Jazzo Fornasiello is the name of an old farm ( _masseria_ ) with extensive structures for the sheltering of the flocks built in the 18th century at the feet of the cliffs of the Murgia at about 512 metres above sea level, between the territories of Gravina in Puglia and that of Poggiorsini in the National Park of the Alta Murgia. The site, along the provincial road SP 230 which links Gravina to Poggiorsini, lies on a karstic plain which marks the natural boundary between the high plain of the Murgia and the flat valley of the channel of the river Bradano. The archaeological potential of the area was first highlighted by the survey conducted by the British School at Rome between 1968 and 1970. Air photography later confirmed the presence of a village, with a large walled circuit enclosing an area of circa 10 hectares. In recent years (2004, 2006, 2008) the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Puglia has carried out a series of exploratory excavations under the direction of dott.ssa Giuseppina Canosa. Fieldwork, by the Università degli Studi di Milano in collaboration with the local Soprintendenza, recommenced in the autumn of 2009 aimed at a better understanding of the dimensions, the chronological development and the function of the vast building. Part of the latter (room A) had been brought to light in 2008, full of fragments of large dolia decorated with a band of relief decoration just under the rim of the vessels. This year excavations of room A continued and revealed that the total size of the structure was 4,20 x 5,60 metres, next to which two new rooms (B and C) were brought to light. Both rooms were covered by a substantial layer of collapsed masonry (40-80 metres thick), formed by the natural collapse of the structures of the building following its abandonment. The removal of the collapsed masonry led to the recovery of numerous pottery fragments, some of which could be recomposed, above all relating to vessels of medium-large dimensions (mortars, basins and jugs), as well as a notable number of dolia fragments (at least four vessels). Open forms were much more rare and seem for now to consist of cups and skyphoi in black glaze, probably of metapontine production. The contemporary presence in the collapse layers of local monochrome and bichrome pottery and of ceramiche a fasce and in stile misto (pottery with bands of painted decoration and in a mixed style, together with some examples of ionic cups “B” of colonial production, allows us to date the phase of abandonment of the building to between the middle and the end of the 6th century BC. The same association of material is in fact well documented in the Peucetic area at Monte Sannace, Turi, Gravina, Altamura, and Polignano. The removal of the collapsed levels has revealed the dimensions of room B (5.60 m x 5,20 metres), while only the length of room C, which is still partially buried, has been brought to light, a wall measuring 11,20 metres in a NW-SE direction. Rooms A and B, are parallel to each other and linked by a threshold. The walls are constructed in roughly cut limestone blocks which have been smoothed on the visible faces, arranged so as to form two wall faces, filled on the interior by small, unworked stones bound together with silt. The investigation of the building will continue in autumn 2010.

This campaign, undertaken by Milan University, aimed to further define the extension, chronological development and function of the large building (10,80 x 8,40 m), uncovered during the 2009 excavations, the so-called “building of the dolia”. Exploration of Room A (4,20 x 5,60 m), was completed down to the bedrock. In the previous year an occupation/abandonment layer, containing numerous pottery finds and large dolia fragments decorated just below the rim with a raised band, had been identified. Below this, in the northern part of the room, were five cuts in the bedrock, two of which clearly covered by the room’s north and east walls. All of the cuts were filled by the same very hard, compact earth. Some of the cuts also contained animal bones and pottery, including the usual fragments of mono-chrome and bi-chrome matt-painted ware, but also fragments of _kalathoi_, a vessel form which does not seem to have been produced before the beginning of the 5th century B.C. In the south part of the room there was a layer of levelling covering the irregularities in the bedrock. It was noted that this layer contained more cobbles along the base of the wall. Therefore, it seems that the phase of these cuts preceded that of the walls’ construction, and that the latter was preceded by the filling of the cuts and levelling of the terrain which can now been dated, on the basis of the pottery finds, to the first half of the 5th century B.C. A different situation characterised Room B (5,60 x 5,20 m), situated east of, and parallel with Room A. In this case a series of interventions relating to the abandonment of the building were identified. These included two _enchytrismos_ burials, one in a _cythera_ containing an infant, one in a _pithos_ containing two infants, datable on the basis of a preliminary analysis of the materials to between the 5th and 6th century B.C. The excavation of Room C was completed. Situated at a right-angle to A and B, it closed the complex to the north. The substantial collapse of the large north wall, whose probable function was to contain the slope, was removed and this revealed the continuation of the wall to the east for about five metres. This new stretch was built in a different technique, using smaller stones than those in the wall uncovered in the previous year. On the basis of the relationships with the layers constituting the occupation level and the abandonment of the room, the containing wall seems to be coeval with the walls of the “building of the dolia”. To conclude, the 2010 excavation has partially changed the first interpretation proposed for the residential complex uncovered in 2008/09: an occupation phase dating to the second half of the 6th century B.C., to which the sunken structures can probably be attributed – characterised by matt-painted ware (wide use of bi-chrome) and the presence of numerous Ionic cups, indicative of a _graeco modo bibere_ which is found elsewhere in the territory – was followed by a phase in which the terrain was levelled. This was followed by the restructuring of the complex with quadrangular rooms delimited by dry-stone walls. It seems that the large _dolia_ for storing dry foodstuffs, the imported black glaze ware and a large part of the banded ware pottery and the mixed style wares fit best into this phase, for the moment dated to the 5th century B.C. Several pottery fragments, for the moment sporadic, and perhaps also the _enchytrismoi_, indicate a continuity of occupation during the first half of the 4th century, more precise dating will come from the classification and study of the finds. The opening of new quadrants to the east of the building in question brought to light another room, separated from B by a passage 1.20 m wide, covered by a collapse similar to that overlying the structures already excavated. The exploration of this sector will continue in autumn 2011.

The excavation aimed to define the extension, chronology and function of the so-called “edificio dei dolii” which came to light in 2009-2010. A new trench was opened in order to investigate the circuit walls, identified from aerial photographs. _“Edificio dei dolii”_ The excavation identified evidence relating to an indigenous archaic dwelling and, therefore, pre-dating the construction of this building characterised by stone footings for the walls. Two burials were investigated, in graves with a stone covering, which the grave goods date to the beginning of the 6th century B.C. The other numerous cuts in the bedrock attest the occupation of this area in the archaic period. All were filled with dumped material, probably at the time of this building’s construction. The investigations also confirmed the probable utilitarian function of room B, as seemed to be indicated by the presence of a work-bench and the fact that its south-western side was open. Room D was a narrow entrance to room C, a small channel for draining rainwater ran along its length. A new room (E) was uncovered, where fragments of baked clay grates and metal waste products suggest that metal artefacts were produced. (Marina Castoldi, Alessandro Pace) _Wall trench_ Iazzo Fornasiello was a fortified settlement, as was usual for centres in Peucezia from the archaic period onwards, as can be seen from the aerial photographs. The wall came to light during earth moving work prior to the construction of a barn. It was decided to excavate in correspondence with the barn, where the section created by the modern cut could provide a precise indication for the structure’s position. The investigation confirmed that it was a fortification formed by a wall and ditch, as seen in other settlements in Peucizia and ancient Apulia in general. South of the ditch lay the fortification wall which, at this point, was preserved to a height of 1.5 m. It must have been an imposing structure, being 6.74 m in width with a double facing with internal fill (improperly defined as emplekton). The external facing was the most solid and imposing (at least at this point). It was built with large stone blocks (roughly squared and levelled on the make ups, alternating with un-worked medium sized blocks, the spaces between wedged with small stones). This was mainly a dry-stone construction, the only bonding material seemed to be a fairly compact clay silt. The wall was cut by a series of holes of various size, all characterised by a fill of fairly loose dark brown silt mixed with gravel, cobbles, bones and pottery fragments, probably the result of modern interventions. No dating can be given for the structures at present, as only the surface layers were investigated and these produced little material.

The 2012 excavations uncovered further evidence regarding the so-called _Edificio dei dolii_ and the phases preceding it (in particular Phase II). In fact, there was increasing evidence of the Peucetan occupation in the area prior to the construction of the building in around 480/470 B.C. This was attested by the discovery of two inhumation burials in earth graves covered by stone slabs (tombs V and VI), a short distance from those excavated in previous years. Both were datable to between the end of the 6th century and the first decades of the 5th century B.C. An _enchytrismòs_ burial (tomb VII) was also found, generically datable to the 6th century B.C. Further occupation evidence was documented in room E (fills in pits and cuts in the bedrock), subsequently obliterated by the walls of the room. As regards Phase III, (construction of the building with the _dolia_ beginning in 480/470), it was seen that room E (5.60 x 6.10 m) certainly formed part of this structure. USM 4 constituted the room’s east wall, as it did for rooms C and D. The new room uncovered in 2012 (room F, 5.20 x 4.50) may have been a structure apart and was separated from room E by a narrow _ambitus_ (0.80 m) – whose occupation level could in fact date to a slightly earlier phase at the end of the 6th century B.C. _Wall trench_ The 2012 campaign partially modified the situation documented last year. In fact, the external facing of wall US 1011 (2.60 m wide), abutting the ditch, was exposed. This facing was composed of large stone blocks wedged in a dry-stone build. The inner facing was not exposed and seemed altered and damaged by a rectangular structure, surrounded by a tile collapse that it was not possible to investigate as it continued beyond the south wall of the trench. Only the extension of the trench will clarify the dating and function of this building and its stratigraphic relationship with the curtain wall. For the moment, based on the pottery found in the layers of collapse the structure seems to have been abandoned during the first half of the 4th century B.C. The trench inside the ditch identified in 2011 was completed. The ditch, together with wall US 1011, was an integral part of the settlement’s fortifications. The trench (3.00 x 2.20 m) was put in by the eastern edge of the excavation area. Inside it, alternating layers of more or less coarse gravels and sands were identified, sometimes distinguished by very compact clay or silty sediments, which had been deposited in successive phases inside the ditch. While the upper layers in the ditch produced material belonging to all ceramic classes, including banded ware and mixed style, the deeper layers, 1015 and 1017, only contained monochrome and bi-chrome matt painted ware. The total lack of banded ware could date these layers to earlier than the first half of the 6th century B.C., the period in which the first banded ware pottery appeared.

Excavations continued inside room F, whose walls were among the most badly-preserved on the site, as the south and west parts were missing. In this area, a burial was found (tomb VIII) in an earth grave typical of the site, datable to the settlements archaic phase (Phase II). The only artefact that had survived clandestine excavations was a fragment of a small bi-chrome jar, datable to around the mid 6th century B.C. A new trench was opened to the south-east of room F, where aerial photographs suggested the so-called House of the _Dolia_ may have continued. No walls were found although a sub-elliptical cut was identified, c. 3 m long and 1.5 m wide, interpreted as the housing for a hut bottom or a midden, cut directly into the bedrock. The fill contained numerous pottery fragments (plain ware, coarse impasto, banded ware and mixed style). Small to medium fragments of baked clay, some of which showed clear traces of burning were also present. The excavation of the fill will be completed next season. _Wall trench_ The 2011 and 2012 excavations had exposed and investigated a section of the fortifications of the settlement of Jazzo Fornasiello – a system made up of a ditch abutting a wall (US 1011) – and a part of a trapezoidal structure of which two rooms were identified. This structure appeared to cut the walls and abut the outermost curtain of wall US 1011. The 2013 excavations concentrated on the walls and the building, denominated Alfa. The continuation of wall US 1011 was identified; a dry-stone structure of huge rough-hewn blocks alternating with medium un-worked blocks wedge with smaller stones, running NW-SE. A compacted spread of small stone chippings mixed with a little silt was clearly visible over an area of 3.20 x 1.20 m (US 1057). This may be interpreted as the residue of the core between the walls, although the inner curtain (possibly cut by building Alfa) has yet to be identified. The latter appeared to be formed by a series of quadrangular and trapezoidal rooms with tile roofing arranged around a covered, partially paved space. The structure was wedged into the curtain wall and toothed into the external facing. However, it is not sure whether this caused the wall to go out of function. The completion of the excavation of this building next season will provide a _terminus ante quem_ for the dating of the defences. Among the finds were several fragments of Italic Red figure pottery and Gnathian ware, datable to between the end of the 4th-beginning of the 3rd century B.C. indicating an earlier occupation phase with respect to that documented for the House of the _Dolia_. In 2014, the first volume dedicated to the excavation will be published by Edipuglia: M. CASTOLDI et Alii, Scavi a Jazzo Fornasiello (Gravina in Puglia, Bari), un abitato peuceta. Prime indagini, Bari 2014.

This campaign, undertaken by Milan University in collaboration with the Superintendency, concentrated on the vast complex, building Alpha, excavated during previous seasons (2011-2013), close to the curtain wall. The 2013 excavation area was reopened and extended into the surrounding quadrants. Building Alpha To date this building appears to be constituted by a row of three rooms A, B, and E (c. 5.50 x 12.50 m) on a north-south alignment, flanked to the west by two other rooms, C and G, one of which seems to be a portico (C) roofed with perishable materials. To the east was room D, which evidence for the use of fire and the presence of waste products suggests was a production area, and room F. It should be noted that the archaeological record was only completed in room A – which the presence of large storage jars for dry foodstuffs and good quality tablewares suggests was a larder/storeroom – and portico C, while the excavation of the other rooms remains to be completed. The results from the 2014 campaign provided new data about the construction phases, of which there seem to have been two. Based on the dating provided by the pottery finds, the building’s first phase, with relative occupation layers, disuse and abandonment, well-documented in rooms A, C and D, dates to between the mid 6th century and the first decades of the 5th century B.C. (abundant monochrome and bi-chrome pottery, impasto, Ionian cups and residual mista and black glaze ware). The second phase, attested in room B trench 1, and the collapses of stone and brick/tile material, dates to the 4th century B.C., perhaps continuing to the first decades of the 3rd century B.C. The existence of a second phase seems to be supported by the rebuilding of the wall crests in US 1023-1055-1029-1021using a different construction technique characterised by the use of smaller stones to form facings. This later phase probably saw a general reorganization of the building, with the addition of new roofing in durable material, as seems to be indicated by the substantial tile collapses documented in past and the present excavation seasons. The building seems to comprise a series of covered rooms (A, E, F, G) interspersed with open or semi-covered areas (B, C, D) with clear occupation evidence and where part of the production activities took place. The continuation of the excavations should further clarify the building’s layout and the absolute chronologies for the occupation phases.

This campaign, carried out by the University of Milan, concentrated on the investigation of a vast complex, building _Alfa_, excavated during previous seasons (2011-1014) and situated close to the curtain wall. The area excavated in 2014 was reopened and extended. Building _Alfa_ This structure, the recording of which is now complete, was made up of three rooms A, B, and E (5.70 x 12 m) in axis, on a north-south alignment. The two rooms to the east and west of the building, C and D, were probably open spaces, perhaps partially covered by canopies, indicated by the presence of postholes. Room D seemed to have a productive function, attested by areas baked by heat and by waste materials. For both, the finds from the occupation layers suggest a date within the site’s Archaic phase (6th-early 5th B.C.). This season’s excavations also revealed the existence of other t rooms, G and F, the latter still to be excavated. Although independent, they were centred on building _Alfa_, thus showing that it was not an isolated structure but part of a larger complex. The stratigraphy and ceramic finds suggest that building _Alfa_, with relative layers of occupation, disuse, and abandonment, dated to within the 4th century B.C. and was preceded by a building on a different alignment, to which rooms C and D probably belonged. This earlier structure probably dated to the Archaic phase, between the mid 6th century and early decades of the 5th century B.C. In fact, the layers contained abundant pottery - monochrome, bi-chrome, impasto, Ionian cups, and residual mixed and Black Glaze wares. The tombs found to the south of the building (T. XI-XII-XIII) and tomb XXIV, also date to this period. They were found intact inside the later room G, according to the Peucetan practice of burying the dead in the immediate vicinity of houses.

This campaign undertaken by Milan University and the local Superintendency, concentrated on the vast complex excavated during previous seasons (2011-2015), denominated “building _Alfa_”. The 2015 excavation area was reopened and extended to the surrounding quadrants, which revealed a large amount of evidence relating to the site’s archaic phase, on which in about the mid 4th century building _Alfa_ was constructed. Building _Alfa_ This season’s excavations completed the investigation of the area immediately south of rooms E, D, and F, partially excavated last year. Low dry-stone walls dating to the archaic phase were uncovered (6th-early 5th century B.C.), in addition to the usual earth graves, robbed by clandestine excavators. The recording of room F was completed, which dates to the second half of the 4th century and therefore certainly belongs to building _Alfa_. The room contained two structures interpretable as hearths, situated along the western perimeter wall (US 1061). Two _enchytrismòi_ burials (Tb. XXVII and XXIX) were found along the room’s south wall. In the northern part of the excavation, beyond room F, two new sectors, I and H, were identified. Both dated to the archaic phase and were divided from room F by a passage running east-west, interpretable as a probable road surface. In sector H, probably and enclosure, a tomb was present (Tb. XXVIII), also disturbed. Still _in_ _situ_, next to the burial there was the upper part of a bichrome geometric krater carefully placed on a bed of small stones. The position at the edge of the burial suggests its function was linked to rituals practiced directly on the tomb or that it was a grave marker.

The 2017 campaign undertaken by Milan University in collaboration with the local Superintendency, aimed to continue the excavations in the area of the so-called “Complesso Alfa”. In addition, a trench was opened further to the east (East trench) to check the stratigraphy in correspondence with the negative evidence visible in aerial photographs, generally interpreted as the external ditch of a curtain wall. _East Trench_ In the northern part of the trench, where aerial photographs suggested the presence of the ditch, two walls were exposed that indicated the continuation of the settlement towards the north-east. Based on the materials found, including fragments of an Apulian figured crater, it is thought that this part of the settlement relates, as does the “Compesso Alfa”, to the final occupation phase in this area (second half of the 4th-early 3rd century B.C.). _Area south of “Complesso Alfa”_ This season, the aim was to further define the plan of this complex, which the evidence increasingly seems to suggest had both civic and ritual functions. An extensive layer of collapse suggested the structure continued towards the south, therefore, the excavation was extended across the entire southern sector, exposing numerous walls. The walls formed three distinct buildings, denominated (west to east) L, M, and N, arranged around a large open space, situated in the northern part of the trench. The new elements represented the direct continuation of the structures documented during the previous campaign. The materials recovered from the new rooms dated to between the mid 4th and the early 3rd century B.C. In room M, there was a ritual deposition, with upside down vases protected by limestone slabs. The archaeological record will be completed during the 2018 campaign.

This year, Milan University’s excavations aimed to continue the work begun on the site in the area of the so-called “Complesso Alfa”. _Area south of the piazzetta_ The 2018 campaign aimed to gather further information about the plan of “Complesso Alfa”, which seemed to have both civil and ritual functions. As the evidence of an extensive level of collapse suggested that the structure continued towards the south, the excavations were extended across the whole of the southern sector, which brought to light numerous walls. These formed three buildings, denominated, from west to east, L, M, and N, facing onto an open space, the so-called ‘piazzetta’, situated in the northern part of the trench. The area excavated in 2018 is therefore a direct continuation of what was documented during the 2017 campaign. Based on the materials found, these new rooms date to between the mid 4th and early 3rd centuries B.C. Rooms L and M were excavated and recorded, between which there was a long passageway, almost a road, and a new room denominate O was partially excavated. Structure M, which rested directly on the bedrock was completely recorded, while the investigation of the other structures is ongoing; the layer of collapse was removed, but the archaeological record is to be completed. Given the size of the rooms, it appears increasing probable that Jazzo Fornasiello was an actual settlement with houses, squares, and roads.