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Today was a relative easy day. We uncovered the area and checked that the site was in good condition. Everything was in order and only needed a quick cleaning. While Alessandro and Cleo reviewed the documentation of the 2021 campaign, Benedetta and Ryan started to clean the northern room of Area 1000. We then continued to work in the north eastern corner of our building in Area 2000 to understand the connection between the eastern wall and the defensive curtain. Here, both the walls are severely damaged by roots and our efforts brought little result. We resolved to come back to the yellowish layer that we exposed, probably the very bottom of the collapse and prepared it for a photo and for recording its plan with the total station.

Completing our first whole week since arriving at Monteverdi, both teams continue to excavate their respective areas with enthusiasm. The necropolis team continues their search for more tombs as they attempt to understand whether some form of pattern resulted in their layout or if the tombs themselves represent a random sequence. The team operating in Area 1 were introduced to the usage of Drones on-site, the importance of sketching maps, GIS software, and the broader understanding of data sharing and proper documentation.

The team in Area 1 conducted proper documentation of the visible contexts following lunch; following this, the first removal of a destruction layer (Context 39) began, already unearthing ceramic goods such as black-gloss ware, tiles, and fragments of storage containers. With Context 39 remaining the main point of interest into the evening, many more exciting discoveries within the moment of destruction await. 

Meanwhile, the anthropology team of Doctor Fenton and his PhD student Clara Debota continue their diligent work processing the skeletal remains of Lombard burials from a small church at Castiglion del Bosco!

Today marked our second week of excavation at Podere Cannicci. While the team in search of the necropolis continued to expand the trench with hopeful spirits, the group at Area 1 spent the morning cleaning the site and preparing for further excavation, defining the limits of the trench and meticulously troweling the eastern pebbled area. During this time, Michael and Federico got the students acquainted with the tools of the trade, showing them proper pickaxing and shovelling techniques.

After lunch, the Area 1 team began by teaching the students about the basics of stratigraphy: gathered around a table behind the excavation area, Federico and Betsy defined “contexts” and discussed how to discover, document, and excavate them, emphasizing always the importance of thorough records. Equipped with their new knowledge and practice with different tools, the students of Area 1 spent the remainder of the afternoon exposing Contexts 39 and 70, representing a burn layer and thick, yellow clay, that had been identified during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

The students are excited for what the future holds!

Today, we finished the removal of the collapse in the northern part of the room, exposing the contexts belonging to the last phases of life of the building. Almost half hidden under the last centimeters of the collapse, we recovered a blade of a medieval knife with some fragments of pottery, including the rim of a testum – a dish used to cook a sort of flat bread.
We finished exposing a hard yellowish context, very disturbed in the centre by the roots of the stump that we removed the first day. After this, we finally removed the remains of the covering we put to preserve the stratigraphy during the winter; by doing so, we exposed the entire room again. We did some quick cleaning in preparation for tomorrow.

The day was spent visiting the ruins of Rusellae, the Etruscan-Roman city that controlled the territory of Podere Cannicci in the classical period.

Here, the participants had the opportunity to learn the history of the site and to visit the most recent excavations, thanks to the expertise of Benedetta, Cleo, and Marta. After a week of working at the sites, it was a well deserved time off, to recharge and to discover some of the many historical beauties of the territory of Maremma.

The day started early with the two teams in Cannicci returning to their work on the field. The tomb team continued their search for other burials. They expanded the sample area in order to identify traces of cuts in the ancient clay soil on the top of the Cannicci hill. The team is aided by close range remote sensing (geophysics) carried out in the last few years in order to better locate the graves. Several shards of pottery have been found and suggest the presence of the necropolis, which is only to be found. Topographic tools have been implemented to record the sporadical findings and the limitations of the research area.
On the other hand, the Cannicci craft-area team kept on cleaning the site, moving to the last portion of it. They successfully removed the dirt from the eastern part, taking care of the fragile walls made of large river stones, pebbles and clay. The work will be completed soon, as the students have got acquainted with the fieldwork. They will start unearthing and excavate the actual layers of this site on Monday

Today, the team acquired the help of Nolan, who is interested in the Middle Ages and wanted to experience one day of excavation at the castle. While Cleo and Ryan cleaned area 1000 from the vegetation that had grown back over the last year, the rest of the team completed the excavation of the last section of the northern part of Area 2000, finally exposing the full internal face of the curtain wall that is closing our room from the north.

Over the last hour of the day the team of Cannicci came to visit the castle but had to leave soon after the beginning of the tour due to a sudden storm.

Today, the team was divided into two groups. The first part of the team continued the cleaning of the central and southern portions of Area 1; now, the already exposed contexts are clean and it is possible to recognize the earth-beaten floor and the pebble floor. In the central area, which was already interpreted as an open space to serve different activities, a conspicuous number of pottery fragments and animal bones was retrieved during the cleaning.

The second team worked mainly in a new excavation area, where a necropolis is thought to be. Indeed, in March 2021, a late Etruscan-Hellenistic burial was documented and excavated.

Today, we removed most of the remaining collapse from the northern side of Area 2000. We started to reconnect the stratigraphy with the one of 2021, and we are almost ready to expose all of the room again.

The day started with a full visit to the site before the team split into two separate groups working respectively at Podere Cannicci and at Castellaraccio di Monteverdi. During the tour, it was possible to learn about the sequence of the site and the results of the previous campaigns.

We then started the cleaning of Area 1, the manufacturing district, the excavation of which stopped in 2019. We aim at completing the operation and to start again the archaeological investigation soon.

We will then clean Area 1000, the second house of the village, while a team will open soon a test trench on a nearby hill.