San Martino Excavation Rewrites Timeline of Byzantine Enclave in Northern Italy
The archaeological site of San Martino was part of a Byzantine enclave in Gota and later Lombard land, the northernmost enclave known to date. It was not a single ethnic island amid a sea of homogeneity but rather represented an area of Eastern Roman civilization within a patchwork fabric, where Gota zones mingled with Lombards and areas of Roman, or rather Byzantine, resistance. This historical hypothesis is not a product of fantasy but a reconstruction based on certain artifacts uncovered during the excavation campaign at the site located between the territories of Riva and Tenno, previously attributed solely to Roman or post-Retic civilization.
Results of the campaign and recent discoveries
In short, an extraordinary breakthrough. The most recent campaign highlighted a “novelty” of a chronological nature: San Martino predates previously believed dates by 500 years, shifting from the traditionally accepted 4th-5th centuries AD. Half a millennium is significant in the Protohistoric field, where the transition occurs from a civilization imported from Rome, tied to the caput mundi (capital of the world), to an indigenous civilization: this excavation is also revealing interesting insights into the completion of the “dark centuries” of protohistory following Rome.
Currently, archaeologists are engaged on two fronts: one at Spiazzi Primi, with archaeologist Granita Achillini, and the other at the Christian church sector, with archaeologist Giorgio Bernardi. Midway, remains of a construction certainly dating after the Roman age (7th century) have been uncovered.
So far, the excavation has yielded more than one “surprise,” as metallic objects have emerged that will undoubtedly assist in dating the site. Additionally, a Byzantine coin from Emperor Heraclius (610-641 AD) has been discovered: “The find, almost unique in the region so far, aligns the site with some Byzantine enclaves such as Oderzo, Lake Como, and the Lagoon, where Byzantine civilization flourished despite being surrounded by the Goths and later the Lombards, between the 6th and 7th centuries. This period represents the “darkest centuries” of Trentino archaeology,” remarks Gianni Ciurletti, director of the Archaeological Heritage Office. Of course, further investigation is needed.
The primary issue remains the dating of the area and its precise configuration, which the current excavation campaign must resolve. “Thanks to the investigation of the series of buildings north of the early Christian church of San Martino, we aim to determine some spatial and temporal coordinates,” recalls archaeologist Cristina Bassi. The new approach focuses more on the site as a whole rather than on individual artifacts.
The excavations are conducted under the supervision of the Archaeological Cooperative, coordinated by Giovanni Bellosi, and involve about twenty students from the Universities of Trento, Padova, and Bologna, always under the oversight of provincial archaeologists Bassi and Zamboni. The same director, Gianni Ciurletti, closely monitors the entire excavation process.
The 2001 campaign, which will continue until the end of August, was visited yesterday by officials from Riva and Tenno, accompanied by archaeologists and university professors involved in courses on San Martino, including the dean of the Faculty of Letters, Varanini.
