Research activity continued in the only excavation trench still active (trench 7), in the western part of the Acropolis next to the saddle, on the whole extending over about 170 square meters. The research was restricted because of the limitations of funding. In the main area of the trench, excavations have proceeded in the south-western part, i.e. the area of recent years' enlargement. In this area, the excavation aims at bringing to light the massive remains of collapsing materials and fills under which stone, wood and clay walls mark the large sunken building complex of the Late Bronze Age, dating from about 1300-1200 BC. Beneath the lowest layers of the sequence of draining and beaten clay floors of the Early Iron Age, and the thick overlapping deposits marked by use floors dating to the Final Bronze Age, a thick clean clay cover came to light, extremely compact and extending over at least 4x3 meters, deepening upslope (from South to North): it is probably the basal fill of a depression, whose function remains uncertain. This could be a basin for the transformation of materials or a water collection facility, which is cut into and built above the large sunken structure. The installation dates to an ancient phase of the Final Bronze Age. The associated materials confirm the importance of the site of Broglio during the phase. In the north-eastern part of the trench ("7 North"), out of the large depression hosting the impressive sunken building structure of the Late Bronze Age, excavations continued over a higher level protohistoric artificial terrace: the exploration of a tight succession of housing phases, which had begun in previous years, was carried on here. A building continuity of a centuries-old sequence of overlapping huts can be outlined (until now 5 building phases, since at least the Recent and up to the Final Bronze Age, without any evident discontinuity, i.e. at least two centuries). In the 2010 campaign the excavation specifically progressed towards East, removing the oldest living floors of the Final Bronze Age and some of the Recent Bronze Age, in order to completely expose the horseshoe-shaped domestic oven of the Recent Bronze Age, which had already come to light: its removal is now planned for 2011. Coeval with the beaten floor overlying the oven, a small sub-quadrangular flooring came to light (ca. 0,6x0,6 m); it was charactesrized by calcareous concretions and some burnt soil lumps, and rested upon a draining potsherd pavement, of corresponding shape. At Broglio, similar concentrations of concretions are generally associated with draining levels underlying firing floors. New initiatives have been undertaken to try to complete the archaeological park and to reconstruct the experimental replica of the Recent Bronze Age hut, which burned down in a tremendous wildfire during the summer of 2007. In fact, the Municipality of Trebisacce participated in 2010 to the ARCUS call for interventions on Safeguarding, Cultural Heritage and Performing Arts, with a budget request of 1,000,000 €; the results of the selection are pending.

Research activity continued in the only excavation trench still active (trench 7), in the western part of the Acropolis next to the saddle. The research was restricted because of the limitations of funding. In the main area of the trench, excavations have proceeded in the south-western part, where the thick clean clay cover came to light in 2010. The cover has been confirmed to be a multilayered flooring (at least two subsequent coatings made of clean clay have been identified), sloping from south to north in the excavation area, and defining a broad depression, which looks like a tank. The maximum extension so far observed is about 5 x 3 m. The function of the structure remains uncertain. The horizontal floors located aside of this facility are characterized by less compact and continuous clayey material and some heaps of stones (which may in part derive from the rubble of the underlying large sunken building complex of the Late Bronze Age); from them, some further, not adjoining, fragments of horse figurines were recovered, made of levigated clay and painted in protogeometric style. One must particularly quote a very naturalistic muzzle, bearing the painted harness, in red-brown colour, and a fragment with the back legs and a tail with paint. Even these fragments bear holes for the wheels (on the legs) and at the horse bit. The comprehensive number of horse figurines found over the years from this structure scores at least 4, but possibly 6, given the number of fragments recovered. In addition to horses, the fragments of at least 3 carts, which were to be drawn by them, have also been found, as well as some wheels. The findings confirm the dating of the levels to a non-advanced phase of the Final Bronze Age. The excavations continued also in the north-eastern part of the trench ("7 North"). The domestic horseshoe-shaped Recent Bronze Age oven, exposed in previous years, was removed; the fragments were positioned for future reconstruction in the museum. It has been confirmed that the north-eastern end of the oven is lacking, and it was probably damaged during the leveling for the construction of the next floor, in the course of the secular continuity of hut rebuilding (until now 6 building phases, since at least the Recent and up to the Final Bronze Age, without any evident discontinuity, i.e. at least two centuries). The oven rested on a draining potsherd pavement with the same extension, that has been removed as well. The dating to a non-late phase of the Recent Bronze Age is confirmed. A laser scanner 3D capture of the entire area of trench 7 was acquired. In 2011 the development project of the archaeological park was approved, as a result of the ARCUS call 2010 for interventions on Safeguarding, Cultural Heritage and Performing Arts. The funds amount to 500,000 €, half of the request. The Municipality commissioned the executive project, taking into account the budgetary reduction.

Research activity continued in the only excavation trench still active (trench 7), in the western part of the Acropolis next to the saddle. Excavation -albeit reduced on the field, and focused on the completion of the stratigraphic investigation and of the study and reorganization of findings and documentation - proceeded apace, aided by the extremely favorable climate. The research could rely on increasingly limited funding. Excavations were resumed only in the north-eastern part of the trench ("7 North"). The draining floor underlying the Recent Bronze Age horseshoe-shaped domestic oven, removed in 2011, rested on fill deposits, characterized by the discharge partly of ceramic fragments, partly of burnt clay lumps (concotto), probably witnessing the destruction of former pyrotechnological facilities. The stratigraphic position of some Italo-Mycenaean finds which came to light during the past campaigns, including a widely reassembled pot, has been ascertained: some fragmentscame to light in the layers beneath the oven. This result is relevant for the chrono-typological definition of the sequence of the local Bronze Age pottery. In the southern portion of trench 7 North, the traces of two distinct wall-foundation gullies have been explored. They are part of the sequence of huts rebuilt in this spot one over the other several times: the gullies are the continuation of two similar gullies identified in previous years -more to NW-. It is possible now to outline with precision the shape of some of the huts continuously rebuilt on this protohistoric artificial terrace (at least 6 phases are known, since at least the Recent and until the Late Bronze Age). Surface check surveys were carried out, in the site of Valle Carlodraga, found in 1979, not far from Broglio: it was characterized by scarce ceramic finds, not precisely datable, and by an anomalous position with respect to the dominant model during protohistory: it is located on a moderate slope, in a non-defended location, along the small valley of the Carlodraga river. The 2012 findings date only to the late Neolithic, showing that it is not a protohistoric site. At the base of the Broglio hill, on its northern side, immediately over the torrent Marzuca, a landslide level falling from Broglio - perhaps partly reworked by the river- has been found, on the advice of the fellow geologists of the University of Calabria. It contained only materials of Classical or Hellenistic phase (V-IV century BC.), including a fragment of a footed basin (louterion), perhaps hinting at a votive activity on the hill, in a period still poorly documented. The campaign included a thorough ordering of the storerooms, with the completion of the finds database, which has now reached a fully articulated structure and function. This reorganization made possible the ongoing preparation of preliminary and final detailed reports. As for the works for the development of the archaeological park, according to the funds obtained by the Municipality from the Arcus spa (Call 2010), the executive project was recently completed, with the approval of the Superintendency. The works hopefully will start soon.

In year 2013, research took place in Broglio from September 12th to October 4th. Excavation activity stopped in trench 7, focusing instead only over the “central hut” remains, i.e. trench D of 1979-1985 excavations, now renamed trench 13. This choice was determined by the activities for the realization of the Archaeological Park at Broglio, that required to provide definitive data about the area, before preparing it for the realization of the visitors’ facilities. A horizontal panel, bearing a clear reproduction of the underlying features, had to be installed over the excavation area, providing information for the public and sheltering the archaeological features underneath. The “central hut” is the major habitation found on the so-called ‘acropolis’ at Broglio, i.e. the highest plateau of the geomorphological complex of marine terraces, hosting the site. The hut was built inside an artificially cut terrace, as typical of the Broglio settlement. Former research on the hut started in 1980 and lasted until 1982, providing the most relevant association of Aegean-derivative pottery of the Recent Bronze Age, discovered so far. The excavation had stopped on the floor and a sub-rectangular potsherd pavement hearth had been left under the excavation fill. In the following years (1983-85) excavation was expanded on the same artificial Bronze Age terrace, identifying layers older, coeval and later than the hut (D west and D east trenches). SW corner of trench 2 of the 1990-1994 excavations was partially superimposed upon the D East trench (1983-85); present trench 13 included all the hut (trench D, 1980-82) and the western part of the D east trench (1983-85). Excavation in trench 13 first exposed and cleaned the hut floor. The partial preservation of the use floor (layer “1B battuto”), as identified in the former excavations allowed its sampling for micromorphological analysis. The structured hearth was seen decaying, and it was therefore carefully removed, with the help of Vincenzo Covelli (Soprintendenza archeologica della Calabria) for both future exhibition in museum, and in order to study the pottery association and the construction of the potsherd pavement, following established procedures. The potsherd pavement under the burnt beaten clay lining was rather rough in construction and, differently from all the other potsherds excavated so far, it contained a relevant percentage of open-shaped pots (e.g. bowls), and some wheel-thrown grey ware and Italo-Mycenaean pottery as well. Generally, potsherd pavements are realized with jar walls, tightly laid to form a compact layer. Slightly west of this feature, a second potsherd pavement was identified, whose shape was elliptical, and that bare scanty superimposed traces of a formerly existing burnt clay floor. The feature was interpreted as a second hearth, that had been only partly identified in the 1980-82 excavations; it was clearly covered, and damaged, by the laying of the main hut floor, and thence older. This potsherd pavement was carefully organized, almost exclusively made of broken jar walls and it contained one single grey ware sherd, as for Aegean-derivative pottery. It is rather clear that the terrace where the Central Hut was found had hosted a number of structures, rebuilt almost one over the former, but also some displacement occurred. More specifically, the rebuilt huts progressively “migrated” west from their earliest location, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, and the terrace slightly expanded northwards. On the north-western side of the terrace, an ancient collapse of the vertically cut natural slope was identified, as a consequence of localized erosion, probably caused by the ancient Bronze Age roof water discharge, during the use of the hut or immediately after its abandonment. A full cup in grey ware, lacking only the broken handle, was found in this erosional deposit. It is not possible at present to interpret this situation as a votive one, but the possibility has to be considered. In trench B of the 1979-85 excavations (renamed as trench 1 in 1990), a sampling column was realized, in the eastern profile, corresponding to the eastern side of the 1979 trench. Samples for micromorphology, soil chemical and pollen analyses, were recovered. Comprehensively, the new evidence helps understanding the complex history of the ‘central hut’ and, more generally, of the settlement terraces at Broglio.

In year 2014, research took place in Broglio from June 9th to 27th; the anticipation of the campaign (generally held in September-October) was due to the fit with the activities for the completion of the Archaeological Park at Broglio. Excavation activity continued only on the “central hut” remains, i.e. trench D of 1979-1985 excavations, renamed trench 13 in 2013. Trench 7 (stopped in 2013) was not resumed, and sampling activites in Trench 1 (trench B of 1979-85 excavations), performed in 2013, were over. The 2014 excavation brought to a significant improvement of our understanding of the structural sequence in the area and finally prepared the area for the realization of the visitors’ facilities of the Archaeological Park. The new (and older) potsherd pavement, identified in 2014, was carefully removed for study and preservation, and its original function as a hearth was confirmed, as well as its connections with a building phase preceding the well-known ‘central hut’ excavated in 1980-82. More traces of this former building phase came to light underneath the floor of the ‘central hut’, showing a row of post-holes, likely part of a wall limiting an apse-shaped end of a hut, the apse located toward West, like in the ‘central hut’. The front side of the hut extended in the D east trench of 1983-85 excavations, outside the area of 2013-14 research; the new wall can be connected to other gullies and post-holes found during these excavations. Comprehensively, the hut was located more to the East and to the South of the ‘central hut’. This new hut can be dated to an early phase of the Recent Bronze Age, i.e. older than the ‘central hut’; the pottery association of the older potsherd pavement and of the few remaining associated layers is therefore of particular significance. This new evidence has allowed to reconnect more extensively the building history of the Central hut to the former building phases in the area, helping to grasp better the local complex sequence of buildings, hosted by the anthropic terraces cut into the side slope of the Broglio “acropolis”. In 2014, the building activity for the realization of the archaeological park brought to the discovery of a new feature, a huge beehive-shaped pit, located on the top of the “acropolis”, that was included in a rescue activity called Trench 15. The pit was intersected by the foundation trench of the fire-estinguishing tank, built in service to the reconstructed Bronze Age hut. It was about 2 m deep and can be dated to the Middle Bronze Age. This discovery, in an area totally empty of other archaeological features, shows once more the wide dispersion of archaeological features (pits) dating to the MBA, all over the acropolis, testifying an extensive occupation of the 1.5 ha plateau since the beginnning of its occupation.

In year 2015, research took place in Broglio from September 8th to October 3rd; only laboratory activities were carried out, aimed at an exhaustive study of the “central hut” deposits, excavated during the 2013 and 2014 campaigns (trench D of the former excavations, now trench 13). The structure, already investigated by Renato Peroni and collaborators between 1980 and 1982, still represents the context of the Recent Bronze Age (ca. 1.300-15050 BC) which gave the most abundant evidence of the Aegean and Aegean-derivative pottery, produced on the spot. The detailed and quantitative study of the finds, in particular of the fragments used for the realization of the sequence of the two hearths of the “potsherd pavement” type, appears to demonstrate the growing influence of the Aegean world during the Recent Bronze Age, not only on the basis of the pottery found, but also through the varying ways in which hearths were made. On September 18th, 2015, the Broglio di Trebisacce Archaeological Park was also inaugurated, whise completion was obtained thanks to the Arcus spa 2010 fundings. The park consists of an indoor introduction through four rooms (where one can find a video, an educational videogame of simulated excavation, full-size replicas of pottery and bronze artifacts, photo and graphic panels) and an outdoor path, marked by the real-size reconstruction of a hut (whose design is based upon the "central hut" of trench D, the subject of excavations 1980- 82 and 2013-14) and a series of horizontal panels that reproduce the traces of the most important underlying archaeological structures, protecting them at the same time; vertical or oblique didactic panels complete the explanations. The Municipality has started to manage the site through the non-profit Associazione per la Storia e l’Archeologia della Sibaritide, a long-standing partner of the excavations. The journey of the archaeological site from research to valorisation has finally reached a significant result in the transmission to the public.