The Late Bronze age hilltop site of Monte Croce Guardia in the context of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age settlement organization in Peninsular Italy

The site of Monte Croce Guardia offers a unique opportunity to investigate the spatial organization of a Final Bronze Age settlement in peninsular Italy. Data from new excavations and geophysical surveys are presented, focusing on the distribution of identified dwellings. This distribution is explored and compared with that of coeval sites such as Sorgenti della Nova and Sovana. An organizational pattern based on groups of huts, likely related to family groups, emerges from the analysis. The described model is further compared with several settlements and buildings dating from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, across continental Italy, particularly focusing on the area south of the Po river.