Integration of ground remote sensing surveys and archaeological excavation to characterize the medieval mound (Scarlino, Tuscany-Italy)

The area described in this article was “detected” by the Laboratory for Landscape Archeology and Remote Sensing, University of Siena research team during aerial prospection in spring 2005. Analysis of the aerial photographs allowed interpretation of the site as a triple-ditched enclosure. During subsequent field-walking survey a number of archaeological artifacts were collected and localized. Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey confirmed the morphological pattern of the site, which seems to represents a survival of the Early Middle Age settlement pattern on the coastal plain. The field-walking and DGPS surveys were followed by a programme of geophysical survey combining three different methods: differential magnetics (Overhauser probe), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Automatic Resistivity Profiler (ARP©, Geocarta). Finally, three sample areas were excavated, mainly to test the evidence already collected. The excavation data – for ditches, post-holes, domestic pottery, animal bones, and walls-remains – support the interpretation of the site as the first earth-and-timber castle mound, or motte, to be identified in Tuscany.