XIII - XII a.c.
The Bronze Age
The first defensive structures date back between the 13th and the 12th cent. B.C.: they were structures with several orders of palisades, of wooden gabions (filled with stone debris and soil) and a terreplein (bank “C”) to defend small housings and workshops (metallurgic activities, production of ceramic artefacts, etc.).
It was the Bronze Age castelliere which was destroyed by a great fire probably caused by a military action.
Woman who spins with a vase next to her
The spinner (whose dress is fastened at the top with a large pin similar to the bronze ones found in Noàl) turned vegetable or animal fibres into a long and compact thread by using the spindle (a small 20-30 cm long wooden stick) and the cone (whose pole was kept under the left arm). After loading a plume of raw fibre (flax, sheep wool, etc.) on the cone, with her left hand she gently pulled a small quantity and, at the same time, her right hand spun the spindle, at the end of which there was a whorl, having a biconical shape like those found in Noàl. The latter, working as a flywheel, made the fibre twist and wind around the spindle with a regular and constant motion. Next to her there is an earthenware vase from the late Bronze Age, several fragments of which have been found in Noàl.
Metalworker on the job
A metalworker, in his small forge (whose position inside the castelliere is marked with a little yellow rectangle on the plan below), worked metals and manufactured various bronze items. In the drawing, he is casting molten bronze into a mould (you can see both sides) to create a sickle similar to the one part of which (darker in the drawing) was found in Noàl.
Bird’s-eye view of the Castelliere
Bird’s-eye view, from the north, of the hypothetical first fortified village (castelliere) on Mirabèi hill (13th-12th century B.C.). In the drawing the focus is mainly on its raised and strategic position (between the Piave and Cordevole rivers) and its outer structures: a dry-stone wall and posts fastened to a terreplein of earth and pebbles lying behind them. The radiocarbon exam of the finds recovered during the archaeological excavations in 2016 has confirmed this dating.
Radiocarbon dating
During archaeological excavations vegetable (seeds and scraps of coal) and bone remains were found: it was possible to use them for the radiocarbon absolute dating of the finds. The results prove the place was used in protohistoric times between the 14th and the 6th century B.C., while one of the dating is referable to early medieval remains.
