During July and August 2007 the seventh excavation campaign was undertaken on the middle Bronze Age settlement of Gorgo del Ciliegio (Sansepolcro – AR), under the direction of the Prehistoric Ecology Research Unit of the University of Siena, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany. The investigation was carried out with the help of the Archaeological Group of Sansepolcro (GRAS) and the Centre for studies on the Quaternary (CeSQ), undergraduates, post-graduates and researchers from Siena, Naples and Rome Universities, as well as school students from the province of Arezzo.
The settlement of Gorgo del Ciliegio is situated in the Torrente Afra valley, on the left bank at 400 m a.s.l., up against the western side of the Poggio di Miolo.

During the last excavation campaign a surface area of 25 m2 was investigated. The stratigraphic sequence uncovered showed substantial variations with respect to what had been seen in earlier excavations. As in previous years, within the occupation deposit (average depth of 35-40 cm) it was possible to make a distinction between the lower part, characterized by the presence of the true floor level corresponding to the period of the site’s occupation, and the upper part relating to the moment immediately prior to its abandonment.

The investigation identified the eastern end of the hut, already partially excavated during previous campaigns, and brought to light new structures situated inside it. In particular what emerged was a “step” and a “small channel” cut into the terrain along the eastern side of the dwelling. An important find was that of a certain number of fragmented, but largely complete, pottery containers around the hearth, whose position attests they were more or less in situ. In the same area a large quantity of carbonized botanical remains (mainly legumes) were recovered, probably part of the contents of the above mentioned containers.

The pottery’s characteristics provide further confirmation of the chronological and cultural picture proposed so far for Gorgo del Ciliegio, that is some time at the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C. if not even to a moment of passage between the 2nd and 3rd millennium B.C., a hypothesis which is supported by the results of the radiometric dating:

- Sample code: Beta – 171117 – Conventional date: 3190±70 BP – Calibrated date (1σ): cal BC 1520-1400 (cal BP 3470-3350) – Calibrated date (2σ): cal BC 1620-1310 (cal BP 3570-3260) – Intersection date 14C/ calibration curve: cal BC 1440 (cal BP 3390)