In 2023 a new fieldwork season was undertaken in the hinterland of the site of Roca Vecchia within the modern Municipality of Melendugno (Lecce). The Roca Archaeological Survey is part of the project “Paesaggi di Mobilità e Memoria” granted by Programma Montalcini del MIUR (P.I. Francesco Iacono).
The fieldwork took place between November 6th and November 17th. Following the work conducted in the previous seasons (2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022), the task of the 2023 fieldwork was to complete the survey of the fields around the site of Roca Vecchia, especially in the area of the Palude dei Tamari. The main objective was indeed to verify when this marshy area started to be inhabited.
The surveyed areas covered units with dimensions of 20x20, along with smaller and irregular units depending on the field's shape and dimensions. The first step was the creation of the units to be surveyed – possibly of the regular dimension of 20x20 m. Units were established following the main features of the areas, such as olive tree rows or delimitation dry stone walls. Ground units, begin manually trilateration the fields. The corner points of the collection units were recorded using the application SW Maps.
Subsequently, units were ready to be surveyed. Two teams of four operators walked the areas, collecting the materials. Operators covered the units at a distance of about 5 from one another, allowing a global coverage estimated between 20-40% of the area. In the case of units of smaller dimensions, the survey was made by two or even a single student.
As in the previous working season, the survey methodology was entirely paperless, using open-source software (fivepicollect.org) that allows the direct recording of topographic and environmental data (type of vegetation, visibility, etc.), as well as a preliminary recording of the material possibly collected (n. of fragments along a first chronological attribution).
Sometimes, Special Bags of artefacts were collected. Special bags were used – even in a limited number of cases – to collect artefacts outside the main bags of the units when materials of different periods or typological significance were discovered outside the lines walked by students
Contextually, all the materials – ceramics and lithic – collected within the units were washed and catalogued within our database. The processing of the materials allowed us to confirm the presence of material dated to the early prehistory to the post-medieval era.
Some pottery fragments were also selected for archaometric analysis, to detect paste recipes and provenance.
Team and collaborators of the 2023 campaign
Director: Prof. F. Iacono
Collaborators: G. Agostini, A. Falezza, F. Porta, and T. Verhoeven
Students: G. Castelvetri, R. Fonti, M. Obinu, A. Paci and M. Pisu