La campagna di ricognizione nell’area si è tenuta nel luglio 2014. L’area nel corso degli anni ’70 ha restituito importanti rinvenimenti antropici. Nel 2013 si era già effettuata nella località una ricognizione nell'ambito del Progetto Archeologico Agno-Leogra: essa ha permesso di individuare intorno al monolite almeno quattro strutture antropiche, realizzate in muri a secco, nei cui pressi, in superficie, sono stati rinvenuti alcuni frammenti di ceramica di età protostorica, frammenti di selce lavorata, ossa e una scoria di fusione. Nelle vicinanze del monolite si trova una valletta in cui è stata documentata la presenza di un piccolo riparo sotto-roccia; purtroppo non è stato possibile eseguire un’indagine più approfondita poiché il riparo è stato riempito da un cumulo di pietre e dalla folta vegetazione. L'insieme delle osservazioni ha suggerito di riprendere e approfondire lo studio del sito, con un'esplorazione più intensiva. È quanto si è fatto durante la campagna 2014, rilevando che il sito, lungo il versante sud-orientale del rilievo, è composto da una serie di terrazzamenti artificiali, tutti con orientamento N-S, posti su più livelli: terrazzamento 1; t. 2; t. 2 a; t. 3; t.4; t.5. Il terrazzamento 1 è il più vicino al monolite e potrebbe essere un ampliamento dei ripari ricavati sotto-roccia; potrebbe essere un passaggio. È in crollo, quindi difficile da riconoscere; costituito da massi di pezzatura pluri-decimetrica. Il terrazzamento 2 è convesso verso valle, dove è limitato da un muro a secco spesso circa 1,20 m, alto circa 85-90 cm, composto da conci litici di pezzatura variabile senza alcun legante. Non appaiono organizzati in filari, piuttosto ammassati, tanto che potrebbe trattarsi di un crollo. Il terrazzamento 2A (l’unico con orientamento E-W) è composto da 2-3 filari di pietre delle dimensioni di 10-20 cm; si tratta di un muro a secco, alto circa 50 cm. Si appoggia su uno strato contenente concotti, materiale litico (un’ascia in pietra verde levigata) e organico. Il Terrazzamento 3 è stato suddiviso in tre settori, il più interessante dei quali è il terrazzamento 3 lungo, un muro a sacco composto sul fronte da pietre calcaree di grandi dimensioni il cui riempimento, visibile in alcune zone di crollo, è composto da pietre di pezzatura minore. È concavo verso valle, lungo all’incirca 14 metri e profondo 1,80 m. Il terrazzamento 4 ha andamento N-S, la lunghezza è di circa 2,5 m, è alto 1,15 m. È formato da un primo corso di elementi litici di grosse dimensioni senza legante. La parte superiore, formata da elementi piatti e larghi, di pezzatura diversa, è in parte crollata. Copre uno strato fortemente organico denominato US1 e un muretto più antico (US3). Qui sono stati rinvenuti frammenti ceramici, tra cui alcuni diagnostici dell’età del Bronzo, selci tra cui un acciarino del XVIII sec., ossa. Immediatamente a monte del terrazzamento 4 è stato effettuato un carotaggio di 40 cm circa di profondità che ha individuato uno strato di terriccio scuro sciolto ricco di apparati radicali, numerosi scarti di lavorazioni di selce, concotti e frammenti di ceramica.

During the 2015 campaign, one trench was opened on terrace 2 and one on terrace 3. Terrace 2A is aligned east-west, is 4.80 m long and made up of 2-3 courses of stones sized between 10 and 20 cm. The alignment appeared anomalous with respect to that of the other identified terraces, as it ran parallel to the slope and not orthogonally to it. It rested on a layer of compact, brown clay silt. Following the 2014 surface survey, it appeared to contain baked clay, lithics (a smoothed stone axe), and organic material. Following the excavation, terrace 2 was shown to be the south wall of a small quadrangular structure, heavily abraded on the north, and especially the east side. Several occupation levels were recognisable (US 2 = occupation layer, almost level, underlying US 1, formed by gravel in a matrix of medium density soil; US A2 probable floor make-up, underlying US 2, constituted by stones 5-8 cm in diameter) indicating occupation/use that the finds date to the final phases of the Bronze Age. These included fragmentary rims of large bowls; flattened everted rims of small vessels; rims decorated with notches or oblique cordons; body sherds with cordon decoration; lug handles attached to carinations and indented knob-handles; cup rims. A trench was opened on terrace 3 (divided into three sectors A and B = terrace 3 ‘lungo’, C = terrace 3 ‘breve’). Terrace 3 ‘lungo’ is aligned north-south, is 14 m long and 75 cm high. The excavation showed it to be a wall faced with large (40-45 cm) calcareous stones with a fill, visible in some areas of collapse, of smaller stones. It formed a terrace that was concave on the downhill side, 1.80 m wide. Terrace 3 ‘breve’ is aligned north-south, 6.4 m long, 1.35 m high and c. 2 m wide. Convex on the downhill side, it was a dry-stone construction with elements of various sizes. Cleaning along the terraces identified the surfaces of production areas on which many lithic finds were present. These consisted mainly of waste fragments but also shafts of arrowheads, heels of smooth-stone axes, retouched flakes, and a fragmented grindstone. The find of a small copper implement probably for retouching flints was of particular interest as it is one of the first metal tools used for flint working. The finds suggest a Copper Age/Early Bronze Age date.

In 2016, work continued in the sectors opened in 2015. The excavations were very complex in the area of Terrace 2A due to the sloping position of the stratigraphy with the consequent effect of solifluction; the presence of the structure’s roughly-made containing walls; the overlapping of diverse episodes, for example a wall built south of and abutting the south wall of structure 2A contained a late antique coin. It was therefore decided to proceed by removing and documenting the stratigraphic contexts subsequent to the floor surface identified in 2015 and denominated US 2A in 2016, and not contextual with the structure excavated in 2015. Overall, structure 2A was seen to relate to a rather shoddily made hut. Closed to the south by a dry-stone wall, the roof was probably supported by four timber posts, for which two postholes and a pile-driver were found. The fourth supporting element in the north-eastern corner must have been eroded away by solifluction. South of this small temporary structure, the excavations uncovered a hole/midden, which contained pottery. Pottery and lithics were also found on the floor surfaces of structure 2A, whose earliest phases can be attributed to the Copper Age, while the midden contained elements datable to the Recent/Final Bronze Age, indicating there was a second phase of use on the site. At the foot of the hill a significant find was a section that was noted by the Superintendency in the 1980s, but was no longer recognisable for the disturbance caused by the construction of a motocross track, now no longer in use. During previous campaigns, the section had been looked for along the track that is clearly visible in aerial photographs and on CTR. This season it was found, thanks also to careful cleaning of the undergrowth. A layer with an organic charcoally matrix containing numerous fragments of bone, lithics, and pottery was exposed in three trenches corresponding with three sections at the foot of the hill, one metre apart from each other. Trench 1 produced the most significant results. The following layers were identified: US 1 = dry-stone terracing, constituted by a base of about ten large semi-worked blocks, at least 20 x 50 cm on the facing side; above the base, the terracing was formed by stones of 15-30 cm; US 2 = a fairly tidy accumulation/ loose foundation of stones sized c. 20 x 7 cm, in a brown matrix; US 3 = anthropic layer rich in charcoal, pottery and bone fragments, flint, shells, abundant organic material, in a matrix with a plastic consistency; US 4 = manmade alignment of boulders below US 3; US 5 = chaotic accumulation of stone, naturally formed, rich in roots and malacofauna. An abundance of lithic material, very fragmented pottery and bone was identified in US 3 of all the sections. This material is currently being studied, like the rest of the abundant finds from the site, which is confirmed to have been occupied for the first time in the late Neolithic/Eneolithic period and subsequently in the final phases of the Bronze Age. The terraces date to the historical period, for the earliest the dating will be provided by the study of several very worn coins found within them.

During the previous campaigns, excavations in the area below the monolith revealed traces of a settlement (a hut, denominated structure A) and a substantial scatter of lithic instruments below terrace 3B. The 2017 campaign, after securing the monolith, began by cleaning of the slope below terrace 3B, where it is not possible to reach any useful stratigraphy because of solifluction. The aim was rather to look for any finds and significant elements that had slipped down the slope. A grid was laid out across the zone below terrace 3 and above terrace 4, denominated zone C. The zone was divided into 5 m squares, denominated 1C, 2C etc. from south to north. The area was cleaned and all removed soil sieved, which resulted in the recovery of hundreds of flint elements, including 113 tools and significant pieces that were catalogued; a serpentinite axe; hundreds of proto-historic pottery fragments, mainly very small and abraded, including 33 important catalogued pieces; hundreds of animal bone fragments; a few metal fragments. Work also continued along the wall of the former motor-cross track. During the last campaign, three parts of a section was cleaned that was stratigrapically very important for the history of settlement of the hill on which the Omo monolith stands (see 2016 report). This year’s intervention was primarily undertaken in order to clean the previously identified anthropic layer, corresponding with the most important phase of prehistoric occupation on the hill (US 3=occupation layer rich in charcoal, pottery and bone fragments, flint, shells, very rich in organic material in a matrix with a plastic consistency). This made it possible to collect samples that will undergo anthracological, palinological and palaeo archaeo-botanical analyses in order to reconstruct the environment that characterised the hill area of the site through time. Most of the work during the 2017 campaign took place in the locality of Pelade, situated beyond the road just north of the monolith, at 653 m a.s.l. A survey and two _sondages_ were carried out in the area in 2016. In 2017, excavation continued in trench A opened at the north-eastern corner of the curtain wall that encloses a sort of quadrilateral of c. 2500 m2, and a new trench was opened about ten metres south of the structure identified in trench A. A second structure was identified here, probably a look-out tower, called structure B; structure A may be considered a refuge/control structure in the north-east corner. Fragments of glazed pottery were found here, however it is suggested that the curtain wall predates this structure, which was perhaps associated with an early medieval occupation phase. This has yet to be identified in the locality of Pelade, but was responsible for the creation of the terraces present on the slope downhill from the monolith, datable thanks to several very worn coins found within them, to the late antique period.

In 2018, work continued on the cleaning of the slope below terrace 3B, situated in the zone below the monolith denominated “Uomo della Roccia”. This year the aim was to check whether other scattered human remains were present in the area, following the find in 2017 of a sternum fragment in quadrant C10. The exploration continued to make use of the grid laid out last year across the entire area below terrace 3 and above terrace 4, denominated zone C. In particular, work began in quadrants C7 and C8, to then reach quadrants C10, C11, C12 and C16, removing the layer US1=2 a, underlying the surface layer. Layer US1 =2 was a dark brown, compact clayey-silt layer with a substantial organic component. It was present both at the base of terrace 2 a, which from terrace 4 rested on layer US2, constituted by pebbles of 5-8 cm in diameter. US1=2 seemed to coincide with US 3 in the stratigraphy investigated along the ex-cycle path, which provides the reference stratigraphy for the site. The cleaning and soil removal revealed hundreds of pieces of flint, and fragments of bone, pottery and metal. The flints included four arrowheads and a dozen implements, in particular a foliate ogive dagger. The pottery included rim fragments, body sherds with notched cordon decoration, carenated wall sherds, rod and “bugne” handles, and fragments with incised decoration. A stone bead and possible Spondylus shell bead were also found. Among the significant bone finds were a fragment of human pelvis and a human tooth found in quadrant C8. The metal fragments were of a slightly later date. At this point it is possible to suggest the presence of a Copper Age burial that was disturbed in later periods, probably from the Bronze Age onwards, period to which the final occupation phases of structure 2a date. In 2018 work also took place in the area denominated Pelade, just north of the monolith beyond the road at 653 m a.s.l. A survey was carried out here in 2016, followed by two excavation campaigns in 2017 during which a shelter structure and a possible watchtower were identified in the north-eastern corner of the city wall. Therefore, a number of trenches were opened in order to check the layout of the east and south walls. In the zone of the south wall, at the western corner, a 1.60 x 1.60 trench was excavated to a depth of 60 cm. A trench 2.25 m long was opened by the east wall, which was standing to 92 cm towards the west, and up to 1.78 m on the east face. The wall, up to 2.40 m wide, was dry-stone built, probably with an internal fill of gravel and stones in a soil matrix. The wall’s foundation seemed to rest on the natural bedrock, which was also present in front of the wall. A similar intervention took place along the west wall closing the great enclosure of Pelade in order to see whether it was built using the same technique as the east wall, which did not appear to be the case. In fact, the west wall, which stands to a maximum of 75 cm above ground level and is up to 100 cm wide, is built of stones bonded with gravel, grit and soil; therefore, technically it is not a dry-stone wall. Overall, the intervention at Pelade did not resolve the fundamental problem of dating the walls, which however seem attributable to various phases or to have undergone significant modifications. The entire zone was affected by episodes of land slippage that it would be important to date and understand. The few material finds from the area are metals relating to the use of the area in the historical period. The fact remains that the structures excavated in 2017 were dated to the 15th-16th century by the presence of glazed pottery and they clearly abut the east wall, which is thus earlier. The results of the radiometric analyses on the few charcoal remains found at the base of the east wall are awaited with interest.