Refuge or dwelling place? The Middle Bronze Age fortification walls of Roca (Lecce): spatial and functional analysis of Postern C

the Bronze age site of roca is a long-lived coastal settlement ever protected by a large fortification wall, which was repeatedly destroyed, rebuilt and restored over the cen- turies between the Middle and final Bronze ages. the analysis of the remains of the Late apennine (MBa) fortifications have revealed a plan of the enceinte with a monumental main entrance and at least five postern gates. the defensive wall was destroyed by a great fire, probably subsequent to a siege, which caused the col- lapse of the stonework structures, and burned down the settlement almost completely. the excavation of the rubble filling from the posterns’ long corridors and the Monumental Gate showed that the original contents of these spaces were sealed in their functional situation as it was shortly before the destruction. the most ex- traordinary discovery came from postern c: several vessels were grouped in three different areas. In a fourth zone, at the western end of the corridor, another group of vessels was associated to seven complete human skeletons, two adults, a juvenile and four children. apparently, during the siege the members of this group had taken refuge within the corridor and finally tried to hide behind a heap of vessels. unfortunately, they all died from asphyxia caused by the fire set to the fortification wall. the archaeological record from postern c provides a unique possibility to correlate the quantitative, qualitative and spatial data relative to the artifacts assemblages, with the human group which had brought in those objects in order to survive in that space, had planned their spatial distribution, and had used them.