Excavations and Survey
Within the project framework of understanding the long-term shifts in settlement and mortuary behavior around San Giuliano, SGARP’s first eight seasons have focused on five main tasks:
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Tomb Survey. Survey and registration of the rock-cut Etruscan tombs that extend in a ring around the San Giuliano plateau (indicated by a red T in map below)
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Salvage Excavation of Etruscan Tombs. Salvage excavation of selected and previously looted chamber tombs (indicated in blue below)
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Trench Grave Cemetery Excavation. Excavation of a Late Villanovan/Early Etruscan tombe a fosse grave field at San Simone (indicated in green below)
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Medieval Castle Excavation. Excavation of the medieval castle zone (La Rocca) atop the San Giuliano plateau
In our eight seasons of fieldwork, we have conducted mapping, surface survey, ground penetrating radar surveys, and excavation of the habitation zone on the plateau and the surrounding Etruscan necropolis. We have documented over 500 previously unmapped tombs with a standardized system of GPS, photography, and registration forms. Salvage excavations of four looted Etruscan chamber tombs have recovered significant artifacts and human bone as well as revealed intact deposits outside of the tombs. At La Rocca (castle), our excavations revealed a fortified zone comprising a small castle complex with a tower and low circuit walls, as well as a growing medieval cemetery and hypothesized church structure. In the gravefield of San Simone we have excavated several trench tombs (two unlooted), known as Villanovan-Etruscan tombe a fosse. In the last two years we have grown to include excavation efforts on the Caiolo plateau, which yielded the discovery of two previously undetected Etruscan tumuli, one of which was unlooted.
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Survey of Etruscan Tombs
Tomb Salvage Excavations
Trench Tomb Excavation
Medieval Castle Excavation