The Alberese Archaeological Project
Aerial view of the port of Russellae
In 2009, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Tuscany started an innovative project in the Natural Park of Maremma, a stunning protected environment in the Commune of Grosseto (Italy). The project aims to obtain a better understanding of the 'Romanisation' of Etruria (from 3rd century BC to the end of the 6th century AD) by studying settlements in the area of the mouth of the river Ombrone. The research, jointly led by Mario Cygielman, Elena Chirico, Matteo Colombini and Alessandro Sebastiani, focuses on two sites: the sacred area dedicated to Diana Umbronensis and the Roman cabotage port of Rusellae. The temple is on a hilltop in Scoglietto and, after three archaeological seasons, an area of around 7,535 sqft (700 sqm) has been uncovered, revealing a sequence from mid-3rd century BC, when the temple was built, until mid-6th century AD, when the site was abandoned after a great fire ravaged the entire settlement.
A sanctuary was added to the original tiny temple of Diana in the 1st century AD and a temenos wall was built to enclose a new temple. More rooms and a massive cistern were added but, at the end of the next century, the sanctuary appears to have been abandoned. A new temple was built at early in the 3rd century and, soon after the end of the 4th century, a new phase seems to have started, with the construction of a timber and pisé hut after the temple was dismantled in accordance with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD, but, after the fire in the 6th century AD, the site was never occupied again.
As for the second site, the remains of two Roman walls facing the shore on the last bend of the River Ombrone are vestiges of an important economic centre – the cabotage port of Rusellae. At the end of the second archaeological season, the sequence became clearer: a series of store-rooms were erected in the 1st century AD and refurbished in the Hadrianic period.
Towards the end of the 2nd century, the site boasted the biggest Roman workshop for glass production in Italy as evidenced by five kilns. It is possible that until the mid-5th century the area was used as a Roman emporium. There is evidence of recycling older metal and glass objects, and coins melted in the forge witness the end of monetary economy in this part of Tuscany.
After the workshops were deserted, the site was used as a cemetery and, later, cultivated as farmland. Then, in the mid-6th century AD, the river flooded the area and, as the centuries went by, alluvium deposits accumulated to a height of over eight feet (2.5 metres).
Nicole Benazeth