The project targets the site of Cannatello (Agrigento, Sicily): excavations and analytical study are the focus of this project, integrating data from the whole Mediterranean Sea.
Cannatello saw former research in 1897, 1907, 1989-2001; this project started in 2016, with excavations since 2017, due to last until 2022 and ending in 2024 (3+3 years exc.+2 years study).
It is one of the crucial Italian sites of the Mediterranean Late Bronze Age (LBA: 14th-12th cent. BCE) network, with finds coming from Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Crete, Greece and Cyprus. Peculiar is the local production of pottery with distintive Nuragic shapes. The site is a focal point to discuss the "boom-and-crisis" phase of the LBA, as seen from Central Mediterranean communities of Sardinia and Sicily, in connection with the traditions on the "Sea Peoples".
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 2018 and by INSTAP in 2018 and 2019:
- 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; the project is also preparing the systematic edition of past excavations with a complete definition of the chrono-stratigraphic sequence;
- Connections, i.e. framing the site in the wider Mediterranean network aiming at social and political analysis of the "boom-and-crisis" years. This pillar requires specific study activity in Crete and Cyprus, Sardinia and now Spain, through international cooperation.
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 processes in the Central Mediterranean.
The research has a high innovation potential in different respects, both from a national and an international point of view, as confirmed by the 2017-2018 campaigns.
General scope of the project
The project has a joint scientific and didactic scope, involving a relevant number of students (15-20): students are directly involved in advanced research.
The cooperation with American students from the Hunter College (NY, ca. 5) fosters the internationalization of our Italian students. 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, and former research requires further publication, yet.
After 1897-1907, research on the site resumed in 1989, recovering important architectural remains, anyway badly damaged by ploughing and destructive human building activity. Until 1997, the acknowledgement of the multi-period stratigraphy of the site was not 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 of the inner built environment, reconstructed so far. 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
At present, they are barely known. 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 ongoing analyses (petrography, chemical composition, organic remains) and the connective implications of these materials are highly innovative.
2. Environment and climate
An integrated approach on 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 local 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 a totally new analysis of dune paleosol formation and dating, to be compared with sea-levels and with the results of a pollen and micropalaeontological sequence extracted in early 2019 from a sub-coastal water basin. This is giving a 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 composition of the research team is specifically built in order to pursue this important result: Gaveriaux, as new member, will enhance pollen analysis.
3. Connections
The team capacity in petrographic and chemical analysis of pottery assures an innovative perspective, deepening our acquired knowledge. 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 direct study in Crete and Cyprus. Spain will be added in 2019-20 as an area with cooperative research (prof. J.Martin de la Cruz). Cross-exchange of samples is allowing thorough analytical comparison. The "western" side of the LBA Mediterranean connections will become crucial, as often periphery explains in a more evident way processes ongoing in the center. An axis of research is defined crossing through Spain - Sardinia - Sicily - Malta - Crete - Cyprus, and integrating in an innovative way the 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, under preparation;
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 dynamic "Sea Peoples" conference at the close of the first 3-year excavation concession (early 2020), pointing at the wider LBA connections and the involvement of the Central Mediterranean.