A fortified hillfort culture — named for its 'castellieri,' walled hilltop settlements — that developed in Istria during the Early and Middle Bronze Age and later expanded into Friuli, Dalmatia, and neighboring areas. The earliest examples, such as the Monkodonja hillfort, were built already in the 19th century BC and show Cyclopean masonry comparable to Mycenaean fortifications.
Persisted for over a millennium until the Roman conquest of the region in the 3rd century BC. The ethnic identity of the Castellieri population is uncertain; it has been connected to the later Histri and other northeastern-Adriatic peoples.
Covers the pre-Roman Bronze/Iron Age archaeology of the northeastern Italian/Adriatic zone including hillfort cultures.