This was the first excavation in the locality of Li Schiavoni (Nardò), a large raised plateau, where surface survey identified a fortified Messapian settlement. The ancient walls, whose remains are clearly visible underneath the low dry-stone wall surrounding the plateau, created a sub-elliptical enclosure, up to c. 650m wide and with a surface area of c. three hectares. The defences were reinforced by a ditch created up against the east side of the walls and clearly visible on aerial and satellite images. The entire area inside the walls presented outcrops of ancient materials, including pottery and tile, worked stone slabs and blocks, relating to buildings or the facing/coverings for tombs. The excavations were concentrated on an area of privately owned agricultural land, which occupied the south-western part of the ancient settlement. The opening of a trench up against the low dry-stone wall bordering the west side of the plateau revealed the partial collapse of the defensive structure, whose state of preservation appeared compromised by rebuilds and robbing. A north-west/south-east alignment of large irregular stone blocks emerged at the north-eastern edge of the trench. The last two blocks, which emerged on the northern margin of the trench, differed from the others in morphology and size; one was fixed vertically in the terrain and consolidated on the sides with small supporting stones. The materials recovered from the layers associated with these structures seem to attest constant occupation of the area mainly in the archaic and Classical periods, although a small amount of residual material from a probable proto-historic horizon and later materials from the Hellenistic period were also present.

This was the second excavation in the locality of Li Schiavoni (Nardò), a large raised plateau, where surface survey identified a fortified Messapian settlement. The ancient walls, whose remains are clearly visible underneath the low dry-stone wall surrounding the plateau, created a sub-elliptical enclosure, up to c. 650m wide and with a surface area of c. three hectares. The defences were reinforced by a ditch created against the east side of the walls and clearly visible on aerial and satellite images. The excavations aimed to understand the settlement type and occupation phases, and to intercept the remains of the curtain walls. The opening of a trench against the dry-stone wall bordering the west side of the plateau documented the characteristics of the fortifications, perhaps built in two successive phases. An imposing structure was exposed, characterised by two faces made of large irregular stone blocks and by am emplecton of calcareous and tufaceous stones, imbrices and pottery fragments. The study of the materials from the levels associated with these structures is still ongoing. However, they seem to attest steady occupation of the area within the archaic and Classical periods, although earlier materials datable to the Bronze and Iron Ages were also present, as was some Hellenistic material. At the same time an interior area was investigated, where finds were documented – unfortunately in secondary deposition and jumbled – attributable to the presence of burials (blocks of tufa and slabs of Leccese stone and tufa, fragments of vessels from tomb groups). Although the activities of clandestine excavators have permanently damaged this archaeological context, there was some particularly interesting material among the finds, several fragments of imported Attic and Corinthian vases and from vases of colonial production, evidence for the settlement’s commercial contacts, especially between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. These contacts were certainly facilitated by the site’s position, inland but not far from the Ionian coast and dominating a vast territory.

This was the third excavation campaign on the site in the locality of Li Schiavoni (Nardò-LE), an extensive plateau occupied by a small fortified Messapian settlement. The ancient walls, whose remains are visible below the dry-stone wall surrounding the plateau, forming a roughly elliptical shape, reach a length of about 650 m and delimit an area of c. 3 hectares. There was also a ditch up against the east side of the circuit that is clearly visible on aerial and satellite images. The excavations were concentrated within an area of private agricultural land and aimed to gain an understanding of the type of settlement on the site and its phases, and to identify the remains of the curtain wall. The wall was exposed at several points on the west side, although only the foundation course was preserved. It is circa 3.50 m wide and formed by two facings of large irregular limestone blocks, resting directly on the bedrock (or in some stretches on a bed of gravel levelling the bedrock). The fill is made up of a mass of small and medium sized stones. In all investigated sectors, the fortifications appeared to have been reinforced and enlarged in a later period, when a new fill was added, delimited by an internal facing wall, abutting the inner side of the first walls, already partially destroyed. This reinforcement of the original circuit wall seemed to have been an emergency intervention, as suggested by the numerous reused materials used in the fill (mainly imbrices, but also worked limestone blocks and tufa slabs) and the haphazard placing of the blocks in the internal facing, resting directly on the ground. Thanks to this addition, the wall reached a width of 7 m. The study of the materials recovered from the levels associated with these structures is ongoing. However, they seem to attest constant occupation of the area predominantly in the archaic and Classical periods, although earlier finds datable to the Bronze and Iron Ages, and Hellenistic period were also present. Excavation also took place in an area inside the settlement, where finds were documented – unfortunately decontextualised and jumbled – relating to the presence of burials (Leccese stone and tufa blocks and slabs, fragments of pottery from tomb groups). One of the trenches in this zone revealed a picture of daily life: an embedded hearth and several impasto containers for dry foodstuffs were uncovered in a space that was used as a kitchen and/or larder.

This was the fourth excavation campaign in the locality of Li Schiavoni (Nardò – LE), occupied by a small Messapian settlement (covering c. 3 hectares) surrounded by a polygonal wall (about 650 m long) and a ditch on the east side. The investigations concentrated on the south-eastern and southern sectors of the large plateau corresponding with the ancient settlement, within an area of private agricultural land. A trench was opened on the south side of the ancient wall that had not been previously investigated, where part of the inner line of the defensive structure was uncovered. Alongside it, there were numerous large impasto containers, broken _in_ _situ_ and in part crushed one against the other. They probably indicate the presence of a storage structure for dry foodstuffs that abutted the wall itself. The most interesting find, a short distance from the wall, was a secondary deposition delimited by a sub-quadrangular border of red clayey soil, and covered by a slab of tufaceous stone. In addition to human remains (cranium fragment, molars and incisors), probably those of a young girl, it contained a series of artefacts datable to between the late 6th and the mid 5th century B.C.: a one-handled cup in banded ware, containing a small black glaze _olpe_, a bronze fibula and fragments of a second one, a simple bronze bracelet, a bronze bead and a glass paste bead. In an internal area of the settlement, the work begun in 2018 continued in order to gain a better understanding of aspects relating to the organization of the residential spaces. Two lines of rectangular stone blocks emerged, on a north-south alignment, probably the foundations of the walls of a house. The remains of two baked-clay circular hearths were found on the west side of the foundations. They were in a row with the hearth (similar in shape and size) found last year. Next to them, on the west side, lay large pieces of impasto containers, quite well-preserved, and broken _in_ _situ_ (although partly dispersed). The latter’s presence along with the hearths indicates that this was a domestic context dedicated to cooking food and the storage of dry foodstuffs. The sector immediately north, probably covered by a roof, was also a service area for the house. In fact, here there was a cavity in the bedrock, partially excavated and evened-out by man, which was used as a cistern for water collection.