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Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

Submitted for award of PhD September 2006. - King's College London

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sanctuaries. This section re-examines Salmon's view in the light <strong>of</strong> new<br />

archaeological data from the region.<br />

Since Salmon's publication <strong>of</strong> 1967 excavations have been conducted in most<br />

known rural sanctuaries and the number <strong>of</strong> known hill-<strong>for</strong>ts is much greater than it<br />

used to be. The 1950s saw a shift in the scope <strong>of</strong> excavations: a new trend in<br />

archaeology, field-walking, drew attention to the remains <strong>of</strong> the Samnite countryside.<br />

Increasingly from the 1970s, studies <strong>of</strong> several river valleys have located a large<br />

number <strong>of</strong> small villages and scattered farmsteads which seem to have constituted<br />

the main feature <strong>of</strong> the settlement pattern in those areas.<br />

135 This section examines the<br />

relationships between the hill-<strong>for</strong>ts, sanctuaries and settlement pattern as possible<br />

evidence <strong>for</strong> the study <strong>of</strong> political organisation in Samnium.<br />

Models <strong>for</strong> relations between the hill-<strong>for</strong>ts and the settlement pattern have been<br />

produced <strong>for</strong> other Oscan-speaking areas, notably the hill-<strong>for</strong>t <strong>of</strong> Roccagloriosa and<br />

the territory <strong>of</strong> the Marsi. Archaeological finds in the territory <strong>of</strong> Roccagloriosa<br />

suggest that a Samnite population inhabited the area around Mount Capitenali from<br />

the first half <strong>of</strong> the fifth century BC. 136 Remains <strong>of</strong> several buildings have been<br />

located on the plateau <strong>of</strong> the hill. A cemetery in nearby Scala has yielded material<br />

probably used at banquets. The richness <strong>of</strong> these finds associates them with the local<br />

elite. In the fourth century BC, polygonal walls were built to enclose an area <strong>of</strong> about<br />

15 hectares at Roccagloriosa. At the same time, the number <strong>of</strong> hamlets and<br />

farmsteads situated on the hill-side grew. These sites seem to have been dependent<br />

on the hill-<strong>for</strong>t, the only place that yields evidence <strong>for</strong> the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> meddix,<br />

documented in a recently found fragmentary bronze tablet. 137 The tablet has been<br />

135 Curti, Dench, Patterson (1996) 170-89.<br />

'36 Fracchia (2004) 69-83.<br />

137 For archaeological and historical circumstances <strong>of</strong> the tablet see Gualtieri (2000) 243-53. See also<br />

Tocco (2000). 224-9. Fracchia (2000) n. 21.<br />

46

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