ArcheoLogica Data 5.1/2025

The territory of Villarosa is located in the westernmost part of Enna’s province: it develops in the valleys below Mount Altesina, and the Morello River, a tributary of the Imera Meridionale, crosses it. From an archaeological point of view, this territory has long been ignored by official research, with a consequent absence of data regarding the past settlement patterns that characterise this part of internal Sicily. In the last two decades, however, the territory has been the subject of growing archaeological investigation activity since 2004 through various surface surveys and stratigraphic excavations in the most significant sites, such as Case Bastione, Monte Giulfo, and Contrada Gaspa. Thanks to these investigations, carried out with a multidisciplinary approach by national and international research teams in collaboration with the Enna Superintendence, it is now possible to significantly fill that gap. The contribution, therefore, aims to collect and present the most significant evidence yielded by the various landscape archaeology projects carried out here to produce an archaeological map of the municipal territory, useful both for the continuation of field research and for the protection of the cultural heritage preserved in this part of the Erei plateau.