A House in the Sicilian Hills

The Casa Sollima Chalcolithic site is located at c. 650 m. asl at the upper western end of a small plateau. It was discovered during the course of a regional survey by the Troina Project: Investigation of a recently-cut drainage ditch revealed prehistoric pottery and high-lighted the potential of the site for further investigation.

Left: Caroline Malone in the drainage ditch.

The Casa Sollima `house' or enclosure consists of the lower courses of an oval drystone structure some 12m in length by 10m in width. The lower part of the foundations appear to have been composed of relatively small stones, perhaps deliberately placed in a foundation trench. The upper part of the wall comprised larger stones which must have provided the setting for a wooden superstructure. The inside of the structure was also remarkably preserved. Whilst there was no clear evidence of a prepared floor beyond a level surface, the area of a hearth (which had collapsed into an earlier pit) had been lined with local marl slabs, and this remnant flooring could imply that such slabs might have covered a larger area within the `house', and have been robbed out on the abandonment of the structure.

The enclosure appears to have been divided longitudinally into two---to judge from the foundation structure---by a less substantial wall. The southern portion had an elaborate hearth and numerous postholes. The stone house appears to have replaced an earlier area of occupation which contained three large storage pits filled with extensive dumps of daub and domestic refuse from an earlier building. The northern portion had its own hearth, two smaller storage pits, as well as other postholes.

Above: West-facing view of the 2000 excavations at Casa Sollima. Note the pits, back-filled for safety reasons, at centre and left.