Research and Stewardship: Our Collaboration with the Città del Tufo Archaeological Park
An important part of the work carried out by Associazione Cultura e Territorio (ACT) grows out of our collaboration with the Municipality of Sorano and the Città del Tufo Archaeological Park, which encompasses some of the most significant archaeological sites in the area, from the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana to the rock-cut settlements of San Rocco and Vitozza.
This is a collaboration that is particularly important to us. Over the years, we have sought to place the expertise developed through our research at the service of the local community, increasingly contributing our archaeological knowledge and our understanding of the historic landscapes of Sorano and Sovana.
An archaeological park, after all, is not something that can simply be “opened” and then left unchanged. It has to be kept alive. That means continuing to study it, but also monitoring it, documenting it, keeping its structures accessible, managing vegetation, and periodically addressing the effects that time and the environment have on archaeological remains.
Research and maintenance
Research and maintenance, in fact, are not as far apart as they might seem. We had a particularly striking example of this in 2024, above the Via Cava di San Sebastiano, one of the most dramatic routes through the necropolis of Sovana. Deeply cut into the tuff bedrock over the centuries, the road is bordered in places by rock faces approximately 20 meters (65 feet) high. For those who know how to read it, the surrounding landscape preserves a remarkably complex stratigraphy, where Etruscan, Roman, and medieval remains coexist within the same area.
Here, we worked on clearing and restoring access to a small Archaic-period necropolis. The project had a very practical goal: to make six tombs accessible again after they had been largely hidden by vegetation and accumulated soil, reintegrating them into a part of the Park that already preserves an extraordinary archaeological heritage.
Something unexpected
But as the work progressed, something more happened.
The careful clearing of the structures and removal of loose material revealed features that had escaped not only earlier archaeological work, but also the illicit digging that had affected some of the tombs. In the dromos of one tomb, we identified a small funerary niche that still contained archaeological material in situ. Nearby, we also discovered a small votive pit, again with material preserved in its original context.
At first glance, these may seem like modest discoveries. But in archaeology, the importance of a find does not depend on its size or how spectacular it appears. An undisturbed deposit can preserve evidence of the actions performed during a funerary ritual—information that even the most remarkable object, once removed from its context, can no longer provide.
Our mission
This is also a particularly clear example of what we mean when we speak about caring for an archaeological landscape.
Maintaining a trail, clearing vegetation from an archaeological structure, monitoring the condition of a wall, or making a tomb visible and accessible again are first and foremost acts of conservation and public stewardship. But they also need to be carried out under archaeological supervision and according to archaeological methods, because every intervention has the potential to become an opportunity for new knowledge.
At Sovana, this principle takes on particular significance. In a landscape where tombs, rock-cut roads, underground structures, and traces of ancient activity are found almost everywhere, even what appears to be the most routine maintenance work can suddenly open a window onto something we did not know was there.
Keeping an archaeological park alive also means this: continuing to care for it without ever ceasing to study it.