Position: Scientific and staff director for the Archaeological Excavation of the Roman Baths in the ancient city of Carsulae in San Gemini, (Umbria) Italy.
Professor Jane Whitehead, current director of archaeological excavations, along with the Associazione Valorizzazione del Patrimonio Storico and the San Gemini Preservation Studies Program (SGPS) are searching for a new scientific director for the excavation of the Roman Baths in the ancient city of Carsuale in San Gemini, Italy.
Professor Whitehead, who has directed the Carsulae excavation since 2004, is planning her retirement and, together with the excavation’s partner organizations, is searching for a new scientific director and partner university who would phase into that position over a period of three years.
Position Description:
- Scientific direction of the excavation
- Maintaining official contacts with the Soprintendenza Archeologica dell’Umbria
- Direction of excavation staff
- Public relations for the excavation both in Italy and in North America
In finding a new director for the excavation, we also hope to find a university that is interested in the San Gemini programs. We are looking to collaborate with an institution on the archeological development of the baths at Carsulae and also on a multi-disciplinary study of cultural heritage involving several departments, including archaeology, history, art history, anthropology, and architectural preservation.
We would therefore request that those individuals qualified and interested in this position present to us the ways their department and university would be interested in participating in this project.
Requirements of Director of Excavation:
- PhD or analogous degree in Archaeology
- On-going faculty position at a US university
- Ability to speak and write Italian well enough to clearly interact with the Italian public administration
- Experience in excavation in Italy
- Familiarity with the excavation and recording methods required by the Soprintendenza Archeologica in Italy
- Ability to carry out the various administrative activities required in managing the excavation and by the Italian public administration
- Willingness to carry out public relations on behalf of the excavation both in Italy and the US
- Commitment to at least five excavation seasons at Carsulae
- Willingness to work on a three year transition period with Professor Jane Whitehead
Requirements of the Sponsoring University:
- Commitment to participate in the excavation with their faculty and students for at least 5 years
- Commitment of funds toward the restoration and conservation of the archaeological site and the objects found at the Carsulae excavation
- One or more departments to collaborate in the various courses and the research being carried out by the San Gemini Preservation Studies program
- Collaboration with the Valorizzazione and the City of San Gemini
- Willingness to offer academic credit for SGPS courses
- Accreditation as academic sponsor for the excavation program
Phase in Period:
The first year will involve getting acquainted with other faculty from the university. The new director will spend a season becoming familiar with the excavation, stored finds and with the various programs offered by SGPS and the Valorizzazione. If at the end of this first season all parties are satisfied, the phase-in process will continue for the next two years.
In the second and third years the new director will become co-director and start excavating in a new section of the site while Jane Whitehead will focus on those parts of the excavation she has already begun with the intention to complete that work. Prof. Whitehead will focus a proportionally larger amount of her time writing and publishing her final excavation report of the work.
In the fourth year the new director will become full director of the excavation. Jane Whitehead may still continue working on her part of the work beyond 2018 if she feels it is necessary to complete the work and publication.
For more information about the Excavation of the Roman Bath at Carsulae see description below contained in this posting and http://www.valdosta.edu/~jwhitehe/Carsulaeweb/Carsulae_home.htm. For more information about the San Gemini Preservation Studies programs visit our website.
Please forward this notice to anyone you think may be interested in this position. Anyone interested in finding out more about applying should contact Polly Withers at pwithers@iirpsemail.org.
Carsulae
The impressive ruins of the Roman city of Carsulae are located a short distance from Terni and from the town of San Gemini, known for its mineral springs. Carsulae grew up along the via Flaminia, which was built in 220-219 B.C. and connected Rome to the Adriatic Sea. The road attracted the settlement of pre-Roman inhabitants from the surrounding hills. The beauty of the site is mentioned by Tacitus and Pliny the Younger. The town was abandoned after a severe earthquake and never reoccupied, so many important structures, including twin temples, an amphitheater, a theater, the Arch of San Damiano, and monumental tombs, as well as the ancient urban plan, remain well preserved.
The Baths
The Roman baths, which lie at the threshold of the southern entrance to the city, were first partially excavated in the 1950s by the then-superintendent of archaeology, Umberto Ciotti. The site lay exposed until the winter of 2012 when a beautiful, protective roof was built over the central area of the bath. The goals of our project are to consolidate the exposed remains and to explore the structure further in order to determine its entire plan and the form of its earliest phase, which, if contemporary with the founding of the city, may be one of the oldest Roman baths in existence. In fact, our most recent excavations have revealed Roman reuse of massive structures that appear to be earlier than the traditionally accepted date of the founding of the city. We are also investigating the possibility that the baths had a distinctive function as a place of healing.
Polygonal Wall
Recent seasons have also focused on a wall of opus polygonale to the east of the bath structure. It consists of two perpendicular arms, one leading toward a cistern in opus caementicium, which served the baths in the Imperial period, and the other toward a flight of five steps, which appear to lead up to the via Flaminia. The former has revealed an extension in wattle and daub: a transitional wall between the polygonal wall and the concrete-built cistern. The latter arm is overlaid with a shallow pool in tile-paved concrete, which may be a public fountain at the southern entrance to the city. All three zones within the current excavation area have revealed various forms of masonry construction, which indicate long use and many centuries of rebuilding.
Carsulae Archaelogical Park
The Carsuale Archeological site is one of the most attractive, best maintained archaeological parks in Umbria. It is managed by the Sovrintendenza Archelogica dell’Umbria. The entire perimeter of the ancient city is fenced in and has on site 24 hour security, the park also has storage facilities and a small conservatory. The site is open to the public all year and there is a parking area, a visitor center, with an interpretative area and a café. At the bath excavation area the new 6000sf. clear span roof protects from the weather both the classical structures and the archaeologists as they work, not interfering with the viewing and measuring of the site.
See The FastiOnline web page: http://www.fastionline.org/micro_view.php?fst_cd=AIAC_1027&curcol=sea_cd-AIAC_5549