Saturo (TA). Campagne di scavo 2007-2013

Saturo (Leporano, Italy) is a site about 10 km south-east of Taranto, situated on a promontory overlooking Porto Perone and Porto Saturo, two small inlets on the Gulf of Taranto, on the Ionic sea. Excavations carried out in the XXth century have shown an impressive continuity of occupation, with archaeological remains of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, of two Greek sanctuaries and of a very large Roman Villa. From 2007 Sapienza – University of Rome has restarted fieldwork in the two Greek sanctuaries, the so called “santuario della sorgente” (2007-2010) and the “acropolis”, at the highest point of the promontory (2011-2013). In this article are presented some preliminary results of Sapienza excavations, that confirm that Saturo is a key site for understanding interactions between natives and Greeks during the processes of colonization and for analyzing ritual and architectonic dynamics of Greek sacred spaces from Archaic to Hellestic times.