Archaeological investigations were undertaken in the area occupied by a small rural church visible from aerial photographs. The aim was to uncover the surviving structures of the site, verify the existence of a cemetery area, ascertain the presence of a perimeter wall and provide a construction date. The first excavation campaign brought to light the foundations of the church (4x8m),with the entrance to the west and semicircular apse to the east. Investigations still in progress regard the area outside the church, where traces of the perimeter wall and simple inhumations have been found. All the burials are on a parallel alignment with the church wall, with the head to the west. The stratified contexts and few grave goods date the burials to between circa 1100 and 1500. As regards the construction date of the church, the data recovered so far provides certain dating only to the second half of the 12th century, even though the dedication of the church and its topographical position hint at an earlier foundation. The earliest material recovered comprises a small coin, a “scodellato” of the Doge Orio Malipiero (1178-1192) and several fragments of plain buff coarseware decorated with incised parallel lines, of the same date.

The small church of S. Martino, built with the entrance to the west and the apse to the east, was demolished in about 1813 and robbed of its building material to the point that only part of the foundation walls were found, standing to a maximum height of three courses. Along its long south side an inhumation in an earth grave was excavated. This contained a male individual aged 25-35 years, buried with his feet and hands tied (year 2001). On the northern side a cemetery area was identified which up until 2005 had produced seven burials. The 2006 excavation uncovered another five inhumations, all of which dug into the layer of alluvial gravel. Tomb 11 is of particular interest: in an earth grave the individual’s cranium was placed between two large stones by which it was supported, by the side of one of the stones was a basin containing burnt material, an iron knife was found at the level of the thorasic verterbrae. As regards other burials, the individual in Tomb 10, an earth grave, had a circular iron fibula on the coccygeal vertebra; Tomb 14, outlined by small cobbles contained an infant; Tomb 13 was a burial in a wooden coffin; lastly Tomb 12 did not present any peculiarities worthy of mention.

Excavations were undertaken to the east (apse area) and west (entrance area) of the church. _Apse area_ The deposit along the apse side of the church was removed to a distance of 5 m from the apse itself. In the past bones had been found in disturbed layers in this area. The excavation completed the removal of the bones which were studied by Dr. Luciana Travan and her team from the Dept. of Medical research – human anatomy section of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Udine. The bones belonged to the following individuals: Adult A: an adult male Adult B: right foot and fragment of lower right leg of an adult male It is possible that Adults A and B were the same individual Sub-adult C: individual of 2/6 years of age Adult D: female individual The presence of the bones can be explained by a large hole in the apse area, already identified in the previous campaign, used by lark hunters, which must have disturbed a number of burials in the necropolis and is also the cause of the destruction of most of the apse foundations. _Entrance area_ The excavation removed the archaeological deposit in front of the church’s entrance, revealing the following stratigraphy: An inhumation burial (Tomb 20) cut into the alluvial gravel as were most of the tombs in the cemetery. It was in alignment with the rest of the burials in the necropolis (US –1319: cut for the grave of tomb 20; US 1320: fill of tomb 20). The burial contained an adult male, 174.1 cm tall and with an estimated age of 30/40 years. An incomplete coarse ware jar had been placed by the cranium in a ritual seen elsewhere in the cemetery (a further 4 tombs contained vases) and in other nearby cemeteries (S. Pietro al Natisone, Cividale, Firmano, Romans d’Isonzo).

The excavations took place in the area in front of the west side of the church entrance. Five burials in earth graves were uncovered (tombs 21-25), orientated east-west, with the cranium to the west. The anthropological remains are being studied by Dr. Luciana Travan at the University of Udine. The skeletons were those of three adults and two infants. One of the burials (tomb 21) contained a bronze buckle found in correspondence with the pelvis. This artefact is a precise parallel to a buckle from a tomb in the Lombard necropolis of San Giovanni at Cividale, and is datable to the end of the 6th century A.D. There were no grave goods in the other burials. At the southern edge of the excavation a trench was identified, running parallel to the south side of the church. This has been interpreted as a negative trace of the enclosure surrounding the area of the church building on this side.

Excavations were undertaken inside the church and to the east of the building, in the apse area. Internally, two trenches on a north-south alignment were opened. One revealed an infant burial in an earth grave (tomb 26); the other contained no archaeological material. To the east of the church a further four earth graves (tombs 27-30) were uncovered. Lying side by side, they were oriented east-west, the head to the east, with the exception of tomb 28 (an infant) with the head to the west. Tomb 29 was heavily disturbed by a modern grave, in fact, only the lower leg bones were recovered. All of the graves had been dug into the alluvial gravel. The anthropological remains are being studied by a team from the Department of Medical and Morphological Research – Human Anatomy section at Udine University, lead by Dr. Luciana Travan. At the southern edge of the excavation, a cut in the alluvial terrain continued as far as the eastern edge of the area. It ran parallel with the church’s south side and had already been partially uncovered in previous campaigns. This has been interpreted as the negative trace of the wall that surrounded this side of the church site.

The 2012 campaign had three main objectives: completion of the excavations east of the apse; excavation inside the church; the excavation of two trenches parallel to the north and south walls. _EXCAVATION EAST OF THE APSE_ The area in this sector was divided into two parts: a portion still to be investigated of the deposits at the south-eastern tip of the excavation area south of the negative trace of the curtain wall; the remaining part east of the apse. In the first sector, the level of alluvial gravel was reached. As well as the usual dumps of building rubble, a series of small irregular pits were seen, interpreted as negative traces of plant roots. The fill produced no materials except for US 1376 in which there were fragments of an early medieval jar and the rim of a cooking dish. Natural was reached in the sector east of the apse. No other burials came to light despite three trenches being dug into the alluvial gravel. A large circular pit was uncovered; it contained no finds and is interpreted as the negative trace of a large tree. A dump of bones was found north of the pit but had no stratigraphical relationship to it. The bones had clearly been removed from a burial in antiquity. The area produced no other structural evidence or significant finds. _EXCAVATION INSIDE THE CHURCH_ The excavation undertaken inside the church to check for the presence of other burials, apart from the one found in 2011, was completed. A burial, tomb 31, was identified in the south-western corner of the church. The grave cut was not disturbed by the foundations of the church walls. No other graves were found inside the church. Most of the interior was disturbed by a large pit, filled with rubble from the church itself and modern materials. _TRENCHES PARALLEL TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH WALLS_ Two trenches were dug running parallel to the north and south wall (this had already been done on the other sides) in order to check for the presence of pits, holes or other occupation evidence underlying the walls themselves. It was seen that the walls (present only at foundation level and not along the entire circuit) were built entirely on the gravel layer and did not overlie any other structure. Therefore, the hypothesis suggesting that the cemetery area situated in the area of the church grew up in direct relation to it remains valid.

The excavation investigated the surface on which the church’s foundations rested outside of its southern wall. This layer was formed by sterile alluvial gravel that has now been exposed across almost the entire archaeological area. Its removal revealed five burials in earth graves (Tombs 32-36). The skeletal remains are currently being studied at the University of Udine. The preliminary results from the tomb excavations are as follows: TOMB 32. Not perfectly aligned east-west, with the cranium to the west. It contained an individual of about 10/12 years of age. No grave goods; a fragment of a coarseware basin was found in the fill. TOMB 33. Earth grave. Individual aged about 12. A fragment of a basin was placed below the right arm, following a ritual that has been documented in another eight burials in this cemetery area and is attested in others nearby (Firmano, San Pietro al Natisone, Cividale, Romans d’Isonzo). TOMB 34. Individual of 5/6 years of age. Fragment of ritually deposited jar below the cranium. TOMB 35. Burial of a perinatal individual. TOMB 36. Female individual of about 25/35 years of age. A jar was placed beside the right arm. The excavation also uncovered six holes cut into the gravel, filled with organic material (wood?). The regularity of the sections of some of these holes suggests they were man-made and related to the presence of the cemetery area.

The investigation looked at the construction bed of the church to the south of its south side, in the area that was not excavated in 2013. In particular, the excavation checked the situation adjacent to the church’s south wall. The first layer was made up of the sterile alluvial gravel that covers most of the archaeological area. The removal of the gravel and the negative cut of a small wall revealed three burials in earth graves (tombs 38, 39, 40), two of which (38, 39) contained a fragment of a ritually broken coarse ware jar, as seen in other burials outside the church and nearby cemetery areas (Firmano, San Pietro al Natisone, Cividale, Romans d’Isonzo). The skeletal remains are being studied at the University of Udine’s Faculty of Medicine. TOMB 38. Adult burial in an earth grave aligned east-west, with cranium to the west. The base of a coarse ware jar lay beneath the vertebral column. TOMB 39. Infant burial in an earth grave aligned east-west, with cranium to the west. A fragment of a coarse ware jar lay above the skeleton but not in contact with it. TOMB 40. On the same alignment as tomb 38; burial of a sub-adult in an earth grave on an east-west alignment, cranium to the west. No grave goods were present. The excavation also documented 5 postholes, four of which running parallel to the south wall of the church. The stratigraphy suggests they are in phase with the burials.