This was the twelfth excavation campaign on the middle Bronze Age site of Gorgo del Ciliegio (Sansepolcro – AR).

A total area of 43 m2 were investigated, most of which opened for the first time. Natural was not reached in any of the quadrants.
The aim of the campaign was to complete the stratigraphic excavation of the area occupied by the hut. This was only partially achieved as the situation relating to the hut’s perimeter proved to be more complex than originally thought.

It had been thought that the hut was rectangular with a single apse opposite an entrance on the south-west side. Based on the previous year’s excavation results, it was necessary to formulate an alternative hypothesis: possibly two apses and the entrance to the west on one of the long sides.

The main discoveries from this year were: – a large central posthole (hole 17bis) – a smaller posthole on the east side (O/P8bis α) – a possible small channel symmetrical to the one excavated on the side with the apse.

The posthole 17bis was perfectly aligned with the large complex of central pits situated between I L 1 2 and was similar in typology as it was wide and contained numerous large stone wedges.

Posthole O/P8bis α was aligned along the eastern side of the structure immediately uphill from the cut in the slope debris. The hearth in O3-4 was situated on this cut.
This circular posthole, was 33 cm in diameter and very deep. Its excavation in section revealed the profile of the post, which was pointed at the end. In the final 40 cm the wood of the post was substituted by refined clay which through a slow process of infiltration had gradually replaced the rotting organic material. Thus, it was possible to reconstruct the shape and diameter of the post itself and recover a block from it.

In quadrants I – L – M 10 – 11, the presence of a strip of terrain with more occupation evidence, edged by almost sterile soil on a curved alignment, suggested the existence of a channel symmetrical to that situated on the north-eastern side. However, as it was not possible to complete the excavation in these quadrants this hypothesis will have to be verified during the next excavation campaign.

If the new proposals are confirmed, it would mean that the hut at Gorgo del Ciliegio was on a north-east/south-west alignment, had a double apse and the entrance on the west side (rather than to the south-west), was c. 20 m long and 9 m wide. Furthermore, as we already know, it abutted the hill slope on the west side. (is this possible if the door is in the west side??)

As usual, the finds were made up of faunal remains, rare lithic industry, and abundant pottery, including a fragment decorated in the Apennine style.