Today is the last day of real excavations at the site. Tomorrow, we will document all the exposed contexts, and proceed with the final photographs for the season.
The fortification wall on the western side is now almost fully exposed and we can trace its development and relationship with the keep. At a first glimpse, it seems like it can be referred to as a single construction phase, although more detailed studies are necessary to confirm this impression.
The house clearly shows that at least three earlier structures were obliterated by context 37 and the final construction of the building later in the 13th century. It is also clearer that these structures predate the construction of the fortification wall that encloses the entire hilltop and, in a very preliminary way, they can be dated before the 11th century. This is an extraordinary discovery, as for the first time we have data to surely confirm the presence of a settlement on the hill before the first mentions in the (surviving) written sources.
Finally, the discovery of some classical bricks and pottery in a secondary position informs on the possibility that a much earlier settlement was here present when the fortification and the castle were constructed.
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 