  In this paper we present the results of an archaeoastronomical survey of
three proto-historical sites located in the high Friulian plain (Galleriano,
Gradisca and Savalons), dating from the end of the Early Bronze Age (1900 B.C.)
to the end of the Late Bronze Age (950 B.C.). These structures, commonly
indicated as castellieri, are earthworks of quadrangular shape, with sides
ranging from 140 to 250 m. At present the perimetrical earthen embankments
reach a maximum base width of 18 m and an elevation of more than 5 m the
surrounding plain in their best preserved parts. These three sites were often
reported in the literature to have the corners aligned to the cardinal
directions. Aveni and Romano (1986) included two of them (Galleriano and
Gradisca) in their study of earthworks in Veneto and Friuli (Italy),
tentatively proposing astronomically relevant alignments for some sides and
diagonals. Inspired by this pioneering work and by the renovated archaeological
interest for these sites, we obtained digital elevation models of the
earthworks and re-analyzed their orientation. Our study does not confirm the
presence of systematic and statistically significant solar or lunar alignments
for these sites.
