Florida State University students have been conducting archeological digs at Cetamura del Chianti in Italy since 1973. Their work is atop a hill in Tuscany.
What began as a course in the FSU Florence Study Center program soon became a summer field school. That change was the brainchild of Nancy de Grummond.
“It's actually 40 years since I became the director, and 50 years since the excavation started,” says de Grummond, a professor of classics at FSU. She says students have been able to learn about three different cultures at the site -- Etruscan, Roman, and medieval.
“We've had so many students to get involved, undergraduates and graduates. We've had many students who have written theses and dissertations and given papers and contributed to my own publications,” de Grummond says. “We've had many students who got trained in various different aspects of archaeology such as the actual fieldwork, working in the laboratory, and also working in museums.”
Now, a celebration is planned for the dig’s 50th anniversary. De Grummond says organizers chose June 9th, which will coincide with another milestone.
“This is the day on which we will officially inaugurate and open a museum in the town adjacent to our archaeological site. So this is something we've dreamed of doing for many years,” she says.
A fundraiser is underway for the anniversary festivities and more. They’ve reached their initial goal of $35,000 to cover ongoing initiatives for a few years.
“Our ultimate goal is to raise half a million, so that we can preserve the legacy of Cetamura and keep this program going,” de Grummond says. “Obviously, if I've been doing it for 40 years, there are not many more years before I will be forced to retire. So we're hoping that we can ensure the continuity of this program for its next faces.”
