Summary (English)
This site is located c. 3 km to the south of the Passo del Mercante, on the S.P. 1 di Gioia Tauro e Locri, and 0.5 km to the southwest of Piano Melìa, a small plain on a high plateau known as the Dossone della Melìa or dorsale tabulare, which separates the Jonian and Tyrrhenian coasts in south-central Calabria. Situated at the northern end of a terrace, naturally protected by steep slopes and flanked by two streams flowing into the Vallone Lo Stretto, Località Palazzo commands a fine view of the Gioia Tauro Plain. This place-name, which is known at least since the early 1800s, typically attests to the presence of ancient or medieval ruins in southern Italy and Sicily. The architectural remains found at the site belong to a building whose dating and functions are yet unknown. Its masonry includes several Greek roof tiles, a large granite cut block, and generally medium-sized stones bonded with mortar. The geomorphological setting of località Palazzo, and surface finds of Greek tiles and of an iron projectile point, support the possibility that this building was constructed with re-used materials from the ruins of a Greek military installation, possibly a watch-tower. The Locrians could have used this site as an observation point, since it dominates the chora of Medma, one of the Tyrrhenian sub-colonies of Locri Epizephyrii, and is near an ancient overland route from the Tyrrhenian to the Jonian coasts. Località Palazzo was probably connected to another Locrian control point at contrada Bregatorto (less than 1 km to the south-east), where a Greek fortification has been identified.
- Paolo Visonà - University of Kentucky 
Director
Team
Research Body
- University of Kentucky
Funding Body
- Foundation for Calabrian Archaeology (Parker, Colorado, USA)
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