Potentino Exploration Project (PXP)
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#potentinoproject
Explore new horizons. Develop new skills. Make friends for life.
Take the first step down the adventurous path of archaeology and cultural heritage in the hills of Tuscany.
Unique Seggiano. High biodiversity. Rich with ancient heritage.
Seggiano is nestled in the north-western foothills of the scenic Monte Amiata, next to the better-known Val d’Orcia. The dramatically beautiful unspoiled landscape produces excellent wines, coveted cheeses, and olive oil from a special cultivar that is only found in this region, the Olivastra Seggianese.
This project is a partnership of faculty from several universities including Southern Methodist University Rutgers University, University of Cambridge, Open University, and Castello di Potentino, will focus on the heritage, archaeology, and biodiversity of this fragile landscape. The research design of the Potentino Exploration Project and Field School combines archaeological excavation, heritage studies, archaeobotany, biodiversity studies, land survey, and archaeometry as part of an interdisciplinary regional landscape analysis of the area around Potentino Castle and the Seggiano Valley.
The goal is to produce an integrated, transdisciplinary study of the area to provide crucial data for long-term planning and policy-making that can be connected to the holistic environmental and social framework set forth in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The project, aims to increase awareness of the ethical management of endangered cultural and natural heritage. while also connecting to and respecting the local community.
The project will be co-directed by Dr. Greg Warden (Southern Methodist University) and Dr. Meryl Shriver- Rice (University of Miami). Our interdisciplinary Field School combines archaeology and biodiversity & heritage studies. Students will stay in the castle, and all meals will include organic produce grown on the castle grounds.
PXP 2023’s archaeological field school will introduce students to all aspects of archaeological field methodology, from actual excavation and documentation to the processing and study of material culture. The project aims to reconstruct the history and prehistory of the Seggiano valley and the Monte Amiata region through close study of the areas around Castello Potentino. In 2023, the dig will focus on the immediate area of the castle to establish a basic stratigraphy and historical sequence that can be correlated to landscape and settlement pattern. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about the history and material culture in central Italy from the Iron Age to the Medieval Period. This interdisciplinary field school will also take a deep-time perspective on human landscape use and heritage as embedded within local environments. Weekly topics will include: defining invasive species, methods of paleoenvironmental reconstruction, the role of charismatic megafauna as cultural keystone species, the challenges of depredation by reintroduced apex predators, and understanding different types of local ethnobotanical use.
🏺 We encourage students to check with their universities and colleges concerning transfer of credits. Cost $3,000 due by 5/1/23.
Apply by May 1, 2023.
