Sistemi fortificati indigeni nella Sicilia arcaica: tecniche edilizie, materiali e modelli extrainsulari

This paper aims at exploring the emergence and development of the fortified sites in Protohistoric Sicily, since the Late Bronze until the first contacts with Greek colonization (1300 ca – 700 BCE ca.). The traditional interpretative model of the introduction of Greek patterns in the indigenous fortified architecture is definitely modified. Protohistoric communities in Sicily, especially in eastern district, used stone-defensive systems: an important case study is Pantalica, where the reassessment of the oldest explorations by L. Bernabò Brea in 1962-64 has contributed to focus on the presence of a large defensive wall with squared towers. These walls are dated to the transitional phase between Final Bronze and early Iron Age (1100- 900 BCE ca.). A further analysis is addressed to reconstruct and to estimate the investment and impact of construction of fortifications, according the most recent studies for the labour cost calculations coming from the anthropological literature