Samnite Sanctuaries Surveyed: Preliminary Report of the Sacred Landscape Project 2004

In March 2004, an intensive, small-scale, problem-oriented survey was conducted in the area surrounding two Samnite sanctuaries in the Alta Valle del Tappino (CB), which lies in the modern region of Molise in centralsouthern Italy. The sanctuary at S. Giovanni in Galdo, località Colle Rimontato, and the sanctuary at Gildone, località Cupa, were of equally modest dimensions and were frequented during the Hellenistic and the Roman periods. In this short preliminary report, the objectives of the survey will be discussed in the context of the theoretical framework of the project. The first provisional results will also be presented. Fig. 1. Topographic map of the Molise, with indication of the sanctuaries of S. Giovanni in Galdo, località Colle Rimontato (A) and Gildone, località Cupa (B), in the Alta Valle del Tappino area (adapted from Di