Two teams from the SAET Laboratory of the Scuola Normale Superiore will conduct archaeological excavations for four weeks, starting September 12th, at the sites of Agrigento and Entella, respectively under the scientific direction of Professor Gianfranco Adornato, and Professor Anna Magnetto with Maria Cecilia Parra (University of Pisa), within the framework of the agreements with the Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento (director Roberto Sciarratta) and the Segesta Archaeological Park (director Luigi Biondo).
Students, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, collaborators and archaeological technicians from the Scuola Normale, as well as trainees from the Universities of Pisa, Padua and Rome, will take part in the excavations, and they will also have the opportunity to exchange experiences through educational visits to the two sites. The Municipality of Contessa Entellina will make its guest quarters available and, together with the Donnafugata Winery, which annually funds the “G. Nenci” study award, will contribute to the expenses.
In addition to the usual excavation activities, the SAET Laboratory will promote enhancement initiatives to the Contessa Entellina community, also taking part to the “Bright Night. European Night of Women Researchers 2022,” with a visit to the evocative Temple D in Agrigento.
Also, the first summer school of the community “Archaeology and Architecture. Methodology and Perspective on Mediterranean Cultural Heritage” will start on September 26th, within the European network EELISA, promoted by the Scuola Normale Superiore, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, the Istanbul Technical University, and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: precisely because of its vocation as an excavation-school, the SAET Laboratory project at the UNESCO site of Agrigento has been chosen to train the future generation of archaeologists, architects and engineers to the new challenges regarding the cultural heritage of Mediterranean cities. Ioulia Tzonou, Associate Director of the archaeological excavations in Corinth carried on by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, will participate both to the excavation and to teaching activities.
