The project targets the site of Cannatello near Agrigento, Sicily: excavations and analytical study are the focus of this integrated project.
The present project started in 2016, with excavations since 2017 (former research in 1897, 1907, 1989-2001).
Cannatello is one of the crucial Italian sites of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) Mediterranean network, with finds coming at least from Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Crete, Greece and Cyprus. The presence of locally produced pottery with distintive Nuragic shapes is particularly impressive. It is part of the debate about the "boom-and-crisis" phase of the LBA (14th-12th cent. BCE), and a focal point to discuss the involvement of Central Mediterranean communities from Sardinia and Sicily, in connection with the traditions on the "Sea Peoples".
The site lacks an adequate edition of past excavations and a complete definition of the sequence of the buildings and of the encircling wall, already brought to light. Furthermore, the earliest phase (ca. 14th cent. BCE) is still poorly known from stratigraphic contexts.
Three main research pillars are the subject of the 2017-2019 project phase, already granted financial support by the "Grandi Scavi" call in 2017 and by INSTAP in 2018:
- ENVironment, i.e. geomorphological evolution of the coast; pollen and stratigraphic cores to study the climatic and anthropic influence;
- STRATigraphy, i.e. targeted excavation of specific areas, producing good contextual associations of finds, coupled with an intensive sampling policy for advanced analyses;
- CONNections, i.e. framing the site in the wider Mediterranean network, and particularly with Crete and Cyprus, aiming at social and political analysis of the "boom-and-crisis" years.
The innovative potential is very high, and we foresee that the improved knowledge of the site, in its enhanced environmental and cultural context, will foster a renewed phase of debate and publications about LBA developments in the Central Mediterranean.
The research has a high innovation potential in different respects, both from a national and an international point of view.
General scope of the project
The project has a joint scientific and didactic scope, involving a relevant number of students (15-20), in an advanced research group: students are directly involved in advanced research.
The cooperation with American students from the Hunter College (NY, ca. 5) is intended to foster the internationalization of our Italian students, as general communication is in English. Although not fully innovative, it is relevant to be quoted here.
1. Stratigraphy (and cultural data)
1a. Overview and stratigraphy of the site.
Although having been repeatedly excavated, the scientific knowledge of the site of Cannatello has still to be improved, as the publication of former research hasn't been complete, yet.
After 1897-1907, research on the site resumed in 1989, recovering important architectural remains, which had been anyway badly damaged by ploughing and destructive human building activity. Until 1997, the acknowledgement of the multi-period stratigraphy of the site had not been achieved, and only the excavations from 1997 to 2001 started to build up the pattern, as preliminarily published in De Miro 1999. The building sequence, articulated in 3 major phases, is undergoing refinement, in order to provide a full comprehension of the contexts. One crucial aspect is still the exact synchronization of the 2 encircling wall phases with the 3 phases, reconstructed so far, of the inner built environment. As already said, the most ancient building phase is under-represented by well-defined stratigraphies: the present excavations are collecting relevant details about the early history of the site.
1b. Archaeological finds
The thorough stratigraphic relocation and study of the different classes of finds is ongoing; the publication of a first lot of materials is planned for 2020, and will represent a landmark in the archaeology of the LBA Mediterranean. The array of intended analyses (petrography, chemical composition, organic remains) and the connective implications of these materials are highly innovative, as at the present state, they are barely known.
2. Environment and climate
An integrated approach including fluvial and coastal geomorphology is innovative for the area, and perfectly in line with up-to-date research. Setting apart archaeological literature (Caminneci 2014), a single paper seems to have faced the problem of the recent coastline advance/retreat, based on historical maps and near-surface sedimentology (Liguori et al. 2007-2008). The present research will be relevant also for wider geological issues, such as coastal long-term trends. The sedimentary and coastal history is undergoing (2018) a totally new analysis of dune paleosol formation and dating, to be compared with sea-levels and with the results of a pollen core to be extracted (late 2018) from sub-coastal or inter-dunary water basins . This will give a totally new perspective of the location of the site in the LBA situation, during a phase of changing climate on a wide, or even global scale. The renewed composition of the research team for 2018 is specifically built in order to pursue this important result.
3. Connections
The composition of the team assures an innovative perspective, as it holds the capacity to treat in an immediate way all the main issues posed by the archaeological materials. A further powerful tool is represented by the connections established with other research areas and teams, and the direct knowledge of the finds and sites that is being acquired, through cooperation and cross-exchanging of samples for analytical comparison. The "western" side of the LBA Mediterranean connections will thus assume a central focal position as for the clarity of the pattern (often periphery explains in a more evident way processes ongoing in the center). An axis of research is defined crossing through Sardinia - Sicily - Malta - Crete - Cyprus, and integrating in an innovative way the relevant evidence, projected on the background of the widely acquired knowledge of the LBA boom-and-crisis years.
Synthesis
Therefore, the innovation of the project resides in:
a) the updated, integrated knowledge of the site of Cannatello;
b) the quality of the interdisciplinary team;
c) the investment in the connective issues;
d) the perspective reflected in the so-called "third science revolution" of archaeology.
The innovative products will be:
i. papers in peer-reviewed and impact factor journals on selected, mainly analytical and environmental/climatic issues, since late 2018;
ii. one monograph to be published in 2020, to posit the site as a landmark in LBA Mediterranean archaeology; international applications for extra fundings are ongoing;
iii. a conference at the close of the 3-year excavation concession, pointing at the wider LBA connections and the involvement of the Central Mediterranean.