Ricerc@Sapienza

The analysis of the relationship between Caere, one of the main Etruscan cities, and Pyrgi, its outpost on the sea to which was connected by a large road comparable to the one linking Athens to the Piraeus, is the goal of the project. In particular, the strategies followed by Caere for the management of the coastal area in relation to its role in the mediterranean political and military scenarios will be analysed.
Pyrgi played different functions (port, settlement, sanctuary) thanks to its favourable geographic position along the Tyrrhenian maritime routes. Moreover, Pyrgi is an exceptional case-study because of the possibility of a full analysis of its different topographical components, since the study of the urbanistic asset of the settlement is favoured by its abandonment after the phase of Romanization and by the possibility of performing large-scale research over its territory.
The excavations conducted since 1957 have brought to light a large sacred district, including the famous Sanctuary of Uni-Astarte and a demetriac cult place dedicated to the couple of deities Sur and Cavatha.
Since 2009, investigations have focused on the sector N of the sanctuary, where a block of ceremonial buildings, next to the terminal trait of the Caere-Pyrgi road, was discovered.
Research program for the year 2018 aims to improve the knowledge of the relationship between Caere and its port and maritime sanctuary, through georadar prospections focused on strategic contexts along the Caere-Pyrgi road.
The excavations of the Ceremonial Quarter, based on the results of the prospections carried on during the 2017 campaign, will allow us to reconstruct the topographical asset of this crucial area and its relationship with the port.
Like last year, special care will be reserved to the conservation, through the "cantiere-scuola" which will involve students of the Scuola Spec. Restauro Monumenti, and to a new project of valorisation, also including the virtual riconstruction of the site.