Research Results
In 2009 Earthwatch volunteers helped to make significant findings during excavations of the Villa of Poggio del Molino.
In the Guest House:
- The discovery of a substantial portion of painted frescoes which had originally decorated the now collapsed walls.
- Evidence suggesting the presence of a large furnace the ancient Romans used to smelt the iron ore coming from Elba Island.
- A coin made of silver with the image of a young horseman that could be dated to the 1st century BCE. The coin could be contemporary or even more ancient than the furnace, but it is a find of extreme importance because it proves the occupancy of the area in a period before the construction of the villa.
- A dice, apparently made of a black stone, speaks to the hobbies and games during the free-time inside the villa.
The Garden-Courtyard:
- One of the most interesting discoveries in this area was the remnants of a water drain, built with bricks, stone and mortar, which ran parallel to the west wall of the courtyard, a few centimetres from it, still covered with big stones and pebbles.
2010 Earthwatch volunteers helped to collected data influential in the following:
- Two large stones with the inscriptions P.CXCI and P.CLXXXVIII were discovered and hypothesized to be markers of linear distance (191 and 188 Roman feet respectively). By following this hypothesis to open up a new area of excavation based on the measurements, the second corner of the perimeter wall of the villa was discovered allowing lead scientists to learn that the villa took up about 3140 square meters.
- There was stratigraphical confirmation of an iron workshop from the Late Republican age likely used by a blacksmith working between the fourth and fifth centuries CE. The soil was heavily reddened by the continuous use of fire and a semi-circular structure was revealed that is most likely a small refining furnace used to heat iron.
- Three rectangular basins discovered in the eastern sector were coated with hydraulic mortar and are thought to have been used for salting and producing fish sauce.
- New structures have been discovered that are thought to have been a caldarium (heated room) much like a spa and a praefurnium (furnace).
- Bronze Age finds including pottery and coins were collected indicating that during the Bronze Age there was a village under the villa.
G. De Tommaso, C. Megale, F. Ghizzani Marcìa, "La villa di Poggio del Molino…20 anni dopo", in “Materiali per Populonia 9”, in print.
G. De Tommaso, C. Megale, F. Ghizzani Marcìa, "La villa di Poggio del Molino: campagna di scavo 2009", in “Bollettino della Soprintendenza per I Beni Archeologici della Toscana”, in print.
"Poggio del Molino: campagna di scavo 2009", Report submitted to the Superintendence of Archaeological Heritage in Tuscany
G. De Tommaso, F. Ghizzani Marcìa, C. Megale, Piombino (Li). Populonia, Villa di Poggio del Molino: nuove indagini, le campagne 2008 e 2009, «Notiziario della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dellla Toscana», 5/2009, 2010, pp. 352-356.