An Este-era drainage basin with dozens of objects also pops up from the Delizia di Belfiore

It was a few days ago that a 16th-century "butto", or drain of objects, such as ceramics, glass, metals and remains of meals, was discovered at the site of the Delizia di Belfiore. Now the archaeological area awaiting closure at the end of the first excavation campaign has donated another novelty: a brick drainage basin from the Este period with dozens of objects inside. The basin will remain partially excavated pending further investigations that will be conducted during the next campaign in the spring. Now it is time for classroom analysis of the finds, which will be conducted by students who, together with volunteers from the Ferrarese Archaeological Group, have been the protagonists of the participatory archaeology project What a Delight Belfiore!, developed by the Superintendency, with municipal funding (37,500 euros), three years in scope.

In the classrooms the finds are and will be cleaned, cataloged, described, one by one. And on graph paper their exact locations have already been reconstructed on plans and sections drawn up by the children.

The latest discovery, the brick drainage basin, is not dissimilar to others in the Ferrara area that have been identified over the years during redevelopment or repaving works: in the municipal square, at Palazzo Paradiso, at Palazzo Schifanoia, at the convent of San Paolo, at Belriguardo. “These tanks, by containing the everyday material that was discarded, as well as the recent ’throw-away’ that emerged from the excavations, make it possible to reconstruct habits, including eating habits, of the citizens of the time,” explained Superintendence official Chiara Guarnieri, promoter of the initiative and coordinator of the project’s team of professionals. “Not only that: as they also contain fragments of crockery and ceramics, some finely decorated, they also return additional information about these objects, styles, typical customs and, in general, the everyday life of living in the Este era.”

“This closes a first phase of fieldwork, which refers to further in-depth studies that are and will be conducted in the classroom,” added Mayor Alan Fabbri, who opened the excavation work on Oct. 20. “I would like to thank Dr. Guarnieri, archaeologists Flavia Amato, Maurizio Molinari, and Marco Bruni, the teachers, the Ferrarese Archaeological Group (GAF), and all the children who, with passion and enthusiasm, are setting out on the trail of a fascinating past that, thanks to their work, will open new horizons in the field of knowledge.”

An Este-era drainage basin with dozens of objects also pops up from the Delizia di Belfiore

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