A number of medieval church buildings are present in the area of the chapel of San Cerbone on the Gulf of Baratti (Piombino). The late antique structures that preceded them must have belonged to the bishopric of Cerbone, created in the 5th century. A cathedral also stands in the coastal area of the gulf.

The excavations were undertaken by the dept. of Medieval Archaeology, Unversty of Aquila in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany on the initiative of the Associazione Culturale “Amici di Populonia” and were financed by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmi di Livorno. Structures relating to two churches, one 11th century, the other 12th century, and other earlier buildings, one 10th century and one that was probably early medieval were uncovered. On the site of the present chapel of S. Cerbone the excavations uncovered a large cemetery, which functioned without interruption between the 9th and 15th centuries that has so far produced 500 burials.

The cemetery area constitutes important evidence of the intensity of occupation and the presence of settlements on the Gulf of Baratti in a period that to date was practically unknown in this area, with significant, almost urban characteristics previously unsuspected.
Indeed, the presence of such a large cemetery presupposes the existence of a complex and organised settlement and a continuity of occupation that differs greatly from the loose or even non-existent settlement network suggested even by recent historiography, despite the lack of archaeological evidence. This new evidence has begun to overturn opinions based on the almost total silence of the written sources from the early 9th to the early 14th century, when there is mention of the construction of a new marine wharf by the Republic of Pisa.

The remains of the 11th and 12th century church and adjacent cemetery would seem to relate to S. Maria di Porto Baratti, a church for baptism and care of the souls in the parish, which was only attested tardily by the historical sources in 1298. The precise position and nature of the remains of Baratti castle, known from archival sources from 1117 onwards, has yet to be identified. An analysis will also be made of the port’s commercial traffic in relation to external and internal markets and productions, in other words of nature of the port itself and of its infrastructures.

In particular the last excavation campaign (2012), aimed to complete the investigation of the medieval cemetery where the top of a wall was identified, probably belonging to the early medieval church, abandoned following a raid by Slavic pirates in 809, and from which the fragments of 7th century ciborium currently inserted into the belfry and facade of the present chapel of S. Cerbone probably came. The wall in question was built on top of a basalt road surface, in use during the Roman period, which future excavations will continue to investigate.