With the designated work sites being the Keep and a house located within the castle, the teams have worked tirelessly to expose the history of medieval Tuscany, and subsequently the importance of interconnectivity along the river Ombrone. Dr. Vanni and his team at area 1000 removed two incredibly large root systems from the Keep nearly doubling the size of the working area and the exposition of wall.
Meanwhile at area 2000, the medieval house within the castle structure, the second team worked to expose the history of the inhabitants outside of the Keep. Before lunch, the team focused on defining the perimeter of the site, which is being done by finding and exposing the exterior walls. The main objective of the day was to push back toward the north wall and expose the definitive edge of the site, with the first contact being made shortly before the tea break at 10:30am. The second objective was to expose the massive root system of a grouping of four trees that embedded itself into the west wall. What was previously thought to be a robber’s hole, is for the moment displaying the same consistency as the topsoil both within and around the site. The areas surrounding the walls on the exterior and interior consist of a sandy yellow composition, and for the moment resembles disintegrating mortar after nearly nine hundred years of erosion. By the end of the day, contact was made with the north wall and the root systems surrounding the west wall, as well as the west wall itself being exposed, highlighting the speed at which both teams are moving.
Two big finds to be announced were the discovery of mortar,which helped shaped the phases of collapse, by Christina, and the corner roof tile by Thuraya, which accompanied previous roof tiles leading to further chronology of the site, and once again showing that collapse happens in more than one phase.
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 