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2007 TRENCH PC 9
Field Supervisor: Jessica Galeano, alumna of Franklin & Marshall
College
Field
Supervisor Jessica Galeano in Trench PC 9
Opening
Report:
Welcome to the grand
reopening of PC 9! Trench PC 9 is located on the eastern side
of the arx of Poggio Colla. It was originally excavated in 1997
and is being reopened this year. In 1997, numerous roof tiles
and a wall running north to south were found in the trench. One
of our goals this year is to analyze the relationship of the
tile in the scarp (vertical wall of the trench) and that which
was found under a tree stump in the center of the trench and
has yet to be removed. It is possible that this tile could be
more than just a tile pile and actually evidence of a roof collapse.
We also intend to extend the original trench one meter to the
east. By doing so, we hope to clarify the relationship of the
areas surrounding the north to south wall. It is believed that
the western portion of this area in the trench consists of an
interior space as evidenced by the potential threshold, wall,
and destruction layer. The area to the immediate north and east
of the wall is therefore believed to be an exterior space. Hopefully,
we will be able to determine the function of each of these areas
and whether or not we have evidence of a roof collapse as the
season progresses.
View from
the east of the central part of PC 9 in Week 3
Kathleen Loyd Lambert in
PC 9
Hilary Serra in PC 9
Italian high
school student Laura Giustini working in PC 9
Team working in PC 9 during
Week 4
Lucy Van Essen-Fishman and Jessica Galeano digging in PC 9
Jennifer Staggs and Italian high school student Luca Petrotto
in PC 9
Final
Report
Trench PC 9 was initially
reopened in order to study and extract the remaining tile from
a possible roof collapse/fall documented in the 1997 excavation
season. The pile of tile was under a large tree stump, which
was removed early in the season. Removing the tree stump enabled
us to see the relationship between the undisturbed tile underneath
of it and tile in the west scarp (vertical profile) of the trench.
The tile in both areas had been deposited at the same time.
However, the question still remained as to whether this tile
was actually from a roof collapse or fall.
Tile deposit in Trech PC 9 exposed during Week 4
The tile in the west scarp
and in the tile pile were part of an interior space, since walls
were found to the north and east of them. Additionally, there
was a space for an entrance way in the wall to the north of the
area with the tile. There is further evidence that supports
the tile pile and tile in the scarp being in an interior space:
the discovery of two domestic ceramic pottery vessels, which
were found broken underneath of the tile pile this season. These
vessels had to be on the floor of the interior space when the
roof collapsed since they were found at the bottom of the tile
pile. Additionally, we were able to glean much information from
our tile pile and numerous examples of roof tiles, one of which
was especially large.
In addition to extracting
and analyzing the tile, we excavated another portion of the trench
in the southeast corner. We were able to determine that the
wall between this area and the tile clearly marked the boundary
between interior and exterior spaces. The discovery of a large
posthole in the middle of the wall lined up with another posthole
found in the 1997 excavation season. Postholes held wooden posts
that supported the wall and the roof. As excavation proceeded,
we noticed a difference in the soil in the exterior space. There
appeared to be much more burnt debris, mainly consisting of burnt
mud-brick. Mud-bricks were commonly used to construct the walls
of Etruscan buildings. When the final destruction of Poggio
Colla occurred, the wall in this trench fell outward as evidenced
by the soil with burnt mud brick. As the structure lost integrity,
the roof collapsed into the interior space, thus smashing the
two ceramic vessels lying on the floor. These discoveries lead
us to believe that Trench PC 9 was a room on the edge of the
courtyard on Poggio Colla and helped us to reconstruct the destructive
event(s). Hopefully, further excavation of this area will reveal
its specific function, as it is still too early to tell.
Post hole in Trench PC 9
I had an amazing time supervising
the excavation of PC 9 this summer! All of the students were
hard working, dedicated individuals who posed intelligent questions
and theories throughout the process. The staff was supportive,
helpful, and fun to work with. Everyone truly made this a wonderful
experience!
Maureen Johnson perfects the scarp for final drawing of Trench
PC 9 during Week 6
Field Supervisor Jessica Galeano and Maureen Johnson discuss
scarp
Maureen Johnson smooths and measures scarp for Jessica Galeano's
final drawings
2007: Trench PC 9 viewed from the south at season's end
2007: Trench PC 9 viewed from the west at season's end
Co-Directors: Gregory
Warden gwarden@mail.smu.edu and Michael Thomas
mlthomas@mail.utexas.edu
Excavation house phone during the
field season: (011-39) 055-844-9834
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