With the aim of protecting the site an archaeological investigation was undertaken at Trasanello, close to the Neolithic village of Murgia Timone. This area had been explored by Ridola as it was believed to be the site of prehistoric tombs and man-made grottos. Today the site looks the same as it did when Ridola saw it, that is, edged by a series of limestone blocks fixed into the ground in the form of a semicircle. Found within this structure was the bottom of a probable hut previously excavated by Ridola. It was dug into the bed-rock and had a large post-hole in the centre. The space in front of the hut revealed several rows of post-holes of various dimensions, some of which had already been documented. In the same area, several rock-cut pits were identified, perhaps the housings for large storage vessels, together with a typical “hutâ€� shaped silos. The interior of the semicircular stone structure, the hut bottom and the post-holes produced very few fragments of Bronze and Iron Age impasto. In the surrounding area, including that next to the Neolithic village of Murgia Timone, the presence of Bronze Age burials and man-made grottos (robbed in antiquity) was documented. Also present were tens of funerary tumuli each with a square stone cist at the centre, these had also been robbed. The density of the documented evidence, from the Neolithic villages to the Iron Age tumuli gives a good idea of the intensity of prehistoric occupation on the Murgia Materana. (Maria Luisa Nava)