Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti

Venerdì 30 Gennaio 2015, ore 17:00 nell'auditorium di Palazzo Blu, a conclusione del progetto 'Scopripisa', si terrà la presentazione del volume 'Vasai e Vasellame a Pisa tra Cinque e Seicento. La produzione di ceramica attraverso le fonti scritte e archeologiche' di Antonio Alberti e Marcella Giorgio, con contributi di Claudio Capelli, Giuseppe Clemente, Mara Febbraro, Antonio Fornaciari e Daniela Stiaffini.

Saluti introduttivi

Mauro Ciampa, Fondazione Pisa
Claudia Rizzitelli, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana
Gabriella Garzella, Società Storica Pisana

Interventi

Monica Baldassarri, Società Storica Pisana
Catia Renzo Rizzo, Società Storica Pisana
Carlo Varaldo, Università degli Studi di Genova


Saranno presenti gli Autori

Tra il 2005 ed il 2010 il territorio di Montescudaio e il sito de La Badia  sono stati interessati da due ricognizioni archeologiche e sei campagne di scavo. La messe di materiali raccolti, che getta una luce nuova sui paesaggi storici di questa porzione di Toscana e sulle vicende del monastero di Santa Maria, ha suggerito di articolare la pubblicazione in due volumi: uno di taglio generale, che fornisse un valido compendio delle ricerche realizzate; uno incentrato sui risultati degli scavi archeologici nell’area dell’antico cenobio, con una presentazione tecnico-scientifica dei dati.

Between 2005 and 2010 the territory of Montescudaio and the site of La Badia were affected by two archaeological surveys and six excavation campains. The informations and the materials collected, which shed new light on the historic landscapes of this part of Tuscany and on the history of the benedectine monastery of Santa Maria, suggested to articulate the publication in two volumes: one of essays, that provide a useful summary of research made; an other focused on the detailed results of archaeological excavations in the ancient monastery, with a presentation of technical and scientific data.
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Nel tomo I sono raccolti i saggi di sintesi sulla storia e l’archeologia del territorio comunale, oltre che sul monastero di Santa Maria, alla luce delle nuove acquisizioni. A questi si aggiungono le presentazioni dei progetti di valorizzazione nati dalle ricerche archeologiche e messi in cantiere dalle Istituzioni, Università e Soprintendenze, insieme con le Amministrazioni territoriali grazie al sostegno di sponsor pubblici e privati.

Il tomo II illustra in modo analitico i dati archeografici e i risultati dei successivi studi effettuati sulla documentazione stratigrafica e sui reperti dello scavo stratigrafico pluriennale condotto dall’équipe dell’Università di Pisa in località La Badia per consentire la comprensione del processo di ricostruzione storica condotto sulle fonti materiali.

Miranduolo in the early middle age: 7th and 8th centuries Miranduolo is a medieval castle mentioned the first time in a document dated to the 1004 as part of the Gherardeschi family properies; collocated in the southern tuscany, close to the Merse river, control a strategical area on the access road to the mineral district of "Colline metallifere". The archaeological intervention (directed by Prof. Marco Valenti) discovered an older origin for this settlement founded in the 7th century as iron extraction site with both strip and underground mines and an area for the first processing with large smelting remains. During the 8th century take place a change in the economy of the village; probably worn-out the iron, mineral activities are stopped or strongly lowered, the settlement change his spatial organization and production choices: farming appear the main activity, appear many huts with small storage points for grains and legumes but the larger part of the production is stocked up in two big storage area made of many granary pits and silos closed by wood fences. The position of this two area were strategical: one close to the church (built in the 8th century) and the other in the upper area where, in later centuries, there will be the castle. In this phase appear a possible balance between two powers that controls the larger part of the agricoltural district production; the granary pits in the huts demonstrate that also the villagers could store some product keeping a few indipendence from the leading families. The carolingian age: food control as social indicator In the 9th century the power control over the alimentary resources become more pronunce: there are no more huts with granary pits, all the food is stored in an unique area in the upper part of the settlement. The main change is the spatial organization: the village now has a strong hierarchization with the upper part closed and defended by two moats and a wood fence. All the store are close to the main hut collocated inside the palisade and also the material culture demonstrate the control exercised on the village by the inhabitants of this area. During the late 10th/early 11th centuries no strong changes interest the village even if the building tecniques changes slightly; the economy and the production choices apper almost the same. For the three phases we have found many burned seeds into granary pits, silos and warehouses that allow us to reconstruct the cultivation choices and the diet of the villagers. Production choices during the early middle age During the 8th century we have a strong presence of cereals exspecialy wheat (Triticum aestivum) and einkorn (Triticum monococcum) with a lower presence of oat (Avena sativa) and millet (Panicum miliaceum). The number of legums is realy low for this phase maybe not well preserved or scarcely coultiveted. For the 9th and early 10th centuries we have higher information thanks to many storehouses completly burned and preserved. During this phase (carolingian period) cultiveted cereals are almost the same of the previous century: the higher percentage of seeds are wheat (Triticum aestivum, durum, turgidum, not easy to determinate the difference without the spiklet), rye (Secale cereale) and, a bit lower, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) that supplanted the common millet; einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are also present even if less numerous. The main change is about legums: the fava bean seeds (Vicia faba) represent the largest taxon present in this period. The grapevine also are an important part of the production probably connected with the wine production (but we haven't evidences about a wine production in the settlement). In the late 10th/early 11th centuries we has a very simlilar distribution: wheat (Triticum aestivum, durum, turgidum), rye (Secale cereale) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are the main taxa supported by einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica); the inversion between the percentage of barley and foxtail millet is the only big changes in the cereals cultivation. Legums appear less important in this century with a realy lower presence of fava bean (Vicia faba). Beside this field products there were a lot of other products not well represented in the storage points but surly important in the economy of the village: we have some remains of fruit trees, fruits and products of the wood (exspecialy berries and chestnuts). Landscape and enviromenatal researchs An experimental study between enviromenatal and landascape archeology has been realized in the area around the site. We create a geopedological research to create a map that describe the single, homogeneus landscape units; for each units we know all the physical and geological features, the potential adaptability for seven land uses: cereals, legums, fruit trees, chestnut, wood, grapevine, olive. Seven deriveted maps are created to represent this adaptabilities; this allow us to estimate the possible land use of each part of the territory halping us to propose a reconstruction of the landscape structure; to create this hypotetical view we also used archive documents that gave a lot of information about the main exploitation of this area. Aereal view of the upper part of the hill. In front of the later palace are visible the holes of the paliside and the west moat. Reconstructive view ofthe upper part ofthe village during the late 9th century Percentage distribution ofthe main cereal species during the 8th and the 9th/10th centuries Landscape units map. Ceral farming adaptability.

Miranduolo in the early middle ages: 7th and 8th century Miranduolo is a medieval castle mentioned for the first time in a document dating to AD 1004, as part of the Gherardeschi family properties; collocated in southern Tuscany, close to the Merse river, it controls a strategical access road to the "Colline metallifere", a medieval mineral district. The archaeological intervention (directed by Prof. Marco Valenti) highlighted an older origin for the settlement, which turned out to be founded in the 7th century as an iron extraction site with both strip and underground mines, as well as a productive area with evidence of metallurgic transformations. During the 8th century a reorganization in the economy of the village takes place. The settlement changes its spatial organization and mineral activities are stopped or strongly reduced showing a new productive scenario: farming appears to be the main activity, many huts with small storage points are built, while the larger part of the production is stocked up in two big and enclosed storage areas with many granary pits and silos. Their position is strategical, being one close to the 8th century church and the other next to the hilltop where later the castle will develop itself. The evidence for this phase shows therefore a possible balance between two powers that control the larger part of the agricultural district and its production; the granary pits in the huts demonstrate that peasants could anyway store some product, remaining somehow indepedent from the leading families. The carolingian age: food control as a social indicator In the 9th century the control exercised by a landlord over the alimentary resources becomes more pronounced: huts with granary pits disappear, all the food is stored in a single area in the higher part of the settlement. Major changes can be observed in the spatial organization: the village now shows strong signs of hierarchy with the hilltop closed and defended by two moats and a wooden fence. All the storage facilities are close to the main hut located within the palisade; the material culture also demonstrates the economic and social control exercised on the peasants by the inhabitants of this area. During the late 10th/early 11th century no strong changes can be observed in the village, even if the building techniques change slightly; economy and the production choices remain almost the same. Production choices during the early middle ages The three early medieval phases have yielded many burned seeds coming from granary pits, silos and warehouses; these allow us to reconstruct the cultivation choices and the diet of the villagers. During the 8th century we have a strong presence of cereals, especially wheat (Triticum aestivum) and einkorn (Triticum monococcum) with a lower presence of oat (Avena sativa) and millet (Panicum miliaceum). The number of legumes is really low for this phase maybe because scarcely cultivated (but it could also be related to a poor preservation). For the 9th and the early 10th century we have richer information, coming especially from the many storehouses destroyed by fire and therefore well preserved. During this phase (carolingian period) cultivated cereals are very similar to those of the previous century: wheat represents the higher percentage of seeds (Triticum aestivum, durum, turgidum, are three species difficult to distinguish without spiklets), rye (Secale cereale) and, a bit lower, foxtail millet (Setaria italica) that supplanted the common millet; einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are also present even if in reduced quantity. The main change regards legumes, since fava bean seeds (Vicia faba) represent the largest taxon of this period. Grapevines are also an important part of the agricultural stock, probably connected with wine production (but we have no direct evidences). In the late 10th/early 11th century a very simlilar distribution has been detected: wheat (Triticum aestivum, durum, turgidum), rye (Secale cereale) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are the main taxa supported by einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica); the inversion between the percentage of barley and foxtail millet is the only big change occuring in cereals cultivation. Legumes appear less important in this century with a significantly lower presence of fava bean (Vicia faba). Many other products are attested, even though not well represented in the storage points (but surely important in the village economy); among them fruit trees, fruits and products of the wood (especialy berries and chestnuts). Landscape and environmental researchs An experimental study between environmental and landascape archeology has been conducted on the area around the site. A geopedological investigation allowed us to shape a map that describes the single, homogeneus landscape units; for each unit we know all the physical and geological features, the potential adaptability for seven land uses: cereals, legumes, fruit trees, chestnut, wood, grapevine, olive. Seven derivated maps have been created to represent this adaptabilities, letting us estimate the possible land use of each part of the territory in order to propose a reconstruction of the landscape structure; in the production of this hypotetical view we also used archival documents, deriving important information about the main usage of this area. Studies on historical maps has also been part of this project. Using the XIX century land register we compared parcels' size with the medieval measure unit (tuscan iugero): more then half fields have an almost perfect correspondence with the Iugero. The medieval landscape organization had strongly marked this territory; losing iportance and remaning at the fringes of the later settlements,productive areas and main roads the landscape around Miranduolo saw a sort of arrangement fossillization (that in part is still going on).