Colle della Civita
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Excerpt from Quaderni di Archeologia d’Abruzzo, March 2011, “Iuvanum e gli insediamenti fortificati del terrirorio carricino” [Iuvanum and the fortified settlements of the Carricino territory"]
Colle della Civita (Serra Cioila) of Colledimacine (15)
In August 2010, after local reports, a first analysis of the hill of the Colle della Civita complex (in I.G.M. Serra Cioila) made it possible to highlight the existence of ancient structures.
At the base of the hill, on the north-east side (632 m above sea level), you can see agricultural terraces with rubble strewn with fragments of ancient tiles of two types (with straight and sloping teeth), as well as large dolia with molded everted edges. Some rural structures show traces of ancient polygonal walls and numerous cubilia [the lowest course of stones in a building] relating to uncertain work. After passing the first structures, via a mule track (an ancient road 2.20 m wide) located on the eastern side, the slope rises until moving in a north-west direction on a slope characterized by agricultural terraces. Having arrived at the upper base, on the saddle between the two hills, on the north-west side rises the locally-named hill La Civita, at an altitude of 916.20, which presents clear traces of an italic fortified center.
The carricino [the Carricini were one of the four tribes that made up the Samnite people] rural village has a spindle plan with a longitudinal axis on the north/west-north/east ridge of 190 m and a transverse one on the south-east slope of 75 m max (fig. 14).
The investigations of 2010 and August 2011(16) involved the south-west sector on the edge of the settlement, where the remains of the ancient 1st style polygonal fence which, in this sector, ended to the north-west on a rocky cut, are clearly visible. A first stretch of 4 m with an east-west trend in polygonal work and with a maximum height of 1.20 m was analyzed. Above you can see three rows of medium-large blocks, with smaller sizes (50 cm high, 50 cm wide, 70 cm deep) and larger ones (30 cm high, 80 cm wide, 95 cm deep), while below you can see the placement of the first row on the rock step. The thickness of the wall is not preserved, but behind it the internal annular band is clearly visible and is preserved for a width of approximately 5 m: from the distance highlighted from the upstream limit of the internal road to the external curtain of the wall the original thickness can be calculated approximately 2.40 m.
15 We thank Dr. Mario Cuomo for reporting the Colle della Civita area of Colledimacine.
16 Instrumental survey August 2011: G. Grossi, S.L. Ferreri and M. Davide.
Along the same path, towards the East, about 50 m away, there is a sequence of foundation blocks, while beyond is a well preserved section of the wall for a height of 1.20 m with four rows in elevation, of medium-small size with attachment at the bottom of the masonry relating to a contemporary courtyard or small courtyard. In this sector the Forestry Corps fence faithfully follows the layout of the ancient one.
Still following the trend towards the South-East, where a path of the Forestry Corps enters inside the fence, you can see the remains of an oblique internal corridor door (South-East Door, at an elevation of 904), with an entrance oriented to the North-West with [putone] on the left side and an obtuse corner bastion on the right; the left cheek is visible for a length of 2.50 m, while the thickness of the gap can be reconstructed for a width of approximately 2.20 m. On the right side, beyond the gap, we have the remains of a large demolition due to anthropic activity of a later phase (perhaps a shed?), which altered the shape of the ancient fence.
On the continuation, in the eastern sector, more exposed to attacks because it is flat, you can see a few blocks in place, with numerous collapses at the bottom, and you can see the step of bedding rock of the first base row: in fact, the rock has been modified to accommodate the basic blocks of the ancient enclosure. The current external plateau was probably produced by a filling of land due to agricultural terracing interventions of the post-Renaissance age, but it can be hypothesized that it hides a greater depression (or ditch?) which allowed this side, accessible of the ancient fortification, to be defended: the difference in height between the defensive line and the plain, in fact, is too small for an optimal passive defense.
On the eastern sector the fence continued towards the North-East marked by collapses and some blocks being laid, while further ahead you can see the traces of a second gate (North-East Gate, level 907) marked by a flat path and an internal rampart on the donkey's [saddle] back: in fact, the annular band is more internal and delimited downstream by clear rock cuts which constituted the internal limit of the rampart. The door can be guessed from the staggering of the internal annular band, which is set on two levels highlighting the access to a long and atypical oblique internal corridor, oriented North/East-South/West at the lowest level where the path still enters; in fact, the rocky crag on the right on which the ring-shaped strip still runs is very evident. The left strut, 40 m long, had a notable humpback shape created with rock cuts (still visible inside) and stone carryover. Its particular shape was due to the flat area on this sector, an area that did not have a natural tactical edge, so it was necessary to create the elongated rampart of the door corridor.
Beyond the gate, towards the north-eastern tip, numerous other collapses and some blocks are visible up to an altitude of 906 meters, where a mismatch in the wall circuit indicates a possible postern [back or side entrance]; from the latter to the point of attachment of the fence with the northern rocky crag you can see, on the outside, adaptations on the rock attributable to an external ditch approximately 5 m wide. The long ridge has an evident tactical edge, made up of high rocky cliffs which made a large wall enclosure (wooden palisade or dry stone wall) useless, while on the south-west sector a few blocks in place indicate the existence of the wall enclosure.
The reconnaissance of the upper part (elevation 916.20) was negative, given the presence of dense vegetation (tall grass) and lack of rubble which did not allow the discovery of clay material. The only evidence of possible ancient structures is to be recognized in the South-West from the maximum altitude of the ridge, where a small plateau on the south-west side, delimited in the valley by a terrace, has a lowland in the center which could hide an ancient circular cistern. Furthermore, still in this south-west sector, other irregular drops in the ground strewn with material and scant fragments relating to dolia in impasto [terracotta earthenware vases] , could confirm the presence of a settlement on the terrace between the hill and the south-east gate.
Outside the Italic rural village, on the small valley on the north-eastern side, you can see the remains of three agricultural terraces in 1st style polygonal construction which exploited the soil deposits on the valley floor of the area.
In conclusion, the fortified center of La Civita di Colledimacine appears as a medium-sized fortified Carricini center in the Aventine valley, probably connected with the underlying and subsequent rural villages on terraces, while another center could be recognizable on the hill of the current historic center of Colledimacine.
