Monte Sannace
An ancient settlement on the Murge hills (382 m above sea level), ca. 5 km NE of Gioia del Colle. Because of the size of its territory, closed within a series of circuit walls which date to the 4th or 3d c. B.C. and are 8300 m long, it is one of the most important centers of Peucezia. Its name is still unknown. The identification with Apulian Thuriae, captured in 303 B.C. by the Spartan Kleonymos is not confirmed.
The zone was inhabited in the prehistoric period to judge from the discovery of grotto-tombs with depressed entrances from the Early Bronze Age. Scattered evidence of life in the archaic period comes from some grave gifts, among which 7th and 6th c. B.C. Corinthian and Attic vases are to be seen beside the native geometric pottery. The walls that close off the acropolis on the summit of the mountain are probably to be dated to the second half of the 5th c. B.C., a period to which may be assigned the first real urban plan, under the influence of Tarentum on the inland population. In the necropolis of the same date, frequently appears the first Apulian red-figure ware, produced at Tarentum. The fortification works of the acropolis were partially adapted to the mountainous conditions of the site and partially constituted a regular wall of tufa blocks. The second circuit of the walls, which closed off the level zone to the W of the acropolis (thereby enlarging the inhabited area in the course of the 4th c. B.C.), has a median thickness of 4 m and is composed of two facings, the outer of tufa blocks and the inner of less regular stones. On many of the blocks the cutters' signs are Greek letters. The oblique orientation of a gate opened in the N section of the walls facilitated its defense. The third circuit of the walls closes off the acropolis and the W zone into one urban area. The complex is perhaps to be dated to the late 4th c. B.C. as are the fortifications of many other centers of Apulia and of Lucania. The fourth circuit of the walls seems to close off the zone to the E of the mountain within the perimeter of the city. Extensive recent excavations have brought to light numerous dwellings in the area of the acropolis, as well as a public building with a portico, and a group of large rooms rising over the site of more ancient tombs. The urban plan and the technique of construction recall those of the two insulae discovered in the plain to the W of the acropolis, where a large inhabited quarter is crossed by streets not always oriented in a straight line, thereby requiring buildings of different shapes. In the simplest houses two buildings are aligned on a single axis or several rooms face an elongated courtyard. The tombs are scattered everywhere and often next to houses. The most common form of burial is the sarcophagus with the body contracted, according to the custom in Peucezia. The grave goods are very rich and contain valuable geometric ware locally produced and red-figure Apulian pottery produced at Tarentum. These articles are in the Museo Archeologico del Castello di Gioia del Colle.
BIBLIOGRAPHYEAA 6 (1965) 1112, with bibliography (E. A. Scarfi); id., “L'abitato peucetico di Monte Sannace,” NSc 6 (1962).
F. G. LO PORTO