Roca (also known as Rocavecchia or Roca Vecchia) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located on the

Adriatic coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, a few

kilometre The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is now the measurement unit used for ex ...

s from the modern town of Melendugno and close to the city of

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

. The site, which has been explored since the end of the 1980s by a team of the

University of Salento The University of Salento ( it, Università del Salento, called until 2007 ''Università degli Studi di Lecce'') is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 by Giuseppe Codacci Pisanelli. The university of Salento commenced act ...

, has produced some of the best-preserved monumental architecture of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(2nd millennium BC) in Southern Italy, along with the largest set of

Mycenaean pottery Mycenaean pottery is the pottery tradition associated with the Mycenaean period in Ancient Greece. It encompassed a variety of styles and forms including the stirrup jar. The term "Mycenaean" comes from the site Mycenae, and was first applied by ...

ever recovered west of mainland

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The occupation of the site continued also in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and

Classical times Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

, when a large natural cavity known as Poesia Cave was used for

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

practices involving the writing of thousands of dedications to a local deity in three languages:

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, Messapic and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. The site was re-occupied in late

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

times, when a new town was founded by

Walter VI, Count of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Lif ...

Grotta della Poesia

Grotta della Poesia (Poetry Cave) is one of the most well known natural rock formations inside the archaeological site. It's a natural pool that's recognized as one of the most beautiful natural pools in the world. The name originates from a legend that tells the story of a Princess who liked to bathe in the waters of Grotta della Poesia. In turn the beautiful princess has become the muse for countless poets in the Salento peninsula. In reality the caves were most likely used for religious purposes. There are Messapian inscriptions on the wall that helped to decrypt the original purpose of the caves. From these inscriptions it becomes very clear that the are was dedicated to the worship of god Taotor, a Messapian deity. This natural pool has attracted a flock of tourists each year. To combat this there has been an admission price introduced recently. It is in place to help protect this significant archeological area better.

Sources

* Guglielmino, R. 2006. "Roca Vecchia (Lecce): New Evidence for Aegean Contacts with Apulia During the Late Bronze Age". ''Accordia Research Papers'' 10: 87–102. * Pagliara, C. 2005. "Rocavecchia (Lecce): Il sito, le fortificazioni e l’abitato dell’età del Bronzo". In E. Greco & R. Laffineur (eds), ''Emporia: Aegeans in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean : Proceedings of the 10th International Aegean Conference/10e Rencontre Égéenne Internationale, Athens, Italian School of Archaeology, 14–18 April 2004''. ''Aegaeum'' 25 (Liège, Belgium, and Austin, TX: Université de Liège, Histoire de l’art archéologie de la Grèce antique ; University of Texas at Austin, Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory): 629–636. * Pagliara, C. et al. 2007. "La sequenza cronostratigrafica delle fasi di occupazione dell’insediamento protostorico di Roca (Melendugno, Lecce). Relazione preliminare della campagna di scavo 2005 – Saggio X". ''Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche'' 57: 311–362. * Pagliara, C. et al. 2008. "Roca Vecchia (Melendugno, Lecce), SAS IX: relazione stratigrafica preliminare sui livelli di occupazione protostorici (campagne di scavo 2005–2006)". ''Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche'' 58: 239–280. * Scarano, T. 2012. ''Roca I. Le fortificazioni della media età del Bronzo''. Foggia: Carlo Grenzi. * Iacono, F. 2015. "Feasting at Roca: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Society in the Southern Adriatic during the Late Bronze Age". ''European Journal of Archaeology'', 18 (2): 259–281.

References

External links

Official website
{{- Archaeological sites in Apulia Bronze Age sites