This celebrated and best known of all these settlements is situated about four miles north-west of Borgo San Donino, in the province of Parma. It was discovered about seventy years ago, and continued to be excavated solely for agricultural purposes till 1861, when Gastaldi's publications directed attention to the prehistoric remains of North Italy. Till then the numerous objects of human industry disinterred by the workmen excited little or no curiosity. Things, however, were very different after the northern wave of archæological inquiry, now greatly quickened by the discovery of the Swiss lake-dwellings, had reached the Parmensian antiquaries. Henceforth instructions went forth from the proprietor, Sig. Ugolotti, that these objects were to be carefully preserved, and now they constitute a special and most interesting collection in the Archæological Museum at Parma. On visiting Castione one sees a slight elevation rising about 10 feet above the plain and surmounted by a church and convent. These buildings, which are both lofty and extensive, are approached on the west side by a stone bridge, spanning a canal-like pool of stagnant water, which lies along the margin of the mound and partly surrounds it. Elsewhere the slope from this plateau to the level plain is gradual, except where the more recent excavations have been made, which present much the same appearance as a roadside sand-pit. Of the original size and form of the mound it is now difficult to form a correct estimate, owing to the amount of stuff yearly carted away, but the portion still undisturbed or covered by buildings may be estimated at two acres. A perpendicular section, which can be readily obtained at various points, presents the following succession of layers from above downwards:-- 1. Ordinary mould or disturbed soil for a depth of 6 feet, said to contain Roman and more recent remains. 2. The terramara beds proper, arranged in thin, wavy laminations of variously-coloured earths. Sometimes a thickish bed of clay or a black band of charcoal catches the eye; in another place an overlapped bed is seen to shelve out and disappear altogether. But, notwithstanding a wavy or undulating appearance, the general horizontality of these layers is maintained. Their average total thickness amounts to 8 feet. [Illustration: =Fig. 68=_a_--Pottery from the Terremare.] 3. Underneath these beds lies a blackish peaty substance, some 3 feet thick, in which, as already mentioned, Strobel detected the remains of a palafitte. Below this peaty stratum there is a greenish clayey deposit, similar in composition to that found at some depth in the surrounding plain, into which the piles were driven. [Illustration: =Fig. 68=_b_.--Anse Lunate or Cornute from the Terremare.]