Cantieri e tecniche costruttive tra X e XI secolo: il caso del castello della Brina (SP)

The castle of Brina is located on the hills behind the city of Sarzana (La Spezia) in an area that was of particular importance in the Medieval era. In written documents the stronghold is first mentioned in 1078, how- ever, archaeological excavations have revealed several different phases of occupation datable from between the 10th/11th century and the late 17th century, as well as the presence of a Ligurian settlement. In this article we have focused on the period of time between the 10th and 11th centuries when the site was transformed from a settlement made of perishable materials to a stone fortress. For this period we have been able to record the phases of the construction site which were characterized by the use of technical solutions, raw materials and different methods of exploiting local resources, as reflected by the work of craftsmen with different levels of specialization. In the first phase (second half of the 10th century) we find the activity of craftsmen who were able to create a mortar mixer and to make precise walls using lithotypes that were not local; in the following phase there were major building projects that were characterized by the intervention of stone masons and the use of local building materials and the use of a “complex technique”. These aspects made it possible to define the different decisions made by the client who commissioned the fortress in relation to the military and civil requirements of the site so that we could draw precise conclusions about the local form of organization of the lordship.