Archeologia dell’edilizia storica e costruzione del documento archeologico. Problemi di popolamento mediterraneo. II. Organizzazione del cantiere di una fortezza rurale di XIII secolo: il cassero di Montelaterone (Monte Amiata - Toscana)

Abstract

This paper aims to show the organization of the stonework in the fortress of Montelaterone (Amiata, Tuscany), by comparing documental and archaeological sources. The building analysed is found in a historical sub-region, Mount Amiata, which from the 11th to the 14th century was progressively under the control of a great imperial abbey (San Asalvatore di Monte Amiata) of one of the principal aristocratic Tuscan families, the Aldobrandeschi, until control passed to Siena in the 14th century. The University of Florence since 1997 has been involved in an archaeological project aimed at studying how power was structured by the leading local groups and their architectonic policy. This paper presents the results of the study of the castle at Montelaterone. Its construction, carried out in Siena in the 1260s, represented a profound transformation in the organization of architectonic activity and of existing relationships between the local community and the lords of the abbey of San Salvatore in favour of the former.