6 Dicembre 2010

The working day concentrated in the west part of Area 1. By the use of the excavator we are bringing to light the entire development of the defensive walls close room 5, in bad state of conservation. Currently it is not yet clear the north end of the settlement. It'possible that the perimeter of room 5, until now, conventionally taken as the northern boundary because its thickness and position, not to be interpreted as a boundary but rather as a simple perimeter, for the absence of much yellow mortar, which characterizes the defensive walls so far found. If the hypothesis is confirmed by the excavation, we should expand the planimetric development of the settlement, with a possible new room.
In ambient 1 we are digging a structure with a mixed construction technique, and with brick base and and pressed earth structure. Now we are removing the collapse of the roof made of tiles and slabs reused. The pottery also appear to confirm the hypotheses derived from the last season of excavation: the “olla” fragments seem dated between X and XI century, at an earlier stage than reported from written sources (the first declaration is dated to 1117). The working hypothesis, already known during the past excavations, seem essentially confirmed but we must remark a dominant presence inside the city walls of open spaces, as enlighted by the absence of collapse coverage.
In the following days there will be a wise exploration in the tank to check the extension of the stratigraphy deposit. The excavation will be extended by one week (17 december, end of the excavation) and will resume for 1/2 weeks in january, with a smaller group of archaeologists, to allow the beginning of the restoration and enhancement of the wall as early as next winter.