Findings, sites and discoveries of prehistoric times

«A farmer by the name of Bernardo Moretti, working a piece of land on the border between Corropoli and Controguerra, in the so-called district of Pignotto, found a sepulcher at a depth of half a meter (…)». So wrote Baron Domenico De Guidobaldi di Nereto in a report dated July 1884, at the time Inspector of Excavations and Monuments of the Province of Teramo. The counter-war territory, in the last two centuries, has returned numerous and valuable archaeological finds, revealing a continuity of habitation that goes from prehistory to the present day. In fact, prehistoric man settled easily in the Vibratiana valley, probably due to its proximity to the sea, the presence of important rivers and the abundance of fresh water sources.

This discovery is also mentioned by Vincenzo D'Ercole, in his Palethnological Review, edited for the DAT, and reveals how important (and dating back over time) archaeological research in the Controguerra area is. Alfonso Panichi in recent years has attempted to better define the location of this find: using a topographical map of the I.G.M., the historian believes that the warrior examined by De Guidobaldi re-emerged near an altitude of 145, in the Pignotto district.

Before De Guidobaldi, the archaeologists Nemesio Ricci and Concezio Rosa were interested in Controguerra. The first brought to light interesting Roman and medieval artefacts, while the second identified Neolithic village and various prehistoric remains.

Rosa's discovery proved to be a fundamental discovery for Vibratian archeology: in the Controguerra area, the archaeologist managed to identify a Neolithic village, which he baptized with the name of "Villaggio di Belvedere", from the name of the district in which the site was located.

Even today some prehistoric clay finds from the Belvedere Village are kept in the "Luigi Pigorini" Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum in Rome and in the Florentine Museum of Prehistory.

In 1909, another archaeologist, Innocenzo Dall'Osso, went to Belvedere to locate the remains of the Neolithic village, but was unable to determine its exact location, due to the agricultural works which, over the years, had completely devastated the site. However, during his investigation, the Emilian archaeologist made an equally significant discovery, bringing to light an Iron Age settlement, probably the one to which the burial ground found years earlier by Concezio Rosa was associated.

Alfonso Panichi reports that an amygdala was found "in the San Lorenzo locality at the Belvedere Hill" which was then exhibited at the Pigorini Museum in Rome. For Panichi these finds would be contemporary with those found in the Neolithic village of Ripoli, dating back over 5000 years ago.

Archaeological research, however, did not only concern the Belvedere area: in 1871 Concezio Rosa again unearthed a red flint spear «very elongated and slender in shape», found «on the hills of Controguerra». The specimen turned out to be similar to others found in Denmark and Switzerland, «and especially with the one collected in the lake of Neuchâtel, and made known by Desor».

The following year, the archaeologist unearthed a prehistoric red flint knife in the "southern hills of the Municipality". It was the «largest knife presented to us this year by our Valley [della Vibrata]».

Again, the same was found in the Giardino district in land belonging to Mr. Cav. Montori, at a depth of about 0.50 m, while the foundations of a farmhouse were being dug, a red flint tool, which in contemporary times D'Ercole specified was a lower Paleolithic flint face. For Rosa «The small thickness of the base, and the very sharp cut that it presents at the apex, lead us to suppose that such an instrument tied to the top of a shaft could have also served as a powerful offensive weapon, as the Romans used to use, using the ploughshare as a weapon in time of war».

To conclude on the discoveries of Concezio Rosa, I recall that the archaeologist, in 1874, found the remains of a hut dating back to the Iron Age «in land belonging to the benefice of San Salvatore».

In the Torretta district, in January 1979, the "Archaeology and Territory" Cooperative of Campli identified a small settlement that can be referred to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The discovery took place by chance during the excavation work for the planting of a vineyard on the eastern side of the hill. During the same year, the archaeologist Mario Radmilli took an interest in the find, who, in September, carried out excavation tests, "both on the top and on the eastern slope of the hill, recovering prehistoric and historical materials in a mixed position due to the works agricultural".

During the same reconnaissance Radmilli inspected the locality of Cona, following the indications of Alfonso Panichi, and found fragments of material from the Bronze Age. Panichi offers a few more details on this survey:

On the hill of the Madonna delle Grazie, right behind the church of the Icon, following the excavation of foundations for civilian houses, traces of settlements from the Metal Age were noted, mostly dating back to the Picena Civilization (IX-VIII century BC): even in front of the church of the Graces, during the recent works of arrangement of the steps, fragments (sometimes relics) of siliceous and ceramic artifacts, of plasters of huts and more have been seen. A nice, somewhat worn flint scraper was collected among shards and black earth.

Also in 1979, the "Archaeology and Territory" Cooperative identified two archaeological sites in the municipality: one in Pignotto, "where, in a plowed field, numerous archaeological materials from various eras were found, including some from the prehistoric age", and another «on the eastern slopes of Colle Pignotto, where scarce clay materials and plaster from prehistoric huts are collected».

The Cooperative also inspected the site of Villa Quaglia, identifying a «large blackish spot on the ground in which some clay and lithic artefacts were collected».

Again Alfonso Panichi, between 1977 and 1979, inspecting the territory of the Municipality, identified "about twenty archaeological, protohistoric and historical sites" and claims to have collected "about 2,000 artifacts" then transferred to the municipal deposits to be preserved.