Under the directorship of Prof. David B. George and Dr. Claudio Bizzarri, students, faculty and alumni from Saint Anselm College as well as volunteers from all over North America are digging Italy this May and June. Our excavations are at Coriglia near Castel Viscardo, a town located at the southwest edge of Umbria approximately eight miles northwest of Orvieto, Allerona across the Paglia River as well as a series of pyramidal hypogea beneath the city of Orvieto.  

At Coriglia, over the past seven seasons, we have uncovered evidence for occupation of the site dating from the 8th c. BCE all the way to the 16th c. CE (as well as random realia from World War II.) To date, the site’s strongest phases are Etruscan and Roman (Republican, Early Imperial and Late Antique). Last season we began exploration of a series of Etruscan underground structures that are generally pyramidal in shape and are dated securely to before the 5th century BCE.  Their function is as unknown.  This year in addition to the two other sites we are beginning excavation of a two apsidal structures that are the remains of a 12th century church dedicated to Saint Ansanus (martyred 304 CE) which rest upon earlier Roman foundations.

This website follows the 2013 Season, which, with a contingent of over 40 participants, promises to make even greater strides in unearthing the key to unlock the mystery of Coriglia, Orvieto and Allerona.