Characterized by warmth from the previous night’s festivities and a cake-filled celebration of the birthday of our director, Professor Sebastiani, during lunch, this Thursday heralded new questions and broader horizons for the Podere Cannicci site. After a lapse in our ability to employ the Total Station earlier in the week, site director Dr. Vanni and trench supervisor Betsy finished taking the points of Context 56, and as the team continued to remove the charcoal and disintegrated-brick laden reddish clay, they discovered a new feature of stacked tile running along the Western edge of the trench. Tomorrow, the Cannicci crew will articulate and investigate this construction to discover its function and extent. Further, in the process of removing Context 56, students uncovered a bronze coin while Alyssa articulated wall 57, situated in the center of the trench.
In Area 1000, Thuraya and Tina continued to remove the collapsed sherds of the dolia (Context 11) and to trowel the apsidal charcoal feature (context 8) which Thuraya, Dr. Vanni, and Professor Sebastiani had excavated on Wednesday. While doing this, they found a bronze nail, iron nails, and sherds of black gloss. They felt feelings of melancholy and satisfaction as they realized that their work in Area 1000 was quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow, they will continue to clean along with the rest of the team in preparation for Sunday’s “Sunset Archaeology” event.
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 