2019 Case Bastione Field School – Central Sicily (Italy)

Location: Villarosa, IT

Season: July 1, 2019 to July 20, 2019

Session Dates: One single session

Application Deadline: June 15, 2019

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: http://www.arkeos.eu/field-schools

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Arkeos s.c.

Project Director:
Dr. Enrico Giannitrapani, Dr. Filippo Iannì

Project Description:

The Case Bastione field school is part of a larger research project, co-directed by Dr. Enrico Giannitrapani and Dr. Filippo Iannì (Arkeos), studying the cultural and social dynamics of human occupation of the Erei uplands. The project investigates the time span from the 6th millennium to the 1st millennium BCE. This period covers human presence in the Erei uplands, from the Neolithic to the contact between the local indigenous communities with Greek settlers, established along the Sicilian coasts in the 8th-7th century BCE.

Case Bastione is located within the western Erei, in the valley of the Morello, a tributary of the Imera meridionale. It is a large settlement which dates from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age. So far, Late Copper Age and Early Bronze Age deposits (mid-3rd to mid-2nd millennium cal. BCE) have been investigated, yielding extensive evidence of domestic structures and a number of craft activities – including dairy and textiles production, pottery and lithic artefacts, and possibly metallurgical activity.

The 2019 campaign will focus on the continued excavation of Hut 5, a large Late Copper Age structure, with a rich material assemblage, together with complex facilities, such as lined pits, hearths, burnt areas, all possibly connected with the transformation of agricultural products. Students will engage in the excavation of the various collapse layers that cover the beaten clay floor; they will record all the archaeological features encountered, using cutting edge photogrammetric techniques, including digital and 3D systems. Students will also work in the laboratory, washing, cataloguing and recording all finds recovered from the excavation. Furthermore, the territory surrounding the site will also be investigated with targeted field-walking activities.

Period(s) of Occupation: Copper Age, Bronze Age

Notes:
The primary objectives of the Case Bastione Field School are twofold: first to provide students with a better understanding of how archaeology is practised in the field. It will be achieved by providing students with a classroom-based introduction to the fundamentals of field methods in archaeology, and by providing practical working knowledge of excavation, laboratory and field recording methods. The second objective is to introduce students to the late prehistory of Sicily, a key period that is the basis of later historical developments of classical Sicily. This field school is then a great opportunity to spend three weeks in a unique location, in the heart of Sicily and of the Mediterranean.

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: three weeks

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: None

Room and Board Arrangements:
The accommodation will be guaranteed to all participants in a structure made available by the Municipality of Villarosa. It is located in the same building together with the Public Library and the archaeological warehouse containing the finds from the previous Case Bastione excavation campaigns. There are comfortable and spacious bedrooms, toilets and showers with hot water, a common room where to socialise and consume meals and an equipped kitchen. Cost: No fees are required for the 2019 campaign: technical equipment, educational materials, lodging and local transport are offered; participants will pay only for their own travel costs and meals. Further information for the meal costs will be provided after enrollment. Accident insurance is compulsory.