Considerazioni sulla Patela di Priniàs e sul territorio circostante in età ellenistica

In the timespan between the end of the 3rd and the first half of the 2nd century BC, a fortress overlapped the remains of the well-known settlement of the Patela hill, near the village of Prinias. Some find-spots in the surrounding landscape are indicative of rural activities. The fortress was not isolated even from a strategic point of view. A massive wall barred the pass between the Patela and the opposite hill. A barren and almost inaccessible rocky spur, around 3 km far from the fortress, had the function of monitoring and countering any threats coming from S. Another defensive building in the opposite side of the valley had the same function. For the moment, the archaeological evidence is not enough to say exactly when the fortress and the related territorial defensive system were created and in relation to which historical moment: many events occurred in the long span of time between 220 and 150 BC. However, such a defensive system seems to have been designed to prevent a potential threat from the S, i.e. from Gortina.