The fifth excavation campaign on the upland site of Castel de Pedana (S. Gregorio nelle Alpi – BL) took place between 28th June-23rd July 2010 with the deepening of the excavations at key points on the site. One of the areas examined was that between the two main curtain walls, where at least two structural levels were identified. The first was probably a floor level, perhaps used during the building of the structures, with pottery fragments datable to a late phases of the final Bronze Age. The second level, more obvious towards the so-called “entrance” zone, was a cobbled surface relating to the walkway between the two curtain walls. The cleaning of an underlying gravel dump, containing abundant pottery, revealed a series of small circular holes. These were cut into a thin sterile layer in correspondence with the western edge, up against the wall and probably related to a timber containing structure, part of the terracing relating to the wall. Excavation of the patches of fill overlying the opening between the curtain walls revealed a substantial dump of pottery along the walkway towards the south-west which produced at least three reconstructable vessels seemingly broken in situ. Deepening of the excavation of the contiguous stratigraphy also showed how the lower curtain walls were originally made up of at least two courses of limestone and travertine blocks, which later collapsed at various points.

At the centre of Sector 1, in order to check the southern alignment of the structures, several layers were removed containing the sandstone slabs originally comprising the standing part of the defensive walls or terracing of the defended settlement. A layer of collapse comprising a brown matrix with limestone and sandstone chippings and occasional pottery fragments was also removed.

An interesting discovery was the identification in the central sector of the excavation, as well as in the trench crossing the excavation area on an east-west alignment, of the foundation cut for the terracing steps and of the structures themselves, dug directly into the sterile fluvioglacial deposit. Pottery fragments seemingly datable to the latest phase of the Recent Bronze Age and one clearly belonging to the Luco/Laugen culture were collected from a charcoally occupation surface at the base of an ample sequence of collapsed levels in the central area. In the same patch of occupation layer a small fragment of copper waste was collected which will be subjected to metallurgical and mineralogical analyses.

In correspondence with the northern trench the stratigraphic relationships were investigated in the sequence of colluvial levels alternating with slipped occupation levels hypothetically related to the collapse of rotten timber structures.

In the eastern part of the excavation, below collapses of various sizes and consistency, sections of alignments were revealed, probably relating to structures mainly comprising limestone blocks which must have been residual considering the notable slope in this sector. Numerous fragments of recent Bronze Age pottery were recovered in correspondence with the upper levels of collapse, brought to light in this new part of the excavation.