2004 TRENCHES PC 19, 22, & 27 Caitlin Vacanti, Field Supervisor Jessica Galeano, Assistant Field Supervisor Week 5: Field Students: Elizabeth Bair Rachael Henry Benjamin Luley Amy Dahm and Caitlin Vacanti celebrate Amy's return to Poggio Colla. A field school student in 1995, Amy returned in 2004 as a volunteer. This week our team moved a lot of dirt. Everyone rotated through all three trenches, enduring long periods of intense heat and sun exposure. Unfortunately members of the Podere Funghi team stole our trench mascot, but our resourcefulness helped us rebound from this loss to create a new and powerful symbol by which to excavate. We thus excavated with newfound fervor, revealing intriguing results. Rachael Henry in Trench PC 22. In PC 19 and 22 we have been digging through low activity strata which yield few, but very old pottery sherds. Excavation in the northeast locus of PC 22 has revealed a linear formation of stones which we theorize to be an archaic foundation wall. It is comprised of three large stones with small stone rubble placed between them for reinforcement. Interestingly it sits on what is now theorized to be our Phase I floor level, stratum five. PC 23 has found walls of a similar construction at this same level, which tells us this could be a structure or series of structures from our earliest period of occupation. Jessica Galeano, Benjamin Luley, and Elizabeth Bair working in Trench PC 27. Excavation in PC 27 has revealed some intersting finds as well. West of the most recently discovered foundation wall (discussed last week) we uncovered a patch of grayish soil which is dense with destruction debris, including large coarseware pottery sherds, fineware pottery sherds and very fragmentary tile. This dirt does not appear to be separated from the rest of the locus by any stones and thus is perplexing. At the moment I am considering the possibility that this is a pile of rubble collected after the destruction of the site as people came back to salvage any usable material. However, as we learn over and over again while excavating, these theories can only last as long as they are proved or disproved by our findings, and I am anxious to see how this curious collection of debris is related to the soil around it. Assistant Field Supervisor Jessica Galeano in PC 27. This next week being our final full week of excavation, we have a lot of work to do. I expect all excavation of PC 19 and 22 to be completed in the next few days so we can concentrate on 27. I then hope we can decide both what the gray soil in the northern locus is and possibly the function of the foundation wall running north through the trench. Trench tour of Caitlin Vacanti's trenches on Poggio Colla.   Elizabeth Bair excavating in Trench PC 27.   Benjamin Luley taking a pass in Trench PC 27.   Caitlin Vacanti and Rachael Henry defining the wall in PC 22.   Ben Luley sifting for finds from Trench PC 27.     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. Excavation house phone: 055-844-9834, or, when calling from the US: 011-39-55-844-9834. Introduction | 2004 Field Season | Poggio Colla Field School | What’s New | Staff | Students Site History | Directors' Diaries | Student Diaries | Excavation Friends | Facilities | Conservation | Surveys Robert Belanger | Katherine Blanchard | Josh Moran | Caitlin Vacanti | Ivo van der Graaff | Robert Vander Poppen QuickTime VR | Site Set-Up | Dig Daily Life | Excavation Process | Field Manual | Lectures | Season's End Archives | Finds | Research Projects | Publications | Bibliography | Mugello Area | Home