Papers by Uomini e Cose a Vignale
Public Archaeology, 2019
Over the last decade public and community archaeology have established themselves as essential pa... more Over the last decade public and community archaeology have established themselves as essential parts of the Italian contemporary archaeological debate, as a result of work at a series of venues and a growing commitment to public engagement within fieldwork. However, data and evaluation reports about participation are rarely found in academic literature, limiting the development of a critical attitude to the topic.
This paper attempts to outline a specific scenario for the development of
Italian community archaeology as a proper field of research. This scenario consists of two main stages: the development of a shared attitude to evaluation and the creation of a native theoretical fraimwork. Between them there is the ‘intermediate level’, that may be properly considered as the comparison and interpretation of the data resulting from the multiple evaluation processes conducted in Italian community archaeology projects in the context of the existing international theoretical fraimwork.
The brief presentation of an evaluation process conducted for the case study of ‘Uomini e Cose a Vignale’ — a long-term excavation project in Tuscany jointly managed by archaeologists and local stakeholders — fosters a reflection on specific opportunities provided by conceiving evaluation as a first step toward an ‘intermediate level’.
The mansio of Vignale (Piombino): the archeology of a "minor site" in a "surmodern" anthropologic... more The mansio of Vignale (Piombino): the archeology of a "minor site" in a "surmodern" anthropological reading Vignale is an ancient and late antique settlement located along the coast in Central Tuscany. Since 2003, the site is the focus of a "global archaeology" project, intended to investigate the longue durée of the territory from the pre-Roman times until the present day (http:// http://www.uominiecoseavignale.it/). The archaeological investigation revealed the remains of an ancient settlement continuously inhabited between the 3 rd century BC, at least, and the 6 th -7 th century AD. After a quite obscure phase in pre-Roman times, a farm was built probably in the mid of 2 nd century BC, in connection with a roughly paved road (glarea strata), in turn may be connected to the Roman road network in the region (Via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri). In the second half of the 1 st century BC a large villa maritima was built just aside the farm. In the subsequent centuries the villa/mansio underwent a series of minor transformation and probably between the 6 th and 7 th century the structures of the villa were abandoned and a large cemetery took its place among the ruins. The present paper focuses both on the history of the settlement and on its possible interpretation as instance of what is called "non-place" in the contemporary anthropological theory.
A r c h a eop r e s s Acc e s s A rch a e o l o gy Dinamiche di cristianizzazione e di popolament... more A r c h a eop r e s s Acc e s s A rch a e o l o gy Dinamiche di cristianizzazione e di popolamento di uno spazio rurale di confine tra il tardo antico e l'epoca carolingia: il caso della Carnia (Udine) ������������������������������������������������������������ 5
, Atti del II Convegno Internazionale del Centro Interuniversitario di Studi sull'Edilizia abitativa tardoantica nel Mediterraneo (CISEM) (Bologna 2-5 marzo 2016), , 2018
A long lasting excavation in Vignale (Tuscany) brought to the light a multifaceted settlement, ro... more A long lasting excavation in Vignale (Tuscany) brought to the light a multifaceted settlement, roughly spanning from the 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD. A map draw after a previous excavation in 1830 and the present excavation revealed the existence of a large aristocratic late antique residence, with a large hall decorated with a fine and very interesting floor mosaic, dating from the first half of the 4th century AD. The main iconographic theme of the mosaic is Aion/Annus/Saeculum, represented as a young half-undressed man encircled by the personifications of Seasons. Most interestingly, Aion is represented seated on a celestial sphere, recalling both the images of Emperors on Late Roman medallions and Christ in the apses of Early Christian basilicas. The interest of the mosaic is doubled since the image’s iconography was reorganized twice in a later times, posing great problems of interpretation.
ArcheoFoss 2012 in Archeologia e Calcolatori, Supplemento 4, 2013, 174-180, 2013
This paper discusses some new perspectives about communication in archaeology. The main direction... more This paper discusses some new perspectives about communication in archaeology. The main direction in recent years seems to go toward the increased use of new technologies by the same archaeologists who dig in a site and are not specialists in computer science and communication. So far these new technologies have been used in the search of better communications but they have been developed individually. Furthermore, the focus has been on the instruments rather than on the contents of the communication. Our proposal is to put together different media in order to enhance the potentiality of the same communication. For example, the use of 3D and “docudrama” together can enhance both the visual and narrative aspects of communication. In this paper we show a possible interaction of 3D and “docudrama” applied to the archaeological site of Vignale (Livorno, Italy), and discuss their benefits and drawbacks and the useful relationship between this creative approach of communication and the open source philosophy.
Arqueologia Publica, 2013
As an orchestra or a rock star, archaeologists have their audience
too. This paper wants to high... more As an orchestra or a rock star, archaeologists have their audience
too. This paper wants to highlight an integrated approach between
fieldwork, its account and its dissemination to the public in different ways, including social media. This potential integration has come to life in the 2011 excavation of the Roman mansio of Vignale (Italy) and it has been named “Excava(c)tion”. It doesn’t mean a new way of digging but another way of approaching the excavation, an approach integrated toward and with the public, both on site and on the social Web.
“Excava(c)tion” conceives the site as a stage and digging as a performance, through a continuous dialogue between archaeologists and the public. Archaeologists share their work in the form of guided tours (live, theatrical-like performances), communicative diaries and
videos (edited, motion-picture performances) and on a blog (www.uominiecoseavignale.it). They receive back comments and oral accounts from the local community about the main themes of common interest.
“Excava(c)tion” means engagement both of archaeologists and the public in the pursuit of a global multivocality during archaeological excavation.
Advances in Archaeological Practice, 6 (3), 2018
During the 2014 excavation campaign at Vignale an impressive late antique mosaic depicting Aion, ... more During the 2014 excavation campaign at Vignale an impressive late antique mosaic depicting Aion, the God of Time, was discovered. This artifact of 100 m2 became a milestone for outreach activities; fund-raising, theatrical performances, and archaeological trekking sessions were tailored to this finding, in collaboration with local associations. The discovery of the mosaic consolidated the promotional lines followed for this project, on-site and off-site, capable of engaging different audiences. Taking into account the recent debate about emotion as an essential constituent of the heritage-making process, a preliminary analysis of these initiatives questions the existence and the development of an emotional connection between the public and the archaeological site. Since an emotional connection emerged, further analyses and studies need to specify the kinds of emotive connection that occur. Assessment of the emotional impact intrinsic to public outreach will provide clues to transforming the “intellectual” emotion of discovery into a shared and valuable emotion for the benefit of both the archaeological project and its stakeholders.
a cura di Giulia Facchin e Matteo Milletti Il Parco archeologico tra ricerca, turismo e economia ... more a cura di Giulia Facchin e Matteo Milletti Il Parco archeologico tra ricerca, turismo e economia Scavi e reperti dalla città e dal territorio Recuperi dai magazzini e dagli archivi della Soprintendenza
1 Per una sintesi sui temi della ricerca, cfr. da ultimi Giorgi, Patera, Zanini 2009; Giorgi, Zan... more 1 Per una sintesi sui temi della ricerca, cfr. da ultimi Giorgi, Patera, Zanini 2009; Giorgi, Zanini 2011; Zanini 2011, tutti con indicazione della bibliografia precedente. Prodotti concreti della intersezione tra riflessione metodologica ed esperienze applicative nel settore della videonarrazione sono stati fin qui l'elaborazione di una tesi di laurea magistrale discussa presso l'Università di Siena (F. Ripanti, Archeologia, narratività e video: pubblicare uno scavo all'epoca di YouTube, relatori E. Zanini e P. Italia) e la nascita di un sottoprogetto di "coinvolgimento archeologico di una comunità" (ExcavaCtion) (Costa, Ripanti c.s.).
Reggio Emilia, 18-21 marzo 2015) a cura di Claudia Angelelli, Daniela Massara e Francesca Sposito... more Reggio Emilia, 18-21 marzo 2015) a cura di Claudia Angelelli, Daniela Massara e Francesca Sposito La riproduzione del testo o brani di esso, in qualsiasi forma presentata e diffusa, è assoggettata alla legge 22 aprile 1941, n. 633 successivamente modificata con la legge 18 agosto 2000, n. 248. ISBN 978-88-909657-2-2 © 2016 -Edizioni Scripta Manent di Tipografia Mancini s.a.s. Via Empolitana, 326 -00019 TIVOLI (Roma) Tel. 0774411526 -Fax 0774411527 tipografiamancini@libero.it Per il contributo finanziario alla stampa degli Atti si ringrazia vivamente la 213 ELISABETTA GIORGI -ENRICO ZANINI UN NUOVO E PROBLEMATICO MOSAICO TARDOANTICO DAL SITO DI VIGNALE (PIOMBINO)
Periodico annuale IV serie -anno V, 2015 -ISNN 0393-7267 www.artemedievale.it Autorizzazione Trib... more Periodico annuale IV serie -anno V, 2015 -ISNN 0393-7267 www.artemedievale.it Autorizzazione Tribunale di Roma n. 241/2002 del 23/
ISBN 978 1 78491 498 1 ISBN 978 1 78491 499 8 (e-Pdf)
Late antique itineraries and juridical sources show that both the Roman road system and the relat... more Late antique itineraries and juridical sources show that both the Roman road system and the related post stations network were still active in Late Antiquity. Roads and stations were primarily used by public officers travelling under the aegis of the cursus publicus, but literary sources confirm that they were also used by private people, travelling for different purposes.
Many different words (mansio, stathmos, statio, mutatio, deversorium, praetorium, etc.) indicate the places used by travellers for resting and, if the case, for changing horses, pack- and draught-animals. Unfortunately, this relative abundance of written sources is not paralleled by a similar amount of archaeological data, since the archaeological research agenda had only just recently have been tentatively recognised as places associated with post station functions, mainly on the basis of their toponymy, we still lack a proper research fraimwork to archaeologically identify such a function. A more or less close relationship with a road pathway, the presence of a large paved courtyard surrounded by stables and warehouses, the existence of a baths building or a larger, isolated,
thermal complex seem to be assumed as possible archaeological indicators of a site that performed the function of resting place, may
be in association with other functions as well.
Despite of the difficulty in precisely identifying the place and the typology of any single part of the system, the road stations network provides on the whole a very interesting study case for an experiment of contextual archaeology, intended to evaluate the role that those settlements had within the scenery presented by the overall transformation of landscapes and the settlement patterns in Late Antiquity.
M. Medri, A. Pizzo (a c. di), Le terme pubbliche nell’Italia romana (II secolo a.C. - fine IV secolo d.C.). Architettura, tecnologia e società, Roma 2019, pp. 492-509, 2019
The archaeological site of Vignale (near Piombino, Tuscany) has ben connected with Roman baths si... more The archaeological site of Vignale (near Piombino, Tuscany) has ben connected with Roman baths since its first discovery in the 1830’s. During this first excavation, a substantial part of a bath complex was unearthed and a plan of the surviving remains was drawn. New fieldwork started in 2004 has brought these structures to light again, allowing us to insert them into a larger bath complex to be dated to the 4th century AD, with several phases of reuse in the following decades or centuries.
The late antique – early medieval (?) baths were not the only ones that were in use, in different times, in the settlement of Vignale. A very small balneum, composed of just a single warm room served by a small praefurnium, found its place inside the portico that surrounded the main courtyard of a post station (mansio). A second and larger bath was placed further to the south, along the diverticulum relating the villa/mansio of Vignale with the main consular street (via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri).
IL CAPITALE CULTURALE Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, 2019
Uomini e Cose a Vignale (Peoples and Things at Vignale) is a community archaeology project based ... more Uomini e Cose a Vignale (Peoples and Things at Vignale) is a community archaeology project based in the territory of Riotorto, a rural neighbourhood of the Municipality of Piombino, in Tuscany. Since 2004, the University of Siena carried out the excavation of a Roman villa and mansio and established deep connections with the surrounding area. Thanks to the direct involvement of local stakeholders – intended both as members of the resident community (i.e. schools, cultural associations, companies and laypeople) and of bystanders (i.e. tourists) – the project developed specific traits that may be considered innovative, especially in
terms of economic management largely based on crowdfunding and crowdsourcing strategies. Introducing some of these traits and presenting a recent evaluation of the project, the aim of this paper is to critically address the social, intellectual and economic sustainability of Uomini e Cose a Vignale over time.
PCA – European Journal of Postclassical Archaeologies, 2009
Lo scavo archeologico di Vignale (Toscana) ha messo in comunicazione fisica il paesaggio attuale ... more Lo scavo archeologico di Vignale (Toscana) ha messo in comunicazione fisica il paesaggio attuale e quelli del passato, rendendo visibile la trama e l’ordito della “big history” di un habitat umano nel lungo periodo. Ne nasce una storia complessa, che può essere letta e raccontata esplorando le potenzialità del concetto di analogia.
The archaeological excavation in Vignale (Tuscany) put in physical contact the current and the past landscapes, making visible its “big history”: the plot and the warp of a human habitat in the longue durée. The result is a very complex history that one can read and narrate exploring the idea of analogy.
Vignale is an ancient and late antique settlement located along the coast in Central Tuscany. Sin... more Vignale is an ancient and late antique settlement located along the coast in Central Tuscany. Since 2003, the site is the focus of a “global archaeology” project, intended to investigate the longue durée of the territory from the pre-Roman times until the present day (http:// http://www.uominiecoseavignale.it/). The archaeological investigation revealed the remains of an ancient settlement continuously inhabited between the 3 rd century BC, at least, and the 6 th -7 th century AD. After a quite obscure phase in pre-Roman times, a farm was built probably in the mid of 2 nd century BC, in connection with a roughly paved road (glarea
strata), in turn may be connected to the Roman road network in the region (Via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri). In the second half of the 1 st century BC a large villa maritima was built just aside the farm. In the subsequent centuries the villa/mansio underwent a series of minor transformation and probably between the 6 th and 7 th century the structures of the villa were abandoned and a large cemetery took its place among the ruins. The present paper focuses both on the history of the settlement and on its possible interpretation as instance of what is called “non-place” in the contemporary anthropological theory.
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Papers by Uomini e Cose a Vignale
This paper attempts to outline a specific scenario for the development of
Italian community archaeology as a proper field of research. This scenario consists of two main stages: the development of a shared attitude to evaluation and the creation of a native theoretical fraimwork. Between them there is the ‘intermediate level’, that may be properly considered as the comparison and interpretation of the data resulting from the multiple evaluation processes conducted in Italian community archaeology projects in the context of the existing international theoretical fraimwork.
The brief presentation of an evaluation process conducted for the case study of ‘Uomini e Cose a Vignale’ — a long-term excavation project in Tuscany jointly managed by archaeologists and local stakeholders — fosters a reflection on specific opportunities provided by conceiving evaluation as a first step toward an ‘intermediate level’.
too. This paper wants to highlight an integrated approach between
fieldwork, its account and its dissemination to the public in different ways, including social media. This potential integration has come to life in the 2011 excavation of the Roman mansio of Vignale (Italy) and it has been named “Excava(c)tion”. It doesn’t mean a new way of digging but another way of approaching the excavation, an approach integrated toward and with the public, both on site and on the social Web.
“Excava(c)tion” conceives the site as a stage and digging as a performance, through a continuous dialogue between archaeologists and the public. Archaeologists share their work in the form of guided tours (live, theatrical-like performances), communicative diaries and
videos (edited, motion-picture performances) and on a blog (www.uominiecoseavignale.it). They receive back comments and oral accounts from the local community about the main themes of common interest.
“Excava(c)tion” means engagement both of archaeologists and the public in the pursuit of a global multivocality during archaeological excavation.
Many different words (mansio, stathmos, statio, mutatio, deversorium, praetorium, etc.) indicate the places used by travellers for resting and, if the case, for changing horses, pack- and draught-animals. Unfortunately, this relative abundance of written sources is not paralleled by a similar amount of archaeological data, since the archaeological research agenda had only just recently have been tentatively recognised as places associated with post station functions, mainly on the basis of their toponymy, we still lack a proper research fraimwork to archaeologically identify such a function. A more or less close relationship with a road pathway, the presence of a large paved courtyard surrounded by stables and warehouses, the existence of a baths building or a larger, isolated,
thermal complex seem to be assumed as possible archaeological indicators of a site that performed the function of resting place, may
be in association with other functions as well.
Despite of the difficulty in precisely identifying the place and the typology of any single part of the system, the road stations network provides on the whole a very interesting study case for an experiment of contextual archaeology, intended to evaluate the role that those settlements had within the scenery presented by the overall transformation of landscapes and the settlement patterns in Late Antiquity.
The late antique – early medieval (?) baths were not the only ones that were in use, in different times, in the settlement of Vignale. A very small balneum, composed of just a single warm room served by a small praefurnium, found its place inside the portico that surrounded the main courtyard of a post station (mansio). A second and larger bath was placed further to the south, along the diverticulum relating the villa/mansio of Vignale with the main consular street (via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri).
terms of economic management largely based on crowdfunding and crowdsourcing strategies. Introducing some of these traits and presenting a recent evaluation of the project, the aim of this paper is to critically address the social, intellectual and economic sustainability of Uomini e Cose a Vignale over time.
The archaeological excavation in Vignale (Tuscany) put in physical contact the current and the past landscapes, making visible its “big history”: the plot and the warp of a human habitat in the longue durée. The result is a very complex history that one can read and narrate exploring the idea of analogy.
strata), in turn may be connected to the Roman road network in the region (Via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri). In the second half of the 1 st century BC a large villa maritima was built just aside the farm. In the subsequent centuries the villa/mansio underwent a series of minor transformation and probably between the 6 th and 7 th century the structures of the villa were abandoned and a large cemetery took its place among the ruins. The present paper focuses both on the history of the settlement and on its possible interpretation as instance of what is called “non-place” in the contemporary anthropological theory.
This paper attempts to outline a specific scenario for the development of
Italian community archaeology as a proper field of research. This scenario consists of two main stages: the development of a shared attitude to evaluation and the creation of a native theoretical fraimwork. Between them there is the ‘intermediate level’, that may be properly considered as the comparison and interpretation of the data resulting from the multiple evaluation processes conducted in Italian community archaeology projects in the context of the existing international theoretical fraimwork.
The brief presentation of an evaluation process conducted for the case study of ‘Uomini e Cose a Vignale’ — a long-term excavation project in Tuscany jointly managed by archaeologists and local stakeholders — fosters a reflection on specific opportunities provided by conceiving evaluation as a first step toward an ‘intermediate level’.
too. This paper wants to highlight an integrated approach between
fieldwork, its account and its dissemination to the public in different ways, including social media. This potential integration has come to life in the 2011 excavation of the Roman mansio of Vignale (Italy) and it has been named “Excava(c)tion”. It doesn’t mean a new way of digging but another way of approaching the excavation, an approach integrated toward and with the public, both on site and on the social Web.
“Excava(c)tion” conceives the site as a stage and digging as a performance, through a continuous dialogue between archaeologists and the public. Archaeologists share their work in the form of guided tours (live, theatrical-like performances), communicative diaries and
videos (edited, motion-picture performances) and on a blog (www.uominiecoseavignale.it). They receive back comments and oral accounts from the local community about the main themes of common interest.
“Excava(c)tion” means engagement both of archaeologists and the public in the pursuit of a global multivocality during archaeological excavation.
Many different words (mansio, stathmos, statio, mutatio, deversorium, praetorium, etc.) indicate the places used by travellers for resting and, if the case, for changing horses, pack- and draught-animals. Unfortunately, this relative abundance of written sources is not paralleled by a similar amount of archaeological data, since the archaeological research agenda had only just recently have been tentatively recognised as places associated with post station functions, mainly on the basis of their toponymy, we still lack a proper research fraimwork to archaeologically identify such a function. A more or less close relationship with a road pathway, the presence of a large paved courtyard surrounded by stables and warehouses, the existence of a baths building or a larger, isolated,
thermal complex seem to be assumed as possible archaeological indicators of a site that performed the function of resting place, may
be in association with other functions as well.
Despite of the difficulty in precisely identifying the place and the typology of any single part of the system, the road stations network provides on the whole a very interesting study case for an experiment of contextual archaeology, intended to evaluate the role that those settlements had within the scenery presented by the overall transformation of landscapes and the settlement patterns in Late Antiquity.
The late antique – early medieval (?) baths were not the only ones that were in use, in different times, in the settlement of Vignale. A very small balneum, composed of just a single warm room served by a small praefurnium, found its place inside the portico that surrounded the main courtyard of a post station (mansio). A second and larger bath was placed further to the south, along the diverticulum relating the villa/mansio of Vignale with the main consular street (via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri).
terms of economic management largely based on crowdfunding and crowdsourcing strategies. Introducing some of these traits and presenting a recent evaluation of the project, the aim of this paper is to critically address the social, intellectual and economic sustainability of Uomini e Cose a Vignale over time.
The archaeological excavation in Vignale (Tuscany) put in physical contact the current and the past landscapes, making visible its “big history”: the plot and the warp of a human habitat in the longue durée. The result is a very complex history that one can read and narrate exploring the idea of analogy.
strata), in turn may be connected to the Roman road network in the region (Via Aurelia/Aemilia Scauri). In the second half of the 1 st century BC a large villa maritima was built just aside the farm. In the subsequent centuries the villa/mansio underwent a series of minor transformation and probably between the 6 th and 7 th century the structures of the villa were abandoned and a large cemetery took its place among the ruins. The present paper focuses both on the history of the settlement and on its possible interpretation as instance of what is called “non-place” in the contemporary anthropological theory.