Conclusion

83

XII. CONCLUSION

In regard to the excavation goals stated in the Introduction, the excavation of CA-68 cannot be considered a success. None of the stated goals were accomplished by the time the trench had closed. No activity associated with the metal roasting pits of CA-33 was found. No evidence of other activity associated with production was discovered. Nor was any evidence of Iron Age use or habitation recovered. CA-68 shed no light on this, or any other aspect of habitation on Poggio Civitate.

Nor did work in CA-68 contribute to our understanding of the stratigraphy of Civitate A. While bedrock was discovered, the lack of finds does not indicate conclusively if the shelves of bedrock were exposed in antiquity.

The erosion endemic to this part Poggio Civitate and the resulting lack of finds has made it very difficult to draw any definitive conclusion about the area of CA-68 in antiquity. The dearth of excavated finds, which consisted of less than 1 bowl of terracotta and 5 sherds of ceramic, suggest that either this part of Civitate A was uninhabited and saw a minimum

84

85

of ancient use at all and that the activity associated with the roasting pits of CA-33 did not extend to this area, or that whatever evidence of ancient activity has been obliterated by erosion and the forces of time.