GENERALELa prima sessione dell'ottava campagna di scavi a Badia Pozzeveri si è conclusa. Un sentito ringraziamento va a tutti gli studenti che hanno preso parte alle indagini: Heidi Bilderback Oggi inizia la seconda sessione, continuate a seguirci su queste pagine! |
AREA 3000La pulizia generale del Settore B ha permesso l’individuazione, nella porzione nord-occidentale, dei tagli di altre due buche di forma circolare (US – 3956 e US – 3958), collocate l’una vicina all’altra ad est di US – 3951, con la quale sembrano perfettamente allineate. Più ad est sono stati messi in luce i limiti di un taglio di forma allungata (US – 3960), orientato W-E, probabilmente il residuo del fondo di una fossa sepolcrale di XI secolo intercettata da altre tombe. Today in Area 3000 we cleaned the Southern portion then the northern portion of section B. Then a few GIS points were taken for elevation. The northern section was washed to check for holes and cuts. Then half team worked to level the area to the bottom of one of the graves. Meanwhile we in the northern section we worked to expose a possible burial going through the furance in the process to expose the next layer, however only a single bone is currently exposed and no other bones are currently vissible. Also in the northern section two post holes were excavated about two cm, it is very compact in nature and therefore has been hard to dig through. These post holes perfectly align with earlier post holes found and excavated, from East to West. |
AREA 5000Today, we were introdced to the site for the first time. We were taken around for a tour of all the other excavation areas, before being taken to our designated area. Once we were there, we proceded to clean the surface of the trench with our trowels, in order to better decipher the features. We used a mattock to even out the surface of the trench, before troweling again. During this process, we discovered a possible flint core, which was unexpected. With the surface cleared, we sprayed area 5000 with a hose, in order to better see colour disparities and thus locate possible features for further investigation. Four of the features were delneated: 2 patches of discoloration, a charcoal-rich area of soil (adjacent to the bell furnace), and to the east side of the trench there was potential evidence for a structure (predating the 12th century wall). Before the end of the day, we began to excavate these features (except for the last) and we discovered a pottery shard in the charcoal deposit. To be continued tomorrow. |
AREA 6000Quest’oggi è iniziata la seconda sessione della campagna di scavo 2018. In area 6000 si è proseguito con la messa in luce di diversi contesti iniziati ad indagare durante la settimana precedente. Nell’angolo nord-est del settore sud sono stati esposti gli arti inferiori superstiti di un individuo (USk 6233) intercettato a livello delle epifisi prossimali dalla costruzione della tomba a cassa litica USM 6062. La presenza dei segni di fusione delle epifisi distali delle tibie attesta un’età approssimativa di poco superiore ai 22 anni. Sulla fascia centrale del settore prosegue, invece, la messa in luce di un secondo individuo, USk 6236, anch’egli intercettato da almeno due sepolture successive alla propria deposizione che ne hanno asportato parte della metà sinistra. Lungo il margine occidentale del settore è contestualmente proseguita la pulizia del cranio di USk 6220, individuo la cui parte superiore è sprofondata di circa 20 cm rispetto alla quota di deposizione: la presenza di ossa tarsali in connessione in vicinanza della mandibola suggerisce che, una volta decomposto il sostegno ligneo su cui il corpo era adagiato, questo sia sprofondato nel vano sottostante che ospitava le estremità inferiori di una sepoltura precedente.
Today in area 6000 we began with Ale introducing the new students to the area. After that, we were assigned different burials and began working on our respective individuals. With skeleton 6218 we removed the large piece of slate that had collapsed into his cranium, and the fill that was beneath it. We then cleaned the area around the head and few remaining ribs and vertebrae, and while removing the fill we discovered two feet beneath where skeleton 6218's torso was previously. Tomorrow we expect to remove the rest of skeleton 6218 and assess the situation with the burial below it. As it continues under the sidewalk, it is unlikely that we will be able to completely excavate this skeleton. We continued removing fill 6233 excavating the feet and lower legs, then took points with the total station and pictures for photogrammetry. Distal epiphyses had not fused, giving us an age estimation of approximately 22 years. It appears there was another burial underneath the feet of this burial due to the presence of a temporal bone, ribs, and possilbly a partial scapula. We cleaned the area and took pictures of the exposed bones under fill 6235. We then began removing the fill of the burial to expose the skeleton. We found pieces of broken pottery, a piece of marble a few inches across, and then cleaned the area again. |