Monte Giovi, on the border between the municipalities of Pontassieve and Vicchio di Mugello, is the main peak in the range marking the divide between the basins of the rivers Sieve and Arno and separating the Mugello from the Florentine plain. At its maximum height, 992.60 m a.s.l., a flat area was identified. It covers about 1300 m2 and is slightly raised with respect to the natural profile marked by the rocky outcrops. The area, already noted in aerial photographs taken in 1960 and 1970, is almost rectangular, circa 50 x 25 m, and the perimeter is marked by a saddle rising almost one metre above the interior plain and descending sharply on the exterior. The excavations in October 2011 investigated the south-eastern part of the area, concentrating on the saddle along the sides. Substantial layers of collapse emerged in this area and their partial removal exposed the remains of a great defensive wall over two metres wide, built using the _emplekton_ technique. Two courses of the external facing were preserved, standing to an average height of about 70 cm. These were made up of sandstone blocks of various dimensions, the largest between 60 and 70 cm in length, arranged to form one or two rows depending on their size. The external facing, largely collapsed, was identified and the preliminary investigation suggests it was built using the same technique and the same sized stones. The _emplekton_ between the two facings comprised medium-small stones mixed with earth and pottery, providing a preliminary _terminus ante quem_ dating the defensive wall to the 4th century B.C. A layer showing clear traces of burning was exposed in the part abutting the inner facing, below the wall’s collapse. This related to the site’s abandonment phases and traces of burning were also seen on the stones in the facing, many of which showed a reddened strip of about 80 cm on the exterior. Numerous fragments of burnt wood and the remains of a palisade, also burnt and collapsed, were found within the layer. The posts, about 12 cm in diameter, were placed about 30 cm apart in an alignment consistent with that of the inner facing. This suggests that the posts either supported the wall or had some auxiliary function relating to it. The decision to fortify the summit of Monte Giovi, whether it was a military outpost or a cult site, was clearly the consequence of its orographical characteristics making it a strategic point for the direct control of the middle Arno valley, the Sieve valley, the plain of Sesto Fiorentino and also provided visual contact with the territories main peaks. The direct visual communication between the summits of Monte Giovi and Monte Morello is favoured by their similar heights (939 m Monte Morello, 992 m Monte Giovi). This suggests the two sites, situated at the western and eastern ends of the range to the north of Fiesole, in this period probably constituted bastions for the protection of the town from raids by the Celts who, from the beginning of the 4th century B.C., had begun to cross the Apennines (Liv. 5, 33-36).

The excavations exposed a stratigraphic sequence on the eastern side of the earthwork constituting the edge of the archaeological area. Fragments of bucchero pottery dated occupation of the summit to between the end of the 7th century and the first half of the 6th century B.C. Also on this side, a row of post-holes, lying beneath the Hellenistic levels, attested the existence of an earlier structure, whose use is unknown (perhaps cult). On the western side, the investigation of a stretch of the defensive wall uncovered the remains of an opening, about 2 m wide, interpreted at the moment as the entrance to the Hellenistic complex.

Investigations during the fourth campaign concentrated on two sectors situated on the peak of Monte Giovi (992 m a.s.l.), continuing work in the eastern trench (A-B) and extending the western trench (D). In trench A-B, the levelling layers put down prior to the construction of the fortification were removed. This revealed the layout and relationships between the various stratigraphic contexts that emerged at the end of the previous campaign and led to the definition of the chronology for the construction of the great double-curtain defensive wall. Wall USM 009, on an E-W alignment, situated on the south slope of the earthwork and still visible at the time of the construction of the military defences, joined wall USM 060 to the east, the latter on a N-S alignment. The walls formed a corner that was closed to the north-east by a _pisé_ wall, the remains of which, at first identified as a beaten earth surface (US 090), extended for about two metres towards the west. Below the remains of the _pisé_ wall there were two postholes situated on the north edge of the layer. This evidence indicates the presence of a large rectangular structure, on an E-W alignment, open on the long northern side, the only accessible point given the substantial drop on the other side. The characteristics of its plan and its position – nearly 1000 m a.s.l. – on a windswept mountainside – suggest that it was not a settlement, rather a cult structure, perhaps linked with divinatory practices. This hypothesis could be supported by the analysis of two particular objects recovered from the centre of the four sandstone slabs, as well as by the site’s unique position, on the highest peak in the range, with a clear view on all sides and still today frequently struck by lightning during storms. The excavation of a part of the structure and the removal of the layer outside the north side revealed a series of rock-cut postholes. The circular holes had diameters of 20-40 cm and were arranged alternately to form two ovals. No stratigraphy survived above the cuts; however, the fills contained a few fragments of coarse impasto pottery from handmade vases, that concord with the finds from the levelling layer. Preliminary dating places them within early part of the later Bronze Age. On the opposite side, the extension to the west of trench D has yet to reveal any structures inside the defensive wall. The layers of fill produced numerous fragments of pottery and various fragments of brick/tile, some of substantial size, indicating the existence of Hellenistic structures and confirming the area’s use between the end of the 4th and first half of the 3rd centuries B.C. The deepening of the excavation by the access gate through the defensive walls (west side) identified the remains of channelling on the south side of the entrance and confirmed the presence of a structure with large posts inside the wall trench, perhaps supports for an architrave.

The fifth excavation campaign carried out by the University of Florence’s department of Etruscology and Italic Antiquities continued work in trench D (Area W) which was extended to the north and west. The widening of trench D clarified a number of questions about the dating of the site’s occupation phases. The deepening of the trench inside the west gate of the fortifications revealed a stratigraphic sequence relating to the Orientalizing period within which were bucchero fragments with stamped, incised and ‘seed’ motifs, probably the remains of a votive offering or foundation ritual. This evidence made it possible to push back the dating for the construction of the earth embankment surrounding the plateau to the end of the 7th century B.C. After a period of cult use, at the end of the 5th century B.C. an imposing foundation for a double curtain wall was built on the embankment. The standing walls were constructed of unbaked brick and, although their height cannot be reconstructed with any certainty, they do not appear to have been very high. The remains of unbaked bricks burnt by fire and collapsed on the inside of the fortifications were uncovered along the entire length of wall excavated to date. Pottery fragments, mainly from jars and impasto containers, bowls and _oinochoai_ in well-levigated painted ware of Etrurian-Po valley tradition were found in correspondence with a beaten surface of soil and crushed sandstone. The few fragments of imported pottery were significant for the dating, in particular the bowl of a stemless black glaze Attic cup with stamped decoration, several fragments of an Etruscan Red-figure _kylix_ and small fragments of a painted _glaux_ associated with the handle of a bronze strainer. The finds date to a period between the last years of the 5th century and first decades of the 4th century B.C. Following this phase, the end of which was attested by clear traces of fire in various parts of the trench, in the 4th century B.C. the defensive wall was rebuilt. The walls were raised in height using a dry-stone technique, probably supported by timber structures, according to a style of military architecture of Celtic origin ( _murus gallicus_ ). Inside the fortifications, the excavations documented the almost complete disappearance of the internal structures. Sections of wall forming the corner of a building at the centre of the western area and part of its beaten floor surface were identified. However, given the disturbance in the area caused by digging with machines last century and, consequently, the dispersal of the finds all recovered in secondary deposition, the relationship between the remains of this structure and the defensive wall could not be determined.