Colli Euganei

Next monday the University of Padova  runs a laboratory of landscapes archaeology through Remote Sensing at the school IIS Euganeo in Este, in the field of education on cultural landscapes addressed by MEMOLA project in 2015

From 12 to 15 October 2015, UCO, UNIPA and UNIPD teams, have analyzed the three sample areas chosen for the pedological, botanical and agronomic study in the Euganean Hills:
1) The gardens of the Benedictine monastery of Praglia, where we interviewed the abbot Norberto, and the archivist of the monastery Mr. Guillermo who explained what was the historical agricultural management and how they do now;
2) The vineyards of Campagnola and Villa Alessi agritourisms at Faedo, where the typical wine of the Hills -the Moscato- is made, and where they have recovered the types of traditional vineyards of Colli that had been lost;
3) The terraced landscape of the old Castle of Baone, which is evaluating the change in land use from the Napoleonic land register of 1828 until today.

Preparation of field activities to be held in ‪Colli Euganei‬ from 12 to 15 of October 2015 with the partners of ‪the University of Padova, the University of Palermo and the University of Cordoba‬. It will focus on soil sampling in different types of landscapes for ‪soil‬, ‪botany‬ and ‪agronomy‬ analysis.

Event aimed at the whole community, schools, associations, institutions, experts, individual stakeholders.

Objective: create suggestions inspired by the experiences of the study and design of each speaker in order to interpret or reinterpret the role of Venetian villas and territories interested in social, cultural, environmental, but also economic, all in a sustainability perspective.
The elements discussed are intended as stimuli for new projects for the promotion and enhancement of the Veneto villas and their territories. The conference wants to be the same opportunity to "network" between the stakeholders.

It is expected to articulate the convention in the following sections: villas and land, education for sustainable development, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage.

The conference, held by Prof. Brogiolo, Prof. Chavarria and Dr. Sarabia will be focused on the research developed within the MEMOLA project, in relation to the area of the Euganean Hills and the Adige river, giving account of the results of research on landscape highlighting the innovative aspects of methodology and promotion of cultural heritage with community involvement.

MEMOLA project organized the session "Mediterranean mountainous landscapes: historical agrosystems, identity and heritage" by J.M. Martín Civantos and A. Chavarría Arnau in the European Association of Archaeologist. 21st Annual Meeting in Glasgow (UK)

In this session participated the MEMOLA partners:

- The University of Granada, Arqueoandalusí Arqueología y Patrimonio S.L. and the University of Sheffield  presented "Pizzo Monaco: the formation of a new social landscape in Sicily (Italy) " by J.M. Martín Civantos; M.T. Bonet García and R. Corselli. 

- The University of Granada presented "Seeding water up high in the mountains...Peasant productive logics in Sierra Nevada since the Islamic period (Granada-Almería, Spain) " by  J.M. Martín Civantos .

- CeRPHAAL presented "Legacy and reflections in the historical landscape of the Upper River Vjosa Valley (SE Albania) " by E. Serjani and A. Miti.

- The University of Padova presented "Archaeology, landscape and hydraulic technology in the Euganean Hills and the plains of the south-east of Padua" by J. Sarabia Bautista

Also Arqueoandalusi Arqueología y Patrimonio S.L  and the University of Granada presented "Dissemination the MEMOLA Project " by M.T. Bonet García.; L. Delgado Anés and J.M. Martín Civantos at the session "Communicating Archaeology: Communicating Landscapes"

On Friday MEMOLA project organize the session "Mediterranean mountainous landscapes: historical agrosystems, identity and heritage" by J.M. Martín Civantos and A. Chavarría Arnau in the European Association of Archaeologist. 21st Annual Meeting.

In this session will participate the MEMOLA partners:

- The University of Granada, Arqueoandalusí Arqueología y Patrimonio S.L. and the University of Sheffield  will present "Pizzo Monaco: the formation of a new social landscape in Sicily (Italy) " by J.M. Martín Civantos; M.T. Bonet García and R. Corselli. 

- The University of Granada will present "Seeding water up high in the mountains...Peasant productive logics in Sierra Nevada since the Islamic period (Granada-Almería, Spain) " by  J.M. Martín Civantos .

- CeRPHAAL will present "Legacy and reflections in the historical landscape of the Upper River Vjosa Valley (SE Albania) " by E. Serjani and A. Miti.

- The University of Padova will present "Archaeology, landscape and hydraulic technology in the Euganean Hills and the plains of the south-east of Padua" by J. Sarabia Bautista

Friday was the Day of Archaeology. 

The MEMOLA project presented the work undertaken at its four study areas by project partners.

• EAP: Maurizio Toscano, MEMOLA project technology manager, works on the finishing touches of the new Activities page of project website. This section collect all actions taken in the last 18 months, organised across the several disciplines involved in our research.
• Vjosa Valley (Albania): CeRPHAAL team, partner of MEMOLA project, working with the mapping and analyzing of the traditional hydraulic systems recorded during the field survey of May- June undertaken in the territory of the Upper Vjosa Valley, where are included the irrigation channels, water-powered mills, reservoirs, water pumping stations, etc. At the same time, we are evaluating the historic and current land use and parcelization based on field and historical data.
• Sierra Nevada (Spain): The University of Granada team, a MEMOLA partner,  is processing the archaeological data revealed during the excavations of “Pago del Jarafi” (Lanteira, Granada-Spain). During the first excavation campaign, which was in October of 2014, we documented a medieval quartier of Lanteira. Four sondages were opened uncovering a big house, four silos and an Islamic cemetery.
• Colli Euganei (Italy): University of Padova team, partner of MEMOLA project, working on historical maps, aerial photography and LIDAR to rebuild the historical landscape of the Colli Euganei hills (Italy) in a GIS platform. In this GIS platform they upload the information from different archaeological fieldwork like the Hydraulic survey back in February, that allowed them to locate numerous water mills and analyse their architectural features. All this information is used to understand the evolution of the Colli Euganei Cultural Landscape.
• Monti di Trapani (Italy): The Day of Archaeology in the MEMOLA study area of Monti di Trapani (Sicily-Italy). The University of Granada, The University of Sheffield and Arqueoandalusí Arquelogía y Patrimonio S.L  are currently working in the excavation of Pizzo Monaco (Custonaci, Trapani).  The University of Palermo is involved with soil sampling for  pedological analysis, while the Escuela Española de Historia y Arqueología en Roma-CSIC is working with the flotation of stratigraphic soils taken at various occupation levels defined during the excavation.  A number of international students, coming mostly from Spain and Italy are participating in the excavation. The first excavation of the MEMOLA project at the site of Pizzo Monaco took place in October and November of 2014 and was authorized by the Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali e Ambientali di Trapani. During this activity we excavated four cells and the main entrance of a fortified structure, identified as a possible collective granary from Islamic times (10th?-11th centuries). After the results of archaeological excavation and archaeobotanical and environmental analysis, the site was interpreted as a possible collective fortified granary (aghadir) dated in the Islamic period (10th?-11th century).

MEMOLA project participates in the Day of Archaeology 2015, promoted among others by the European project NEARCH. The Day of Archaeology aims to provide a window on the daily lives of archaeologists from around the world. The project asks people working, studying or volunteering in the archaeological world to participate recording their day and sharing it on their website to the public. From the MEMOLA project we support this initiative as a way to publicise the work we daily do in the four study area.

"Communicating archaeology of the Euganean landscape": historical-cultural itinerary in the ‪medieval‬ ‪fortress‬ of "Rocca Pendice" and one of the ‪watermills‬ located in the "Calto della Contea" with the local association ‪Comitato Mura di Padova‬" and some teachers of the IIS Euganeo (‪MOU‬).

Students of the Archaeology of Architecture from the University of Padova have made different ‪‎routes‬ included in the ‪fortified landscape‬ of the ‪Euganean Hills‬. In particular, have been analyzed the architectural techniques and materials used for the construction of the different phases of the castle of ‪Este‬.