Classical Studies

A season of intensive site survey just north of Lago di Chiusi at località Gioiella on the border between modern Umbria and Tuscany has revealed evidence for a rural site occupied from ca. the end of the 2nd c. BC through the late 3rd c. AD, based on finewares, wine amphorae, and coin finds. Concentrations of tile and building material suggest two to three buildings placed along a terraced hillslope overlooking the lake. Finds of boxtiles, fragments of monochrome mosaic, lead piping and tiles for pilae are evidence for heated rooms and probably a bath suite. Several pieces of marble (one sculpted) attest to imported decorative elements. There are clear indications of on-site food and cloth production, as well as storage vessels. Nearly a kilometer away, a likely section of ancient road is cut into the side of Poggio S. Maria, running down towards the lake and passing a well-preserved cistern of Roman date. Our investigations are focused on understanding this hydrologically sensitive landscape over time: the development of settlement, agriculture, and political control in the late Republic, the nature of trade and communication with other rural and urban sites in the region, and the relationship between humans and their environment—particularly the manipulation of water—during the site’s imperial lifetime. Finally, we seek to understand the site’s transition (given scattered evidence for medieval use), to its current buried, cultivated state.

A season of intensive site survey just north of Lago di Chiusi at località Gioiella on the border between modern Umbria and Tuscany has revealed evidence for a rural site occupied from ca. the end of the 2nd c. BC through the late 3rd c. AD, based on finewares, wine amphorae, and coin finds. Concentrations of tile and building material suggest two to three buildings placed along a terraced hillslope overlooking the lake. Finds of boxtiles, fragments of monochrome mosaic, lead piping and tiles for pilae are evidence for heated rooms and probably a bath suite. Several pieces of marble (one sculpted) attest to imported decorative elements. There are clear indications of on-site food and cloth production, as well as storage vessels. Nearly a kilometer away, a likely section of ancient road is cut into the side of Poggio S. Maria, running down towards the lake and passing a well-preserved cistern of Roman date. Our investigations are focused on understanding this hydrologically sensitive landscape over time: the development of settlement, agriculture, and political control in the late Republic, the nature of trade and communication with other rural and urban sites in the region, and the relationship between humans and their environment—particularly the manipulation of water—during the site’s imperial lifetime. Finally, we seek to understand the site’s transition (given scattered evidence for medieval use), to its current buried, cultivated state.