2004 TRENCHES PF 5, 6, 9, & 14 Robert Belanger, Field Supervisor Brad Schneider, Assistant Field Supervisor Week 5: Field Students: Krishawna Brown Virginia Lewis Ludo Zywczak Vounteer: Giuseppina Marras Robert Belanger, Field Supervisor. Excavation in the Podere Funghi has accelerated rapidly over the past week despite the intense July heat wave which recently settled into the Mugello Valley. This excavation period yielded two particularly important discoveries amid work in Trenches PF 5, 6, 17, and Kiln 1 which have provided tantalizing clues to the nature of the structure's form and function from an architectural perspective. View from the south of Trenches PF 5, 6, 9, 14 and 17 during Week 5. Work through Trench PF 5 was completed early on in the week with minor fineware, coarseware, and tile fragments emerging from the remaining pockets of earth slightly above the structure's original floor level. While these materials are typical of the stratum, the stratigraphic profile that emerged from the floor level showed a unique dichotomy between the southern and western foundation walls. The southern foundation wall - with its large, ordered blocks, multiple coursings and extremely linear façade - has a clear foundation trench cut into the original floor level where it was set. In contrast, the western foundation wall - its differing construction of single coursing filled with rubble in a more haphazard manner - has no foundation trench and actually sits atop the later floor packing level. This was discovered during the final wall cleanup for the pass and seems to suggest that the western foundation wall may not be original southern and eastern foundation walls. The stratigraphic and architectural evidence point towards this interpretation, but only excavation into the other side of the wall (located in the backfilled Trench PF 7) will be able to verify this for certain. Southern foundation wall with foundation trench (at right).   Virginia Lewis, Krishawna Brown, and Robert Belanger excavating Kiln 2 in foregound. Giuseppina Marras, Brad Schneider, and Ludo Zywczak excavating Trench PF 17 in background. With work in Kiln 1 completed at the end of last week, attention finally turned toward the excavation of Kiln 2 in earnest. While much more shallow than Kiln 1, preliminary evidence from prior excavation years pointed towards a contemporaneous filling based on stratigraphic evidence. This theory was certified yesterday afternoon with the discovery of the complete upper right hand corner of an anomalous diagnostic pan tile. The central section had a finished edge including a unique notch with a centrally drilled hole characteristic of Etruscan smoke hole tiles from Acquarossa. Upon returning to the lab at the end of the day, it was discovered that this section joined a similarly anomalous diagnostic pan tile of the same style from Kiln 1. The resulting joinery provided the complete upper 1/3 of a smoke hole tile, including the full 53 centimeter width. The diagnostic value of such a unique tile aside, the depositional information of a joining tile from two different kilns ties together the refilling and reuse of the ceramics kilns as an architectural element well after their use. Through such discoveries, a better understanding of the western edge of the structure has resulted, involving both stratigraphic and materials evidence. PF Kiln 2 Level 2 of excavation. As a final note, work in Trench PF 17 concluded with a final pass into entirely sterile soil, with no evidence resulting for further extension of the lower stone feature in Trenches PF 6, 9, and 14. This information seemingly ends questions about the structure's northern end from an excavation perspective, though the coming weeks the interpretation of these materials and the work in the other excavation Trenches will seemingly pose more. The low stone feature ends at the edge of PF 17, shown from the north. Overall it has been an extremely informative and highly rewarding week, and one which has been made possible by the continued hard work and enthusiasm of my excavation crew. With the final weeks approaching, such discoveries and information bode well for the remainder of the excavation year. Ludo Zywczak takes a break from shoveling soil from PF 17.   Virginia Lewis, Krishawna Brown, and Robert Belanger excavating Kiln 2.   Assistant Field Supervisor Brad Schneider, with western foundation wall to his right.     Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 - Final Report Director, Gregory Warden gwarden@mail.smu.edu Director, Michael Thomas michael.thomas@tufts.edu While the team is in Italy during the summer field season, send e-mail to: mvap3@dada.it To email an individual on the team, enter the person's last name in the subject heading. 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