2004 TRENCHES PC 23 & 25 Robert Vander Poppen, Field Supervisor Martha Reichert, Assistant Field Supervisor Week 4: Field Students: Victoria Mead Sarah McCrory Jonathan Mort Olivia Spradlin Robert Vander Poppen at his supervisorial desk. This week we have made great progress in Trench PC 23. The week has followed the long weekend and our students had the opportunity to travel to places such as Civitavecchia, Sienna, Rome and Rimini. Everyone seems to have returned recharged for excavation, as we have begun to move some serious dirt throughout the trench. In addition, the students have begun to develop their excavating skills to the point of experienced diggers. As a result of this flurry of activity there is much to talk about in our area of excavation. Victoria Mead, standing in the western end of Trench PC 23. View from the south. The week began working in the western end of the trench to bring the level down to the time period before extensive human activity on Poggio Colla. We seem to have done so finally, after digging this area of the trench to a depth of nearly two meters. Slightly to the south Sarah and Tory isolated and cleared the soil from an ancient floor level associated with the initial phase of occupation atop the hill. We hope to further explore that level in the weeks to come. Left to right: Victoria Mead, Jonathan Mort, Sarah McCrory, Olivia Spradlin in PC 23. In the center and east ends of the trench we have been working to bring the soil down to a common level atop the soil that served as a floor for our Archaic Period complex atop the hill. This job should be completed by week's end. In the process of clearing the floor level we removed the remnants of the upper portion of a pit that looters excavated into the site in the Spring of 2001. As Olivia and Jon have worked to bring the soil consistently down to this level we have discovered a number of stones protruding up from the next stratum. The stones are arranged in what can roughly be called a square. I am hesitant, however, to call the stones any kind of structure due to the poor nature of their alignment and their small size (probably disqualifying them from supporting even the lightest of walls). We will work this week to gain a deeper look at the stones and see if there exists a second course of rubble or other evidence that may support a belief that the stones may actually represent foundations. Left to right: Victoria Mead, Jonathan Mort, Sarah McCrory, and Olivia Spradlin in PC 23. We also began excavation in PC 25 this week, an area to the south of the eastern portion of PC 23. Here Martha and her father, who was visiting for a few days, worked to remove a portion of the destruction debris from the third phase building. In the course of excavation Martha discovered a glass bead, while Skip discovered a number of pieces of a large coarseware vessel. Once we had completed removing this portion of the debris, Martha began to work on removing the dark black soil around the group of stones believed to be some kind of rough altar in the southeast corner of the trench. Today as she began excavating she discovered what may be a fissure in the natural rock of the hilltop. This would be an exciting discovery because of the association of the previous fissure with an early votive deposit. Also of interest is Sarah's discovery, slightly to the west of the altar stones, that the underlying bedrock had been cut by the Etruscan inhabitants. Hopefully, this week will serve to begin to wrap up some of the loose ends of the excavation and also cause us to begin asking new questions. Marty and Skip Reichert excavating in Trench PC 25 while Robert Vander Poppen supervises.   Marty Reichert and her father Skip Reichert excavating together in Trench PC 25. Robert Vander Poppen.   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