Monte Polizzo

In 1970, Vincenzo Tusa launched a campaign of trial excavations in inland western Sicily, including the first organized dig at Monte Polizzo. He opened several trial trenches, uncovering Iron Age remains, associated with 6th century BC Greek pottery.
In 1996, Vincenzo Tusa's son Sebastiano (Superintendent of Prehistoric Archaeology for the Trapani province and Professor of Archaeology at the University of Naples) created an international project to further understanding of the Elymians, with Monte Polizzo at its core. In 1998, the Sicilian-Scandinavian Archaeological Project was launched, led by Sebastiano Tusa and Kristian Kristiansen (Professor of Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden).
From 1998 to 2001, Christopher Prescott of the University of Oslo directed the excavation of House 1, dated c. 550-525 BC, as well as the town dump and areas on the north slope of the acropolis. Excavations were extended to the west in 2002 by Christian Mühlenbock and Kristian Kristiansen from the University of Gothenburg. The new area revealed additional house complexes from the mid-6th century BC. The excavations were drawn to a close in 2006 but the results will soon be published in two major volumes.
An archaeological survey of the surrounding area was undertaken by Michael Kolb of Northern Illinois University beginning in 1998 and revealed a rich settlement system dating from the Copper Age to the medieval period, many of the sites being reoccupied over time. Kolb has also excavated at nearing Salemi, recovering finds that document the presence of residual 6th century BC activity and 4th–3rd century BC settlement, lending credence to the idea that Salemi is the ancient city of Halyciae of the Elymians.
In 1999, Stanford University joined the Monte Polizzo project,…