The 2018 IMPERO Field School is fast approaching. We are waiting for the students to arrive this Sunday, May 27. In the meantime, today we are going to prepare the excavation site at Castellaraccio di Monteverdi, while tomorrow we will be opening the late Etruscan and Republican site at Podere Cannicci.
From Sunday, we will be updating our blog daily. Stay tuned!
On May 27, 2018, the Second Archaeological Field School of the IMPERO project will start. Nine students coming from the University at Buffalo, Michigan State University, University of Arkansas and the University of Queensland will join the IMPERO team for the excavations of the late Etruscan and Republican settlement at Podere Cannicci and the medieval castle at Castellaraccio di Monteverdi.
We will update our website daily, hoping to engage with your enthusiasm over our discoveries.
Our Project Manager Luca is also working to organize a public event towards the end of the season so that everyone can come and visit our sites, meet our team and share the beauty of this part of Tuscany.
Stay tuned!
Through an anonymous donor, the Impero Project has been awarded a Research Grant for carrying out geophysics analyses in the area of the late Etruscan and Republican site at Podere Cannicci in June 2018.
This grant will allow testing the georadar technique in fields around the main excavation site and to try to reveal the buried settlement. We will update the website during the 2018 archaeological season to inform all of you about the results.
Stay tuned!
Yesterday I went to have a look at the ruins of the castle, and instead of walking around the top I walked outside below what were once the rampants (no easy feat as it is quite steep and a forest!). What I noticed, which I hadn’t properly before, were two things: first, that more of the walls are preserved than one imagines, and are higher than one can see from the inside, but covered in earth and vegetation. Secondly, there is an area on the east side of the castle with a high concentration of roof tiles and bricks: either from a collapse or possibly were dumped there
Luca Giannuzzi Savelli
Josef Soucek, from the National Museum at Prague, has joined the IMPERO Project. Josef will be responsible for drone recordings, 3D reconstructions, photogrammetry and many other things! Josef’s expertise will be invaluable and we are so happy to welcome him to our research team!
Michael Mccabe is the second University at Buffalo Student to join the UB Research Opportunity “Life and Death at the Roman Sanctuary at Podere Cannicci”. During the upcoming field school, Michael will be working with Prof. Todd Fenton (MSU), Prof. Alessandro Sebastiani (SUNY) and Elisabeth Woldeyohannes to detect and document the late Etruscan-Roman necropolis located around the sanctuary.
The necropolis was recognized during the rescue excavations in the early 2000s when a bronze mirror depicting the Dioscuri was discovered. The mirror has been dated between the late 3rd and the 2nd c. BC.
We are all looking forward to starting this part of the project!
Elisabeth Woldeyohannes is the first University at Buffalo Student to join the UB Research Opportunity “Life and Death at the Roman Sanctuary at Podere Cannicci”. During the upcoming field school, Elisabeth will be working with Prof. Todd Fenton (MSU) and Prof. Alessandro Sebastiani (SUNY) to detect and document the late Etruscan-Roman necropolis located around the sanctuary.
The necropolis was recognized during the rescue excavations in the early 2000s when a bronze mirror depicting the Dioscuri was discovered. The mirror has been dated between the late 3rd and the 2nd c. BC.
We are all looking forward to starting this part of the project!
The archaeological research at Podere Cannicci (Civitella Paganico – GR, Italy) has uncovered the remains of some buildings related to a late Etruscan-mid Republican Sanctuary. Further excavations in summer 2018 will aim to locate and investigate a nearby necropolis which is known to be dated between the Republican and the Imperial period.
This part of the Monteverdi Archaeological Field School will focus on the development of the necropolis and its relationship with the nearby sanctuary area; the analysis of the associated material culture will inform on Roman trade routes and supply centers for the community at Podere Cannicci.
During the Study Abroad Program, undergraduate students have the possibility to work under the supervision of the director of the excavations and Prof. Todd Fenton (Michigan State University) to reveal the necropolis and proceed to the necessary documentation.
Students are expected to work daily on site and to be participants of the UB Study Abroad Program (https://goo.gl/nmuVpA). A report of the fieldwork will be published in order to inform the wider academic audience about the discovery and the underwent analyses.
Daily, the students will be responsible for updating the related project website and its social media pages (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter).
Disciplines: Archaeology, Anthropology, Classics, Geography, Arts
Student Skill-Set Needed: Fieldwork, Data collecting, Ability to work independently, Material Culture Studies
Compensation: Academic Credit, Volunteer
Available: Summer
Website: http://www.imperoproject.com
For further information on this opportunity, or to apply contact:
Faculty Member: Alessandro Sebastiani
Title: Assistant Professor
Department: Classics
Office: 338 MFAC | Buffalo, NY 14261
Phone: 645-0462
Email: as424@buffalo.edu
There is time until March 15, 2018 to apply to our Study Abroad Program in Archaeology and take part in the excavations at Podere Cannicci and Castellaraccio di Monteverdi. We will be digging from May 27 to June 23, 2018!
At Podere Cannicci, the area of a late Etruscan and early Republican sanctuary is currently under investigation. Have your hands-on experience of archaeological methods and practices!
The Castellaraccio di Monteverdi is a deserted and fortified medieval village located over the river Ombrone.
We will be staying at the 15th c. farm of Monteverdi, in the heart of the Brunello region in Tuscany. A wonderful place where to enjoy your archaeological time!
One of the most impressive archaeological remains in the area of Monteverdi is represented by the ruins of the fallen, medieval bridge over the river Ombrone. This is also known as “Ponte del Sasso” as it faces the medieval and contemporary village of Sasso d’Ombrone.
The story of the bridge is a fascinating one. The first mention is in a November 1220 AD document where some aristocratic families gave some of their lands to Tienamonte for «oblatus et dominus pontis, recipiens pro ponte edificato inter Montemviridem et Saxum super Umbronem». However, the fate of the medieval bridge was short. As soon as AD 1294, we have the final mention of this facility: when the castles of Monteverdi and Ripa were sold to the Commune of Siena, the bridge is mentioned as part of their territories, granted by Ugolino di Rustico’s sons, Conte and Ansiligio, to Siena.
The catastrophic flood in AD 1318 could be the main reason for the collapse of the medieval bridge, which still remains nowadays as a spectacular witness of the Middle Ages in this part of Tuscany.
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 