Insediamenti e cultura materiale nel Basso Valdarno medievale: novità e qualche spunto di riflessione

Settlement and Material Culture in the Lower Arno Valley in the Middle Ages: New Information and some Food for Thought. Re- cent urban intervention in Santa Maria a Monte (Pisa) has made it possible to acquire new archaeological data on the medieval settlement, bringing to light structures and materials that are dated between the late 11 th and late 14 th century and documenting the changes that took place in residential and military constructions of the area during this period. This paper presents the preliminary results of these stratigraphic investigations, for the interpretation and dating of which it was necessary to rely also on the studies of the archaeology of architecture and on the mensiochronology survey on bricks carried out in the nearby settlements of Castelfranco di Sotto, Montopoli in Val d’Arno, Marti (PI) and Fucecchio (FI).