THE GENERAL SURVEY OF POGGIO COLLA AND PODERE FUNGHI
Jess Galloway, Project Architect

Jess Galloway, Field Survey

Mark Corney, Topographic Survey

Field Survey at Poggio Colla and the Podere Funghi
Jess Galloway
Report 1, Week 3:

The 2000 survey team: April Kramer (left) and Jess Galloway (right).

Before the beginning of the 2000 season we purchased our own total station and data collector. We now own a Topcon 211D total station and a CMT MC-V GT data collector from Covallis MicroTechnology, Inc. After much consideration we decided to abandoned the use of SiteMap 1.1 (formerly ForeSight 1.0), which was developed by MASCA, a part of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Although SiteMap had proved easy for field students to use, it did not prove adequate for the full extent of survey carried out at Poggio Colla.

During our first two seasons the survey was carried out with an MC-V data collector and a Pentax total station using Winsurv survey software and was sponsored by Southern Methodist University. Winsurv is a commercially available survey program. Beginning in the 1997 season we used the ForeSight system from MASCA. This system consists of a Topcon 312 total station, a CMT MC-V data collector running the ForeSight (eventually SiteMap) survey software and Minicad and Excel SiteMap templates for data translation. Southern Methodist University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum sponsored the SiteMap system.

Many factors led us to return to commercial software and our own survey equipment during the 2000 season. The opportunity to have equipment available year round for our Archaeo-Topographical Survey was certainly important, but also the flexibility of CMT’s (http://www.cmtimc.com) Surveyor’s Assistant 2.2 was a critical factor. Surveyor’s Assistant (SA2.2) is a very flexible data collection software program. Our survey needs require more than mapping of trenches, finds and architectural remains. We have trenches in three separate locations located more than 600 meters apart and requiring the ability to easily traverse between them. We also need to traverse to establish control lines for the Archaeo-Topographical Survey. SA2.2 offers the ability to review all collected data in the field without downloading that data to one of the excavation computers. SA2.2 also has allowed us to continue to use our already established survey database. Pairing SA2.2 with CMT’s Cogocad 2.2 we now have the ability to go directly into Autocad R14 without the need for Minicad as an intermediate step. This season’s survey is being sponsored again by Southern Methodist University and the University of Pennsylvania Museum.

The new total station and one of the prisms purchased by the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project in 2000.

All site related data is presented using Autocad R14 software. The ability to use only one cad program makes it much easier to train field students to aid in data manipulation and mapping. The current software has proved flexible to use and easily coordinates the traditional survey output with the maps produced through the Archaeo-Topographical Survey. We use Autocad to produce daily and weekly maps during the excavation season as well as all maps used in publication.

Since the first field season in 1995 the general site survey has been carried out by Jess Galloway of Booziotis & Company Architects. This season he is being assisted by April Kramer of Southern Methodist University.

Left: Architect Jess Galloway cuts a site line for survey. Right: April Kramer carries the prism pole down the line.

Report 2, Week 5:

After nearly three weeks of survey, we have finally settled into a comfortable rhythm. The new system we implemented on the hill for collecting data has worked well from the beginning. Our Topcon Totalstation and the CMT data collector are both reliable and easy to use. The Surveyor’s Assistant software has proved to be more flexible than we had expected and has also proved easy to use. The student survey assistant, April Kramer, quickly grasped the concept of surveying and the operation of the equipment and has proved most invaluable.

Jess Galloway and April Kramer shoot points in a wall in Trench PC 20.

Unfortunately, the transition from SiteMap to Survey Assistant and Cogocad has been a difficult one. We initially tried to blend the two systems together. This required several more steps to process data into a form that we could plot in Autocad. Once we decided to forego the old system and concentrate our efforts on Cogocad we have been able to more quickly produce maps for the site. The system is now to download the day’s data into Cogocad, map the wall stones and then send the data to Autocad for final processing and plotting. Future seasons should produce maps of the architecture and artifact distribution on a weekly if not daily basis.

April Kramer surveying points on the arx at Poggio Colla.

This season has produced a significant amount of foundation wall to map, including a 3D imaging project in Trench PC20. We have also been mapping artifacts in Trenches PC19, PC20 and PC21 on a daily basis to produce artifact distribution maps in three dimensions. The main difficulty has come from the separation of Trench PC18, 100 meters down the hill through thick acacia growth and Trench PF5, which is 600 meters away. Both of these trenches require relocating the instrument to record data for our maps, taking us off the hill for significant periods of time. The trench supervisors in PC19, PC20 and PC21 have been accommodating and as such the survey project has moved forward acceptably well.

Finally, this season we have been establishing further control points for Mark Corney’s Archaeo-Topography survey. These control points have proved most useful, and he has been able to map a substantial area on the northeastern slope of the hill.

1997 Poggio Colla Trench Plans integrating the 1995 and
1996 season plans into the ForeSight system.

The total station has also been utilized to establish control points for the topological site survey being carried out by Mark Corney during several field seasons.

The 1999 survey team: Jess Galloway and Cris Worley.

Topographic Survey at Poggio Colla
Mark Corney, Dept. of Archaeology, University of Bristol, Great Britain

Mark Corney walking a field in the Mugello Valley to sense its topography.

(Capital letters refer to features indicated on the plan shown below)

The earthwork and topographic survey of Poggio Colla and its environs has now been underway for three seasons. During this time a total area of 4 hectares has been surveyed in detail at a scale of 1:500 and reconnaissance carried out over a further 6 hectares. The survey has been technically very challenging given the nature of the topography and the vicious nature of the vegetation! However the results have more than justified the effort expended to date.

At the center of the survey area is the artificially leveled hilltop of Poggio Colla with its complex of Etruscan structures that form the focus of the current excavations. Survey here in 1998 defined the limits of the upper platform and identified a series of terraces, probably representing access ways, around the middle and lower slopes. At the eastern end of the hill a lower platform, A, measuring 30m x 40m has been planned in detail. This appears to have been defined by a substantial wall, traces of which are still visible on the surface. Beyond this, on the lower eastern slope, a terrace-way, B, partially defined by a scarp revetted with dry-stone walling, may mark the original access to the hilltop complex.

South east of B the topography levels out and a number of rectangular platforms have been identified, C. These are defined by slopes with intermittent traces of walling and surface scatters of ceramic material. The regular form of the platforms would strongly suggest that they represent structures of considerable archaeological potential. These are approached from the east and north-east by a series of terrace-ways cut into the steep lower slope of Poggio Colla, D. The full course of these terraces has been a major component of the 2000 survey season and the most recent work has traced their course around the north-east corner of the hill for a further 70 meters.

Beyond the western end of the hill a considerable area of detailed survey was possible in March and April 1998 due to the clear felling of a large portion of the chestnut wood that dominates the slopes. This zone has been heavily quarried in the past and although some of this activity is of documented recent date, other remains display a generally rounded and softer profile indicative of some considerable antiquity. In this area the western approach to Poggio Colla is defined by a defile up to 50m in width flanked by prominent ridges. Along the base of the defile runs a series of intercutting hollow-ways marking a succession of routes that lead to the western foot of Poggio Colla. On the north side are a number of rectangular platforms that may indicate former structures, E. Reconnaissance further to the east suggests that there are a number of areas of archaeological potential along the defile towards Montisassi. On the ridges flanking the defile a number of low, circular mounds have been identified, F. Although their date and function must await further investigation, their siting and spacing present an intriguing set of possibilities. As the survey work advances towards Montisassi further exciting discoveries are anticipated.

The two seasons of earthwork survey at Poggio Colla have amply demonstrated the applicability of this technique to the Mediterranean region. It has led to a number of exciting discoveries and has proved to be an invaluable tool in understanding the immediate surroundings of the site.

Above and below: Mark Corney drawing in the field.

North-west corner of the plateau of Poggio Colla. The removal of the
heavy tree cover revealed the site’s dominant position overlooking
both the Mugello basin and the defile that leads to the Val di Sieve.

North flank of the plateau with view of the Val di Sieve behind. On the left
are Nick Griffiths (in foreground) and Mark Corney (at the drafting table).



Nick Griffiths (left) and Mark Corney (right).

The north-east corner of the plateau, seen from below. This area
seems to have been heavily fortified in the Hellenistic period.

Research Projects

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