inner stronghold, and an extensive outer graveyard. Abandonment Phase (c. 800-500 BC) After the Iron Age, the settlement suffered the collapse of its earthen rampart in Macrophase 1c, between c. 750 and 650 BC , the site was abandoned and alluvium covered the place in Interphase 1c/2a, between c. 650 and 500 BC. The Beginning of the City and Achaemenid Acculturation Phase (c. 500-350 BC) After the abandonment, the beginning of the city can be traced back archaeologically to Macrophase 2a1, between 500 and 450 BC, and Achaemenid acculturation phase to Macrophase 2a2, from 450 to 350 BC. This Achaemenid influence from 450 BC started in the Classic period of that Persian Empire. Archaeologists found, in this phase of Barikot, luxury pottery typical of the Achaemenids, but also saw the introduction of non-luxury Indic pottery, and many local glass objects. Regionalization Phase (c. 350-250 BC) Greek and Latin sources like Curtius Rufus, talking of this period, tell that Swat and Gandhara were not controlled by Achaemenids anymore (from around 350 BC), and that a tribe known as Assakenoi ruled the region allied to other Indian tribes. Italian Mission archaeologists consider this phase saw the complete disappearance of Achaemenid ceramic forms, but that household Indic vessels were still in use at Barikot. This belongs to archaeological Macrophase 2b, from c.350 to 250 BC, and Macedonian siege to Barikot (Bazira) occurred within this period, in autum 327 BC. Also during Macrophase 2b, in trench BKG 11, a Mauryan coin was found, radiocarbon dated to 349-282 BC (95.4% probability model), what is 315 +/- 34 BC. Mauryan and Greco-Bactrian Kingdoms Linking Phase (c. 250-150 BC) Beginning in 2011, an excavation in the south west corner of the site discovered several older settlements than expected. One pre-Indo-Greek level was dated to the mid 3rd century BC or in the middle of the Mauryan era. During this time, known archaeologically as Macrophase 3a1, Barikot was part of a political and commercial network linking Mauryan and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, as both Greco-Bactrian and Hellenistic pottery forms were introduced in the site with clear relationships to northern Afghanistan and Central Asia, just like Ai-Khanoum. Old Apsidal Temple In December 2021, archaeologists of Ca’ Foscari University and Italian Archaeological Mission in collaboration with the provincial department of archaeology and museums in Pakistan, led by Dr. Luca Maria Olivieri, announced the discovery of the earliest Buddhist apsidal temple in Barikot