Caselle in Pittari. Architettura domestica in un centro del golfo di Policastro

The Lucanian settlement rises a short distance from the modern town of Caselle in Pittari (SA), on the Tyrrhenian side of southern Campania. Since 2014, the site has been investigated by a team from the University of Salerno under concession from the Italian Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Salerno e Avellino. The settlement is located on a large triangular-shaped plateau, surrounded by two waterways which rejoin at the top of the plateau to reach a tributary of the Bussento river. The settlement developed during the second half of the 4th century. BCE, although numerous clues point to a more ancient phase. Now, the remains of six buildings have been brought to light, most of which are large. These buildings are inserted in a regular street grid made up of a large plateia arranged in a north-south direction and perpendicularly intersected by stenopoi placed at regular distances. Among the excavated buildings, four are large houses developed around a central courtyard; a building, due to its size and type, can be interpreted as a service structure; of the sixth building, located on the eastern side of the plateau, only a rather limited portion has currently been excavated. The analysis of this evidence allows us to make some observations on the construction techniques and on the possible operational phases of the construction sites starting from the procurement of raw materials, the implementation, the finishes adopted, the use and rearrangement of reused elements and the maintenance activities; furthermore, some data allow us to understand a possible relation between local and itinerant workers.