Today Benedetta and Cleo focused on removing the filling of two cuts located in the southwest part of area 2000 ( Contexts 71, 75=78) while Michelle removed context 49 from the N-W corner of area 2000.
Ryan finished removing context 123 and cleaned all the trench in area 3000. After, he gave a context number (126) to a reddish layer located in the southeast half of the trench.
Paolo Alberto and a friend of his came to help us and they found some iron nails and an elaborated ring with a bezel.
These are the last few days of work in Podere Cannicci for this year. And today was the last day of actual excavation before starting the final cleaning and documentation phase. Documenting everything in the smallest detail is vital to archaeological research: this strengthens the scientific reliability of our work and allows other scholars in the future to be able to reconstruct and understand our work of today. Because Archaeology is destructive.
This is why we need to accurately record all we do during the fieldwork. Maps, drawing, photographs, journals, topography tools, drones: these are all instruments to create a massive and reliable documentation of the actions of in the past.
Today the students removed the last layers, one of which was a square pit that revealed to be a fire pit. Then they prepared the site for the final documentation. They will now learn step by step how to create a complete record for closing a successful archaeological excavations.
Today our group was engaged both at Cannicci and at the cistern. At the cistern we cleaned portions of the cocciopesto located outside the structure. Some of these pieces are not in place, and we tried to figure out the magnitude and where they could be originally placed. We also made drawings and made measurements of the interior of the cistern. After cleaning part of the interior, a large block of stone inside the cistern is now visible, most likely what remains of a pillar to sustain the vault.
We’re ready for mapping the structure tomorrow morning!
The team at Area 1 continued excavations to reveal a potential next phase of occupation. The complete removal of Context 60 revealed a beautiful working floor filled with red, orange and white ash colors. In the process of removing Context 60, five new contexts were revealed including a possible base for a work bench, the second forge (already revealed but now cleaned), a smashed pot presumably for storage, and another potential raw floor. The afternoon consisted of cleaning the site and documenting the new Contexts appropriately as this new layer demonstrates a complex developing story. At the cistern, the team continued excavating and cleaning the site, almost completing the structure for the first time.
Second day at the cistern! Today we continued to clean the cistern. Now the limits are all visible, except for the western part, where there are trees which probably caused part of the collapse of the structure. We also entered inside the cistern.
From the inside, we saw that the walls are made of square stone blocks, while the roof of the cistern is made up of a very thick layer of cocciopesto.
Our goal is to finish cleaning the structure and understand how it was built.
A new publication, detailing the results of the 2021 archaeological season at Castellaraccio di Monteverdi is now available for free at this link:
http://www.fastionline.org/docs/FOLDER-it-2022-526.pdf
Congratulations to Michelle and Alessandro!
Today we started to dig the filling of cut 71, under wall 83. Removing layer 72 it becomes clear that there are two different cuts in line: for that reason we gave another number to the filling and to the cut located on the west part of northern side of wall 84. The soil is full of charred seeds that seems different to the others collected in the other part of the room.
In the meantime we removed the remain of context 33 from the N-W corner of area 200 and realize the connection from the black layers below (context 49). We documented the layer and found inside a big charred beam that goes in correspondence to USM 18, the west wall. So we understood that it wasn’t a fireplace but a charred beam.
In area 3000 Ryan founds the bedrock with a cut (context 124) filled from context 123.
Today marked the beginning of the last week of excavation for Castellaraccio and Cannicci. After a deep cleaning for recording the situation after the removal of the dark context 55, we started to remove a series of layers representing a series of activities that happened after context 55 was formed.
We excavated the fireplace in the northwestern corner of the room. This layer looks more like a charred beam, but we will need further work. We excavated one of the yellowish-gray pits in the northern area of the room. We hoped to find a seed deposit, but the pit was almost empty. Ryan exposed a new layer under the brick collapse with large stones. We will need to understand whether it is another wall or another structural element.
This morning, the Podere Cannicci team again took diverse paths: while some stayed home to wash and to organize pottery and others undertook the investigation of a Roman cistern, the rest of the team set out to finish the removal of Context 60’s packed tiles, ceramics, and stones in Area 1.
With Context 60 having been levelled by the day’s end, the team made several exciting discoveries. Not only were Context 73’s collapse and a new, suspected forge revealed, cleaned, and documented, as well as more secondary evidence of ceramic and metallurgical production brought to light, but bright red and ashy grey patches of soil as well as a large stone deeper in the earth were likewise exposed. These last two contexts must be investigated further in the coming days, and the team plans to do this in conjunction with the removal of Context 73. It seems that we have truly begun to reveal the phases of life at the site!
Today part of the Cannicci group (Marta, Thuraya, and Adina) moved to a new area! In this place, there is a Roman cistern, already identified by a field survey in the 1990s, but never investigated.
The cistern was hardly visible, partly underground and covered by overgrown vegetation. Thanks to the hard work of the team, at the end of this day, the cistern is almost back to light and in the next days we will be able to document and record its structure.
A new piece of the intricated puzzle of Podere Cannicci is now getting solved!
Interconnected Mobility of People and Economy along the River Ombrone 