Trial Excavations on the Site of Botromagno, Gravina di Puglia, 1966

Abstract

The trial excavations of which the pages that follow give a short, provisional account, were undertaken during July and August of 1966 on the invitation, and under the auspices of the Superintendent of Antiquities for Apulia, Professor Attilio Stazio. Their purpose was to establish the archaeological possibilities of the Italic site of Botromagno, near Gravina, with a view to the possible mounting of a fullscale archaeological exploration at some future date. The work in the field was under the joint direction of Mr. R. T. Brooks, who very kindly undertook the task at very short notice, and of Mr. Alastair Small, who is currently engaged in a study of the native Peucetian and Daunian cultures within the context of their relations with that of the cities of Magna Graecia. They were assisted by a number of friends and students of the British School, among them Lady Wheeler (who supervised the excavation of one site), Mrs. C. Millard, Misses Ann Stoves (draughtsman), Pamela Pratt, Jacqueline Joyes and Katherine Dunbabin and Messrs. G. Sansbury and R. J. Ling. The sites for excavation were selected on the basis of a surface survey made by Mr. Small and Mr. Campbell MacKnight of the Australian National University, Canberra, and of a trial magnetometer survey conducted by a team from Philadelphia University Museum, under the direction of Miss Elizabeth Ralph.