| The Archaeological Park is situated on a hill on the road linking Turi and Putignano, in a territory that includes the largest and the most important Peucetian areas, particularly thriving between the VI and IV century B.C. The earliest settlement date back to the Neolithic Age, but a more stable civilization is documented from the late IX century BC, with clay and straw huts. Between the VII and VI centuries B.C. the settlement changed in favor of high-up area used as a defense center. Gradually, the town transformed into a city, surrounded by mighty walls, with public buildings, noble residences and large decorated tombs following the eastern Greek style. The town then was divided into two zones, the acropolis and the lower city, up through the Hellenistic period when it underwent under the Hellenistic influence. The occupation lasted until the Roman period, in the I century A.D. The finds in the tombs testify the wealth and the culture of the place: all different kind of graves bore fine decoration and rich funeral artifacts. |