Study of the site of Trentinara in 1977 resulted in the identification of the first known Middle Bronze Age settlement in the area of ancient Paestum. This discovery not only adds a significant element to the occupational history of the Paestum area but, when considered together with the data concerning Bronze Age occupation of the Sele plain that are collected here, also provides a tentative basis for estimating settlement density and continuity of cultural development during the 2nd and early 1st millennium BC.