steps with the road. The excavation continued along the large walkway, and, where it curved south-west, two large white limestone blocks with rounded corners emerged, identified as the south doorjamb of a second access onto the road. The blocks presented a shallow circular cut, about 10 cm in diameter, which is interpreted as the housing for the wooden post constituting the door’s pivot. A few curved metal fragments forming the circular cladding on the base of the post’s rotation point were found in situ (Figs. 4-5).

The block forming the doorjamb rested on a layer that remains to be excavated, which separates it from the bedrock US 40. Between the south and north doorjambs there was a row of boulders, including limestone and andesite blocks, apparently positioned to block a floor surface that is still preserved to the west of the second door.
A large amount of ceramic material was recovered during the excavations including a small female head with polos and a stamped amphora handle.