News

In the eastern part of the excavation, US 29 was completely removed while wall 4 was fully exposed. A new wall appeared, aligned to those of the large drain discovered in 2019.

A wooden, charred architrave or very large beam was discovered by removing the collapse, while new contexts were exposed as well in the southern area. A bronze door knob was recovered in the collapse.

Finally, some activities took also place at the medieval site of Castellaraccio, documenting new evidence that will help understanding the overall medieval settlement and its connection with the fallen bridge.

Today, we started to label the newly discovered rooms at Podere Cannicci, as our 2020 season is coming to an end.

In the meantime, US 29 was documented and removed, exposing the possible prefurnium of the kiln/oven US 28 and the NW-SE wall US4.

In the southern area, instead, US 2 was completely removed as well as the collapse. Just below it, the remains of melted clay walls appeared, cut by agricultural plowings of uncertain chronology.

Other contexts were exposed, but not yet fully identified and documented.

In the southern side of the trench, our archaeologists finished to remove US 26 and exposed the semi-rectangular cut US 28; this presents vertical sections of limited height while the filling had some remains of mortar. Then the area was cleaned and fully documented, with a 3D plan of the possible kiln.

In the northern side, instead, the activities aimed at clarifying the limits of the rooms, by delimitating the internal floors, that are made up of yellow clay and small pebbles. Moreover, US 27 was started to be removed; this is a hard, yellow clay deposit that partially abuts the drain and presents lumps and concentrations of charcoal.

Today, we spent most of the day removing US 2 in the western part of the trench. This allowed to reveal another section of the earth-beaten floor, partially exposed last year. The removal of the context also allowed to discover a new pillar of the room, and the side wall of the drain recently intercepted.

In the SE area of the trench, instead, we removed US 23, rich in fragments of mud bricks, cocciopesto and pottery. Just underneath it, a consistent deposit of charcoals, charred wood and kitchen ware appeared.

At the end of the day, we documented the entire area with a drone, also to be able to produce a 3D model of the excavation trench!

The excavation of US 23 and wall 21 continued; a structure containing cocciopesto, mud bricks, roof tile and large scatters of charcoal emerged in the southern side.

Alongside US 23, a new context (25) was revealed that covers a new wall, going NE-SW.

On the northern side of the trench, instead, a drain was discovered going NE-SW, filled with a clay deposit. The drain is flanked by two pillars; close to the southern pillar there are remains of a smashed dolium.

The day ended with mapping and recording all the new contexts.

Today, our archaeologists were finally able to finish the general cleaning and document two new archaeological contexts.

In the area south of the dolia, close to the wall 21, the removal of US 23 started; this has a semicircular shape with large races of burnt soil, charcoal, roof tiles and mud bricks.

In the northern sector, instead, the removal of US 24 started, that is characterised by yellowish hard clay, covering a concentration of roof tiles and limited by the presence of a new wall.

Stay tuned for some updates!

Another great day at Podere Cannicci for our archaeologists!

The removal of the collapse covering US 21 (the wall dividing the room with dolia from the recently newly exposed spaces of the complex) revealed a burnt context, red in color and with a high concentration of charcoals. Moreover, a small rectangular structure, made up of mud bricks , was discovered, most likely a furnace or a kiln. In this room, a handle of a situla was collected.

The excavation trench was extended both on the western and northern sides; from the latter, two bronze coins appeared from the soil. One is a Republican coin, while the second bears the image of an Antonine Emperor (most likely Antoninus Pius or Commodus).

Monday was a day full of surprises at Podere Cannicci!

We continued to remove US 1 on the eastern side of the trench, and a new wall appeared going NE-SW, along the edge of the excavation trench.

We mapped and documented with drone pictures US 2, the collapse along the main wall at the center of the trench; after this, we started to remove it and a couple of Republican coins were found.

Finally, we extended the trench on the SW side, where an earth-beaten floor was discovered, containing sandy soil and small pebbles.

Get ready for some great news soon!

On Saturday, the excavation team of Podere Cannicci moved towards the Ombrone river to carry out a digital survey of the remains of the Medieval bridge. This connected the coastal area of Maremma with Chiusi and Mount Amiata and it collapsed soon after to its destruction. The team was able to fully survey and map the walls of the bridge, and to understand several other features around.

A little bit of clearance from the vegetation allowed to map the structures with GPS and total station and Dr. Emanuele Mariotti was able to take some aerial pictures with his drone, showing the entireness of the reamins.

Quite a very productive day, with some very special surprises!

Today, our archaeologists have worked tirelessly to expose the eastern side of the trench. We continued to remove the collapse and new alignments of stones were recorded. In the SE section of the excavation area, between USM 21 and 22, a possible floor was discovered; this is made up of small pebbles and we will continue to expose it.

On Saturday, we will be working on a different site of the project, while on Monday, we will continue to let you know what we are finding at Podere Cannicci.

Stay tuned!