Research > Archaeological Fieldwork > Sapienza "Grandi Scavi" > Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT): Rediscovering a Medieval City
Director: Giorgia Maria Annoscia
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Jacopa from Cencelle: A Journey Through the Medieval City
Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT) represents an exceptional case study both to expand our knowledge on a papal foundation civitas (Leo IV in 854) with a life continuity at least until the 17th century albeit with different administrative systems, before as an urban centre (11th-15th c.), then as an agricultural estate (late 15th), and to reconstruct its demographic dynamics, thanks to a well-preserved archaeological context without subsequent superfetations after its abandonment closely connected with alum exploitation in the neighboring territory. The site (a 4-he area still surrounded by a massive 750-m defensive walls) has been investigated since 1994: its reconstruction is also supported by a rich written documentation. Archaeological research has brought to light part of the forma Urbis including both 2 religious complexes (Early and Late Medieval ones), with a huge municipal cemetery that has returned over 1000 burials, and a civil centre on the hilltop, both residential and productive areas, as well as the military garrison barracks with annexed stables.
This urban scenario has been investigated with a ‘global’ approach digging into the past and revealing the long historical relationships between human being, nature and landscape through a profitable dialogue between different disciplines fostered by numerous past and present collaborations, such as those with italian Universities (Chieti, Cagliari, Tuscia, Perugia, Bologna, Rome Tor Vergata, Messina, Siena, Salerno), european Universities (Lund, Valencia, Tubinga, Amiens, Budapest, École Normale supérieure Paris, Univ. College London) and Institutions (Inst. Preservation Medical Traditions - Harvard, EFR, EEHAR - CSIC, ICR - MiC). Cencelle has became a privileged lab where interdisciplinarity, becoming a true transdisciplinarity thanks also to the specific expertise of numerous Sapienza colleagues, provides a knowledge enrichment and a broader hypotheses picture to depict the town and its territory in the long term, with its productive, social and everyday context.
Several and diversified research lines have been explored in these 30 years: recently, focusing on structures and stratigraphic contexts (also 3D-documented using drones and photogrammetric methods), on production and craftsmanship (through archaeometry and development of diagnostic protocols for architecture and archaeology focused on micro-traces study), on funerary archaeology of the two main town cemetery areas (through bio-anthropological and molecular research). There are also numerous studies on flora, fauna, paleoenvironment (even through predictive analyses), medical practices, population lifestyles and health condition that fit well within the new archaeological research frontiers using analytical techniques drawn from the exact sciences associated with the more canonical ones.
Collaborators:
Sergio Del Ferro; Federica Vacatello; Giulia Previti; Luca Brancazi; Beatrice Luci; Giulia Cati; Daniele Ricchiuti; Giulia Casagrande; Lara Meazza; Stefano Ettori; Ermanno Roberti
- Bibliography
• Leopoli-Cencelle, I. Le preesistenze, a cura di L. ERMINI PANI – S. DEL LUNGO (TardoAntico e MedioEvo. Studi e Strumenti di Archeologia, 1), Roma 1999;
• Leopoli-Cencelle, II. Una città di fondazione papale, Catalogo della Mostra (TardoAntico e MedioEvo. Studi e Strumenti di Archeologia, 1), Roma 1996;
• Leopoli-Cencelle, III. La toponomastica della bassa Valle del Mignone, a cura di S. DEL LUNGO (TardoAntico e MedioEvo. Studi e Strumenti di Archeologia, 1), Roma 1999;
• F.R. Stasolla, Leopoli-Cencelle. Il quartiere sud-orientale, Spoleto 2012;
• Forma e vita di una città medievale. Form and Life of a Medieval City Leopoli-Cencelle, a cura di L. PANI ERMINI – M.C. SOMMA – F.R. STASOLLA, Spoleto 2014;
• B. BRANCAZI, Cencelle V. Figure dal sottosuolo. I motivi decorativi della Maiolica Arcaica di Cencelle, Roma 2021;
• G.M. ANNOSCIA et alii, Children's World in the Medieval Town of Cencelle: an Archaeological Analysis, in Medicina nei Secoli, 34/3 (2022), pp. 89-118;
• G.M. ANNOSCIA – F.R. STASOLLA, Guerra e pace a Cencelle: professioni, organizzazione urbanistica, gestione delle risorse, in IX Congresso SAMI, Firenze 2022, pp. 284-288;
• L. BRANCAZI – L. PIERMARTINI, In ollam cum larido ad ignem pones: pratiche alimentari e contenitori ceramici nel Lazio tardomedievale, IX Congresso SAMI, Firenze 2022, pp. 106-111.
• F. VACATELLO, Cencelle VI. Una terra protesa verso il mare, Roma 2023;
• G.M. ANNOSCIA et alii, New methodological approaches applied to Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT), in SPOLIA. Journal of Medieval Studies, XX (2024), n. 10 n.s., pp. 611-633.
• G.M. ANNOSCIA – L. MEDEGHINI – F. MIELE et alii, Anuli narrantes: studio archeologico e archeometrico di alcuni anelli bassomedievali da Cencelle (Tarquinia, VT), in Scienze dell’Antichità, 30/1 (2024), pp. 241-256;
• G. PREVITI – B. LUCI – C. LEMORINI, Micro-photogrammetry and traceology: new on-site documentation approaches using portable digital microscopes, in Journal of Archaeological Science, 2024 (168);
• G. PREVITI – C. LEMORINI, People and artefacts. Craft production of ‘testelli’ in the medieval town of Cencelle (VT, Italy): An experimental and traceological approach, in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2025;
• G. Previti, Cencelle VII. Archeologia del quotidiano. La ceramica per la ricostruzione funzionale e sociale, in c.d.s.
For an extended bibliography, see the "Publications" section on the project web portal (in Italian)
Further details about this research:
- Research type: Grandi Scavi Sapienza
- Location of the excavation: Tarquinia (Viterbo, Italy)
- Research topic: Archeologia Medievale
- Fundings: Fondi Grandi Scavi Sapienza
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