Foglianise (Bn). Loc. S. Maria a' Peccerella. Un insediamento di tipo Laterza

In November 2000 at S. Maria a’Peccerella (Foglianise- BN) an excavation campaign was conducted to identify possible structural remains in the same area where in 1995 a trench tomb of the Laterza facies had been unearthed. The archaeological investigation has led to the identification, in an area not far from the tomb, of the remains of a hut, of circular plan. The hut, found at the tomb level, some 10 meters from it, developed on a semicircular row of holes within which a bell-shaped pit, a hearth and a cooking slab were unearthed. Geological studies (carried out in the area) allowed to define the stratigraphic framework and to reconstruct the geomorphological evolution during the Holocene The archaeological finds from the hut and the underlying structures were fairly homogenous as for typology and date: coarse impasto sherds from large containers were retrieved, - often decorated with scale patterns, the so called “rusticata” pottery - including a smaller quantity of semi-fine or fine ware, black in color, and impressed with vertical parallel bands or triangular stamps, the handles often displaying a flat end with a button-like protuberance; among the finds were also some whorls. The Iithic artifacts included an arrowhead, some side scrapers and end scrapers, a quern with a sandstone muller. There was also a remarkable amount of faunal remains, including some bone tools. Not far from these finds the trench tomb contained the remains of an individual approximately nine to ten years of age. The skeieton was preserved in the bone assemblage and the individual was interred on the right side and with the head to the NNW and the legs to the SSE. In the burial a large quantity of charcoal fragments, lumps of ochre and four sandstone fragments besides a number of impasto sherds were easily identifiable. The grave good consisted of a cup made of purified clay, dark grey in color, and of a flintstone end scraper. On the basis of the archaeological evidence these finds can be dated at the third millennium B.C. within the facies of Laterza.