Excavations in the Medieval Centre of Mazzano Romano

Abstract

The hill towns of the Roman Campagna form a distinctive class of nucleated settlement, characterised by strong natural defences, strengthened with ditches, walls and towers. There are two main classes of site: those situated at the end of promontories, and those built on ‘pedestals’. Suitable locations, the product of rapid dissection of the soft volcanic tuff, are common throughout the Campagna. The majority of these medieval sites is now deserted, a trend which reflects the isolated position of these settlements. Few of the medieval villages have been examined archaeologically and little is known of their origins and development. Documentary sources suggest that they grew up in the ninth and tenth centuries, with the decay of the classical estates, which was briefly arrested by the foundation of the Papal domuscultae in the mid to late eighth century.