Mugello Valley Archaeological Project
One of the questions I am frequently asked about a new archaeological project is “What are you going to find?” At the risk of being snide, I usually answer that, if I knew what we were going to find, we really would not need to excavate. And in … Read moreWhat have we found (out)?
Ciao! Thanks for stopping by to take a look at what we are up to at the Albagino Sacred Lake Archaeological Project. My name is Chris Darrin and I would like to share some experiences about my travels, the excavation site, and the town in … Read moreFirst experiences
We are now in the third week of excavation, and the trenches are getting deeper. The weekend saw furious thunderstorms; we turned up at the site later on Monday morning, giving the woods a chance to dry out. The trenches, especially Trench 5, resembled swimming … Read moreDigging deeper
Firenzuola is a charming town where the sense of local pride is evident and everyone is quite friendly. Outside the town are Naples-yellow hills and lush green mountains, unlike anything I’ve ever seen on the east coast of the United States. In the morning … Read moreFrom Firenzuola to Albagino
This is my first excavation and I have never been on a dig site before ASLAP, so I’ll share some of the things I’ve learned while here. Firstly, there is a sort of Murphy’s Law about dig locations. We dug our first 2 meter by … Read moreLearning to Excavate
We were fortunate in the first week to have Dr. Lisa Lodwick with us at Albagino. Dr. Lodwick is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at All Souls College of the University of Oxford. Her “main research interests are in the relationship between agriculture and urbanisation … Read moreMVAP Palaeobotany
The second week saw the inauguration of five trenches covering the area where the bronzes were found, the path around the lake, and what may have been the lake bed itself (ASLAP Trench 5). This last trench produced deeper stratigraphy. Evidence has emerged … Read moreWEEK 2
On the Albagino landscape Albagino is a green plateau in the forest on the north-eastern side of Monte Gradi in the heart of the Apennines between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. Albagino is not far from the Futa Pass and the altitude of this site is around … Read moreThe Albagino Project (ASLAP) 2017-2018. Preparing to excavate
We are at the end of the first week, and things have moved slowly and cautiously. This is as it should be. Participants are learning the proper use of tools and how to “read” the soil. Even experienced excavators are getting their bodies back into … Read moreThe First Week
Our research at Albagino is being helped by the Gruppo Archeologico di Bruscoli (Bruscoli Archaeological Group) who have generously provided us with space to study our finds at the Il Museo Storico Etnografico di Bruscoli (The historical and ethnographic museum of Bruscoli). The museum is … Read moreThe Bruscoli Museum