In the 2nd century BC the sacred area underwent a massive restructuring, linked to the Roman presence in the territory, and remained active until the first half of the 1st century AD. The numerous inscriptions found there featuring writing in the Oscan language attest to a strong identity connotation of the Lucanian community.
The sacred complex consists of a forecourt, a large area paved with large irregular limestone slabs, at the center of which is the so-called “altar.” Around the forecourt are a series of rooms that bear traces of the restructuring and monumentalization of the Roman period.
Central is the role of water, an element linked to the Lucanian deity, as a symbol of purification and fertility and abundance; in the forecourt the drainage channel of the captured spring water conducted to the sacred area is preserved. Also significant are the hydraulic works of the Roman period for the outflow of water that characterize some of the rooms outside the forecourt.
Recent investigations conducted by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Basilicata have made it possible to better understand the phase of occupation during the Lucanian period with the discovery of a large wall that delimited the sacred area on the valley side, obliterated in one of the subsequent phases of monumentalization and restructuring of the sacred area due to the continuous landslide phenomena that have affected the area since ancient times.
Information on the Archaeological Area of Rossano di Vaglio
85010 Vaglio Basilicata (Potenza)
347 2736594
388 1925513
Source: MIBACT
