Monte Iato Research Projects
University of Innsbruck
Research Projects
Contact
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erich Kistler
Project Director
MMag.a Dr.in Birgit Öhlinger
Vice Project Director
Jessika Armbrüster, BA BA MA
Vice Field Director
Jessika.Armbruester@uibk.ac.at
Dr. phil. Thomas Dauth
Digital Archaeology, Research Data Management, Web Presence
Further Information
Historical and Academic Background
Monte Iato through Time
Rising above the Belice Valley on a limestone plateau, Monte Iato is one of the longest continuously inhabited sites in western Sicily. For over two millennia (c. 700 BCE–1300 CE), its strategic position, natural defences, and access to a resource-rich upland landscape made it an enduring place of settlement. Across centuries of cultural exchange, political transformation, and conflict, Monte Iato was repeatedly reshaped—yet it sustained a remarkable degree of local resilience.
Research Themes across Time
The Innsbruck Monte Iato Project approaches the site not as a sequence of isolated historical phases, but as a long-term laboratory for understanding how upland societies organise themselves within changing ecological, political and cultural environments. Three key themes structure our research across time — from prehistory to the Middle Ages: ecology and connectivity, power and resilience, and consumption and values.
How we work
Our research is guided by a bottom-up perspective centred on local agency. Rather than viewing Monte Iato as a passive periphery of ancient powers, we investigate it as a living settlement shaped by the decisions, strategies and everyday practices of its inhabitants.