2005 TRENCH PC 26 Josh Moran, Field Supervisor  Field Students  Jennifer Isham  Mara Pillinger  Nat Erb-Satullo  Candace Vaden : Field Supervisor Josh Moran. Opening Report - Week 2: This is the third season in which we will be excavating Trench PC 26. Excavation over the last two seasons has left us with a number of questions we hope to answer this season. The crew of students that will be helping to answer these questions consists of Nathaniel "Nat" Erb-Satullo, Mara Pillinger, Candace Vaden and Jennifer "Jen" Isham. View of Trench PC 26 from the northeast near the end of the 2004 field season. PC 26 is a 5X5 meter trench that is bound by two wall foundations on its western and eastern edges. Approximately 50 centimeters to the north of PC 26 is the southernmost wall foundation of the main building on site. This fortunate situation allows us to explore the activities that occurred within this enclosed area, directly to the south of the main building. Excavation during previous seasons has posed more questions than it has answered. Part of the problem is the fact that we have been excavating in Stratum 3 for two seasons now. It is both a blessing and a curse that it is the first archaeological layer that dates to ancient times. Many times the layer of soil beneath a particular stratum can reveal much about the purpose of the stratum above it, so finding Stratum 4 (if it exists) is one of the primary goals this season. We have spent the past few seasons wondering if the space enclosed by the wall foundations was actually an interior or exterior space. At the moment we don't really have evidence that suggests one option over the other. This presents us with another goal this season. Analysis of the material we pull from Stratum 3 and Stratum 4 hopefully will help us to answer this question. Our ultimate goal is to figure out what activities occurred in ancient times directly south of the main building. At present we don't really seem to have a firm grasp on what these may have been. Other trenches have found evidence of the long term storage of grain and other items. It seems possible we may find the same, but only further excavation will tell. View of Trench PC 26 from the north in Week 2. Coarseware pithos in Trench PC 26 scarp in Week 2. Trench team working in PC 26 during Week 3 (view from southeast).   View of Trench PC 26 from the north in Week 3 (note pan tile on tarp to left).   View of Trench PC 26 from the north in Week 4.   Jen Isham and her happy bucket.   Candace Vaden.   Nat Erb-Satullo.   Mara Pillinger.   View of Trench PC 26 from the north in Week 5.   View of Trench PC 26 from the northwest in Week 5. Final Report: Our excavation of PC 26 has yielded a good amount of information regarding some of the questions we set out to answer at the beginning of the season. As seems to be typical on an excavation, most of our important information came up during the last week. But since this data feels like it is long overdue in PC 26, we are very happy to have it. 2005 final photo of Trench PC 26 from the north. First and foremost among discoveries in our trench was the identification of Stratum 4. Because of the unusual nature of Stratum 3, we have been relying on the discovery of Stratum 4 to help explain what was going on in this area in ancient times. Fortunately, it seems that the top of Stratum 4 represents the floor level (i.e. the ground surface on which ancient activities occurred) for this area. By looking at the artifacts that rest on top of this layer of dirt, we can get a sense of what was taking place in this area over 2000 years ago. Jen Isham and Josh Moran excavating a pithos in Trench PC 26 in Week 4. On the top of Stratum 4, we found the remains of a pithos (a very large ceramic vessel meant for storage). There were some large fragments, but over all, the vessel was not very intact. We noticed that the interior surface of each pithos fragment was stained black. This would seem to indicate that either something burned inside the pithos, or something that was already burnt was placed inside it. Not very far from these fragments, we discovered very large piles of carbonized (burnt) seeds. It seemed that we had three different types of seeds present. One looked much like barley. One had a very bean-like shape and the third was generally very fragmentary and hard to identify properly. It seems likely that these seeds were at one time stored in one or more of these pithos type vessels and were subsequently burnt during the destruction of the site. The fact that the Etruscans appeared to be storing grain in this area gives us an additional piece to the puzzle. When storing grain, a cool and dry place is ideal. Since this is the case, it seems likely that at least part of the area in PC 26 was a roofed interior space. This would have kept out the elements like the sun and rain, allowing for easier and safer storage of grains. In the northern part of the trench, we uncovered a pocket of soil that was very dark in color and contained numerous pieces of orange tile, red mudbrick and black carbonized wood and seeds. This appears to be undisturbed debris from destruction of the site, so we designated it as Feature 7 and excavated it separately from the rest of the trench. Contained within this soil were approximately ten iron nails. Nails were a fairly valuable commodity in ancient times and were not likely to have been used on something unimportant. When some of these nails were cleaned in conservation, it was noted that at least four of them were clenched (the point was bent to a 90 degree angle from the shaft) at the same distance. A clenched nail would most likely have been used to secure multiple boards together (much like we use screws today). It seems likely that large pieces of carbonized wood and the clenched nails represent the remains of a wooden door or tabletop. Additionally, because of the clenching on the nails, we know how thick this wooden construction was. Also within Feature 7, we found a pair of intact spindle whorls and a large loom weight. It seems that in addition to grain storage, there may have been some small-scale textile manufacturing taking place in this area. Because we only found one loom weight, it's hard to claim that much weaving was taking place here, but there may have been some thread or yarn making (especially since we found more spindle whorls than loom weights). Candace Vaden, Nat Erb-Satullo, Jen Isham, and Mara Pillinger in PC 26 during Week 6. Overall the season was quite successful in adding to our comprehension of Poggio Colla and its Etruscan inhabitants. Many thanks go to Candace, Jen, Mara and Nat for their participation and excavation. PC 26 Team left to right: Mara Pillinger, Nat Erb-Satullo, Josh Moran, Jen Isham, and Candace Vaden.   Final photo of Trench PC 26 from the west.   View from the southwest of PC 26 at the end of the 2005 field season.   2005 final photo of PC 26 viewed from the east.   View from the southeast of PC 26 at the end of the 2005 field season.   Final photo: west side of PC 26 viewed from south.   Nat Erb-Satullo excavating in Trench PC 26 during Week 6.   View of Trench PC 26 from the southeast in Week 6.