Ponte San Quirino - Castelliere

At the confluence of the Natisone River and the Alberone Stream, near the settlement of Ponte San Quirino, lies a slightly elevated peninsular area that was once the site of a castelliere, a fortified prehistoric settlement. The Natisone Valley was crossed by a significant trail that led up the valley towards the proto-historic centers of Slovenia, controlled by other castellieri such as that of nearby Mount Barda.
In the 19th century, protohistoric and Roman artefacts were occasionally discovered. In 1975, an archaeological excavation in the western area, formed by a vast semicircular terrace, uncovered cobblestone and beaten earth floors, as well as numerous stone tools and various ceramic fragments. The ceramic artefacts included keeled cups with flared rims and large containers with different types of handles (strap, cylindrical, triangular profile), similar to those found in Trieste’s Karst settlements and in the Robic cave in the Upper Natisone Valley. The stone tools mainly consisted of scrapers, gravers, and arrowheads, dating to the second half of the 2nd millennium B.C. A bronze pin with a globular head from a later period was also recovered.