Il sito fortificato di Meduno Sach di Sotto (Pordenone) nel quadro dell’eneolitico dell’Italia nord-orientale

According to the archaeological materials recovered in the site during the survey and excavations, the prehistoric settlement of Meduno seems to have been inhabited almost exclusively between the Copper Age and Early Bronze Age. This is valid not only for pits which were excavated in the southern part of the fluvial terrace, but also for the defensive earthwork that lies northernmost for about 115 m of length and 6-7 m of width. The available radiocarbon dates from the site and the earthwork are distributed from the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC cal. The particular typology of this archaeological site, which is known in western and central Europe with the name of “éperon barré”, has the possible role in its territory as a shelter tied to the existence of generalised situation of insecurity or rather as a control of the territory. The pottery production allows some considerations with the cultural point of view to be made, evaluations that reinforce the hypothesis of some scholars according to which the Copper Age pottery of Friuli Venezia Giulia region would find few correlations with the ones of the other region of Northern Italy and greater affinities with the eastern regions. Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomic data are also presented.