Civita of Paterno, where Val d'Agri tells its oldest story

In the heart of the Lucanian Apennines National Park Val d'Agri Lagonegrese, the archaeological area of Civita a Paterno preserves traces of a past that has its roots in ancient times, when the upper Val d'Agri was occupied by a vast glacial lake surrounded by the peaks of the Volturino massif (1,800 metres above sea level) and the Amoroso and Serra Longa mountains (1,200 to 1,500 metres above sea level), a fertile environment rich in life where prehistoric animals, such as the elephas antiquus, and the first human groups found ideal conditions for settlement.

Over the millennia, especially during the Bronze Age, these lands became a crossroads for semi-nomadic shepherds of the so-called Apennine civilisation, who travelled the transhumance routes and chose the hills as Civita to establish their villages, attracted by the presence of water, pastures and arable land.

At an altitude of about 900 metres, the site still bears the marks of these ancient communities: the remains of an imposing terracing wall, structures used as shelters and a precious heritage of “Apennine” ceramics decorated with engraved and symbolic motifs, large containers for storing foodstuffs and tools related to the processing of milk and cereals, evidence of an economy deeply linked to sheep farming and rural life.

These finds, now also on display at the National Archaeological Museum of the Upper Val d'Agri, tell a story of simple gestures and ancient knowledge, while the strategic position of the site confirms the valley's role as an important trade corridor between the inland and the coast. In Roman times, the fertility of the land continued to attract agricultural settlements, as demonstrated by the remains of a villa rustica found in Aggia, a sign of continuous habitation throughout the centuries.

Today, Civita is not only an archaeological site, but also a meeting point between nature and memory, where the unspoilt landscape interacts with the traces of human presence, offering visitors the thrill of walking among the deepest origins of the Val d'Agri and rediscovering, step by step, one of the most fascinating pages in the history of Basilicata.