Bronze Age Artifacts Discovered in Underwater Village of Lake Mezzano, Italy

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Underwater archaeologists astatine Lake Mezzano, Italy

Archaeologists person uncovered dozens of remarkably preserved Bronze Age artifacts successful the submerged colony of Lake Mezzano, a tiny volcanic water successful the Latera caldera of cardinal Italy. The find follows the completion of the archetypal signifier of underwater excavations, marking the revival of probe astatine the tract aft a agelong pause.

Ancient colony revealed beneath the lake

The project, supervised by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria, revealed the remains of a pile-dwelling colony dating betwixt 1700 and 1150 B.C.

The site, hidden beneath the calm volcanic waters of Tuscia, offers caller penetration into prehistoric beingness and is 1 of Italy’s best-preserved underwater archaeological sites.

An intricately crafted Bronze Age fibula

Operations were led by the Superintendency’s Underwater Archaeology Service, supported by underwater archaeologists, restorers, and specialized technicians, on with the Carabinieri Underwater Division successful Rome. The squad aimed to document, preserve, and support the past settlement, which had remained untouched for years.

Hundreds of woody piles mapped underwater

Researchers person mapped much than 600 woody piles emerging from the clay lakebed, covering astir one-third of the known settlement. The piles, recovered astatine depths betwixt 33 feet and 8 feet, amusement however the assemblage adapted to fluctuating h2o levels implicit astir six centuries. Many artifacts apt fell from woody platforms—some charred by fire—revealing traces of regular beingness successful the Bronze Age.

A afloat morpho-bathymetric survey of the water preceded the excavations. Using suction hoses, divers removed compact clay deposits nether cold, low-visibility conditions to exposure the buried layers.

Findings amusement that adjacent wherever nary woody structures are visible, archaeological deposits proceed beneath the clay. The lakebed appears to person been uneven, with deeper depressions present filled with sediment.

Evidence of a continuous colony pattern

Researchers recovered nary wide part of residential zones. Instead, some woody piles and artifacts widen crossed astatine slightest a 4th of the lake, forming a horizontal oregon “concentric” signifier of stratigraphy that suggests continuous habitation alternatively than abstracted clusters of dwellings.

Dozens of bronze artifacts recovered successful pristine condition

Among the astir striking discoveries are much than 25 bronze objects, exceptionally well-preserved wrong the precocious clay layer, which prevented oxidation. These see socketed axes, spearheads, fibulae, rings, a pin, and a sickle—all retaining their metallic luster. A pierced bronze disk featuring a star awesome stands retired arsenic a unsocial find.

A pierced bronze disk from the Bronze Age colony beneath Lake Mezzano

Fragments of panelle—bronze ingots associated with smelting—were besides uncovered, suggesting the beingness of metallurgical activity. Some artifacts amusement grounds of occurrence damage, apt from burned woody structures that collapsed into the lake.

Safeguarding the tract and adjacent steps

In areas wherever metals were recovered supra the main archaeological layer, researchers utilized metallic detectors, assisted by Carabinieri divers, to find artifacts and forestall looting successful accessible zones. Restorers acted swiftly to stabilize the objects and sphere their condition.

Future excavation phases volition proceed mapping the woody piles and analyzing however ceramic and metallic materials align with antithetic extent zones of the settlement. Stratigraphic excavation volition besides assistance find however the layers formed. While galore stay sealed beneath dense clay, erosion adjacent the Olpeta River continues to exposure older deposits on the shoreline.

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