Ligurian settlement of Monte Altissimo

Monte Altissimo, Seravezza

Remains not visible; finds are kept at the Archeological Museum Bruno Antonucci in Pietrasanta.

A series of occasional findings, during road works at La Polla, at the foot of Mount Altissimo, has consented the retrieval of material showing the existence of scattered Ligurian settlements in the area. Most of this material consists of pottery, among which fragments of so called Graeco-italic wine amphorae: they actually came from Campania and Latium and were sold to the Ligurian populations by the Etruscan centres on the coast. The existence of trade relations is further confirmed by the finding of a Roman bronze coin of the III^rd century b.C.. The settlements of Mount Altissimo, referable to the III^rd - II^nd centuries b.C., together with those that occupied the surrounding range of the Apuan Alps, must have formed a high, fortified, defensive line controlling the Versilia plain and the passes connecting the two sides of the Apuans; this line was particularly important during the direct confrontation with the Roman army.

• STORTI S., Insediamenti Liguri dell’Alta Versilia, in Museo Archeologico Versiliese Bruno Antonucci, Viareggio, 1995, pp. 90-103.
• FABIANI F., Una tomba ligure ad Azzano di Seravezza (LU), in Ligures Celeberrimi. Atti del Congresso Internazionale, Mondovì 26,28 Aprile 2002, Bordighera, 2004, pp. 425 - 428.
• PARIBENI E., Anfore romane sulle Apuane. Materiali da insediamenti liguri del versante tirrenico, in Ligures Celeberrimi. Atti del Congresso Internazionale, Mondovì 26,28 Aprile 2002, Bordighera, 2004, pp. 205-222.
• GIANNINI M., Versilia, genesi di un territorio. Dall’età preistorica all’arrivo dei romani, «Journal of Ancient Topography», XXIII, 2013, pp. 155-178.