Due to the new program, we spent the morning in Podere Cannicci but we came back to the castle after lunch with the full team of archaeologists and students.
With the help of our reinforcement, we were able to remove a great part of the collapse (2) in the first half of Area 1. We still do not know how far we should work to find the first archeological layer under the heavy stones of the collapse but we hope to reach it for tomorrow or for the day after tomorrow.
On Friday, we were able to start removing a yellow clay context in the new room, defined by a wall that presents a different alignment. The context resulted to be very rich in pottery and material culture in general and covered a much more compact clay deposit.
Just outside of this space, in the southern area of the excavation, we cleaned the wall-tops of the drain and removed an abandonment stratum. Two walls were revealed, making a corner as they touch the drain.
From next week, a change of strategy has been planned. The two archaeological teams will be working together at Podere Cannicci during the morning, while the afternoon will be spent at Castellaraccio.
Fifth day of excavation at Castellaraccio. We were finally able to produce a first sketch of the plan of the castle, while the rest of the team was still working on the collapse of Area 1, exposing the central part of the wall 5, which can be later than the others. The construction technique is still rubble masonry, but there is a rich presence of reused bricks in the core of the wall, which may indicate a later phase of construction compared with the main curtain wall; moreover had been used a different kind of mortar, white in color.
In the evening the team from Podere Cannicci came to pay their first visit at the Castle.
At Castellaraccio, we are still dealing with the collapse in Area 1 which is deeper than what we expected at the beginning of the excavation.
Another part of the team dedicates their time in exploring the rest of the wooded hill to provide a draft for a preliminary plan of the castle. Most of the main defensive wall circuit is immediately visible and needs only to be cleared from the vegetation, while several wall alignments are visible in the northern part of the castle, forming probably a series of rooms. More structures are probably located in one or two terracings, in the western part of the hill of the castle.
Today, we were able to fully expose a new context in the NE area of the excavation. This layer was covered by 34, a brown, clay level rich in pottery and metal slags that also covered an earlier wall. The latter presents a different orientation and seems to have been modified with the laying out of wall 6.
In the southern part of the excavation area, the team completed the removal of the topsoil and exposed the side walls of the main drain, located at the center of the site. We finished the day by taking a number of pictures and planning the strategy for the coming days.
This morning at Castellaraccio, after a brief lesson on the use of the dumpy level, all the team focused on the removal of the final collapse (2) of the structure in Area 1. In doing so, we exposed the eastern part of a new wall (5) which was partially covered by the rubble. The wall alignment is E-W and it is probably dividing the area into two or more rooms.
Unfortunately, the weather condition forced us to leave the site around 12:00pm. We used the afternoon to visit the ruins of a medieval bridge and the Roman baths at Pietratonda.
The day was spent to finish the removal of the topsoil in the NE section of the excavation area which allowed to recognize a new context (34), a possible abandonment of the structure. The context is delimitated by walls 6 and 16, which were uncovered last year. At the same time, as we removed part of context 34, a new wall (33) appeared along the southern edge.
The team working in the SW and W part of the excavation area continued the removal of the topsoil, which should be fully removed tomorrow.
The excavation area at Castellaraccio has seen some good signs of progress today. The final collapse of the structure has been almost fully exposed and shows a dense concentration of medium to large size stones, degrading towards an open space.
At the same time, part of the team focuses on exposing the visible remains of a number of other structures scattered within the hilltop and its terraces. In this way, in the coming days, it would be possible to proceed with a detailed mapping of all the buildings.
Today marked the first day of the excavations at the medieval castle of Castellaraccio di Monteverdi. As the team arrived on site, Prof. Hobart described the site to the students and informed them on the various information on the history of the castle and its eventual abandonment.
The rest of the day was spent to start an extensive cleaning of the excavation area and of a number of other structures covered by vegetation.
Today, the UB Study Abroad Program – Archaeological Field School at Monteverdi started. Before going to the main excavation sites, we spent some time at the Roman cistern located few meters away from the Podere Cannicci site.
Here the students had the possibility to see the remains of the Roman building and to start appreciating the complexity of the settlement network along this side of the river Ombrone.
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 