In this contribution, the authors present the survey project of the Italian-Greek project, begun in June 2007, and illustrate its first results. The mission includes Maria Bredaki, former ephor of Hiraklion and now director of the Institute of Cretan Studies, Fausto Longo, assistant professor at the University of Salerno, and Mario Benzi of the University of Pisa, who have worked in close collaboration with the Italian Archaeological School in Athens directed by Emanuele Greco. In this article, the directors of the mission present their project and the state of research on the site, then trace the general historico-topographical context of their surveys. Vincenzo Amato provides a geomorphological overview of the coastal plain of the Messara and publishes two new maps of the morpho-stratigraphic units: one of the whole western coastal plain of the Messara, the other of the settlement of Festos itself. This work provided an indispensable foundation for our field study, allowing us to take account of ongoing erosion and colluvial processes, and adjust the initial phases of our research accordingly. The team of topographers led by Vladimiro Achilli of the University of Padua describe their topographical survey campaigns. The team has drawn up a new geodetic reference grid within which all georeferenced elements can be inserted, including surveyed archaeological structures and field boundaries. The new map of Festos and its surrounding area, built from a recent orthophotograph of 1994 at a 1:18,000 scale showing archaeological structures, is published as a loose plate attached to their article. This map is one of the most significant contributions of the team and, more in general, of our whole research. Amedeo Rossi conducted an aereotopographic study to record the features of the contemporary landscape and recognize changes occurred over the last 80 years, detecting surviving traces of the ancient settlement, such as urban routes, and of its surrounding area (the study of the latter is being conducted by Alfonso Santoriello). The in-detail reports on individual zones of the urban survey are authored by the coordinators of field work (Simone Foresta for Zone A, Amedeo Rossi for Zones B and C) and of pottery study (Emanuela Santaniello and Valeria Lenuzza). The authors present their principal results, highlighting the peculiarities of each zone and giving a preliminary report on the characteristics and distribution of the pottery. The article then continues with a very short summary by Amedeo Rossi of the results of the geophysical investigations conducted by Rosa Di Maio of the Federico II University and her team. Rossi summarizes the results achieved in Zone A, which had been recognized from the first year of research as especially interesting, since its characteristics as regards geomorphology and pottery distribution make it likely that the town walls went through it in historical times. Geophysical investigations later confirmed this working hypothesis. This led to an excavation campaign in 2010, which produced extraordinary results. The excavation revealed a vast stretch of the western walls of Festos, briefly discussed by Fausto Longo and Maria Bredaki in the final pages of the article, where the authors also report on their ongoing study of an exposed section with Proto-Palatial material and give a brief chronological overview of the principal chronological phases of the site: the Palatial city; the Greek city; and the Roman and Late Antique phase.
Progetto Festòs. Le ricerche della missione italo-greca: campagne 2007-2009
LONGO, Fausto;
2011-01-01
Abstract
In this contribution, the authors present the survey project of the Italian-Greek project, begun in June 2007, and illustrate its first results. The mission includes Maria Bredaki, former ephor of Hiraklion and now director of the Institute of Cretan Studies, Fausto Longo, assistant professor at the University of Salerno, and Mario Benzi of the University of Pisa, who have worked in close collaboration with the Italian Archaeological School in Athens directed by Emanuele Greco. In this article, the directors of the mission present their project and the state of research on the site, then trace the general historico-topographical context of their surveys. Vincenzo Amato provides a geomorphological overview of the coastal plain of the Messara and publishes two new maps of the morpho-stratigraphic units: one of the whole western coastal plain of the Messara, the other of the settlement of Festos itself. This work provided an indispensable foundation for our field study, allowing us to take account of ongoing erosion and colluvial processes, and adjust the initial phases of our research accordingly. The team of topographers led by Vladimiro Achilli of the University of Padua describe their topographical survey campaigns. The team has drawn up a new geodetic reference grid within which all georeferenced elements can be inserted, including surveyed archaeological structures and field boundaries. The new map of Festos and its surrounding area, built from a recent orthophotograph of 1994 at a 1:18,000 scale showing archaeological structures, is published as a loose plate attached to their article. This map is one of the most significant contributions of the team and, more in general, of our whole research. Amedeo Rossi conducted an aereotopographic study to record the features of the contemporary landscape and recognize changes occurred over the last 80 years, detecting surviving traces of the ancient settlement, such as urban routes, and of its surrounding area (the study of the latter is being conducted by Alfonso Santoriello). The in-detail reports on individual zones of the urban survey are authored by the coordinators of field work (Simone Foresta for Zone A, Amedeo Rossi for Zones B and C) and of pottery study (Emanuela Santaniello and Valeria Lenuzza). The authors present their principal results, highlighting the peculiarities of each zone and giving a preliminary report on the characteristics and distribution of the pottery. The article then continues with a very short summary by Amedeo Rossi of the results of the geophysical investigations conducted by Rosa Di Maio of the Federico II University and her team. Rossi summarizes the results achieved in Zone A, which had been recognized from the first year of research as especially interesting, since its characteristics as regards geomorphology and pottery distribution make it likely that the town walls went through it in historical times. Geophysical investigations later confirmed this working hypothesis. This led to an excavation campaign in 2010, which produced extraordinary results. The excavation revealed a vast stretch of the western walls of Festos, briefly discussed by Fausto Longo and Maria Bredaki in the final pages of the article, where the authors also report on their ongoing study of an exposed section with Proto-Palatial material and give a brief chronological overview of the principal chronological phases of the site: the Palatial city; the Greek city; and the Roman and Late Antique phase.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
