This season, excavations on the site of Santa Mustiola involved the entire hill summit.
The perimeter walls of a building were identified, which on at least three sides (west, south, east) were precisely aligned and related to each other. At some points, only the foundations were preserved (sizable sections at c. 1.5 m below ground level), other parts of the walls presented in situ stone courses and large quantities of collapsed stones, including finely-worked stone blocks and elements from decorative structures (arches, piers, pilasters…).

An analysis of these alignments showed that the north wall, which has always been considered to be part of the church’s long side, was not on the same axis as the others. For this reason, the excavations were concentrated around this structure, bringing to light a large number of burials. The density of tombs in this sector of the hill was foreseen during the excavation’s planning phase, and thanks to the anthropologists’ work, notable results were achieved. In fact, about 80 burials were uncovered, dating to between the 14th and 16th centuries. Several rich burials were positioned close to the unaligned wall, containing artefacts such as a bronze belt with finely-worked gold-plated studs and tips incised with vegetal and zoomorphic motifs, a ring with a stone, and a gold-plated bronze pendant containing a small piece of rolled-up paper or fabric.
Furthermore, there were several female burials containing various examples of bronze buttons for sleeves, providing a precise indication of how fashion was changing in the 14th century: from dresses with wide sleeves to those with very tight sleeves, sometimes so tight that they had buttons on them, which were done-up after the sleeve was on the forearm.
The various tomb groups discovered of this typology and chronology cannot be considered fortuitous but rather concrete evidence of the aristocracies that passed through our territories. It is precisely the quality and concentration of these finds on a site that is relatively distant from the main centres of the period that is surprising, raising interesting questions about our understanding of the 14th century settlement phases in the Alta Valdera.

In addition to their intrinsic importance, these finds, given their position at the point in which the continuation of the unaligned wall to the north should have been, have confirmed that this structure does not relate to the others. Rather, it must belong to a building post-dating the tombs (at least the late 14th century onwards), some of which it partially cut. Only future investigations will clarify the function of this structure and the continuation of the settlement phases on the small hill.