Rediscovering the proto-urban site of Como Spina-Verde (n. Italy): challenges and potential in archaeological research

Many are the challenges faced by researchers to be able to rediscover a neglected site. This contribution will focus on the case study of the protohistoric site of Como-Spina Verde (Lombardy, Northern Italy): it is one of the large-scale settlements of the Early Iron Age Golasecca Culture (150 ha -proto-urban size- in the 5th cent. BC). Despite its im portance, the site has faced numerous challenges, including neglect and unregulated urban expansion. From its initial discovery in 1875 to recent preventive archaeology efforts, the Como Spina-Verde site has been recognized for its enormous potential, underlined by the complexity of the infrastructural elements, and for the possibility of studying the relationship between the settlement and its cemeteries. Indeed, scholars have mainly focused on the study of the necropolis, leaving the settlement only sketchily studied. This lack of studies, aggravated by the urban expansion that damaged the site, hindered a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the proto-urban centre, somehow subject to a generic historical approach. To fully understand the dynamics, challenges and potential of the Como-Spina Verde site, it is essential to apply a well-defined archaeological methodological approach through a multi-scalar approach. This requires the examination of modern administrative changes and the review of 150 years of studies, which have produced an extremely heterogeneous documentation of settlement archaeological evidence, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The Author is tackling the evidence from the Como Spina-Verde settlement through an integration of specifically targeted OA databases, with the primary objective of standardizing data, as a crucial point for comprehen sive analysis of a mass of bibliographic, excavation and remote-sensing data, generally lacking precise chronological attribution. Only interoperable and interconnected data can allow the management and reconstruction of the settle ment evidence from such different sources, carefully averting possible loss of information.