Il Furfo Project, avviato nel 2023, è una collaborazione di ricerca interdisciplinare e internazionale tra la Soprintendenza ABAP AQ-TE, l’Università dell’Aquila – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane, la British School at Rome e il Comune di Barisciano, incentrata sul vicus di Furfo e sul suo territorio. La prima campagna di ricerca ha previsto un’intensa ricognizione di superficie (fieldwalking) dell’altopiano, insieme a indagini geofisiche nell’area prossima ai resti della chiesa di Santa Maria di Farfona. Sulla base di questi risultati preliminari, una seconda campagna, svolta nel settembre 2024, ha visto l’estensione delle prospezioni geofisiche, nonché un piccolo scavo mirato su alcune strutture individuate dalle precedenti indagini non invasive. Lo scavo ha portato alla luce una lunga e complessa sequenza cronologica, con i materiali più antichi databili al periodo neolitico, oltre a strutture attribuibili a un possibile insediamento dell’antica- media età del Bronzo, successivamente interessato e in parte disturbato dal vicus romano.

The Furfo Project, launched in 2023, is an interdisciplinary and international research collaboration between the Soprintendenza ABAP AQ-TE, l’Università dell’Aquila – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane, the British School at Rome and the Comune di Barisciano which focuses on the vicus of Furfo and its territory. The first season of research involved an intensive fieldwalking campaign of the plateau, together with geophysical prospection in the area close to the ruins of the church of Santa Maria di Farfona. Guided by these initial findings, a second season in September 2024 saw the extension of the geophysical prospection, as well as a small excavation targeting features recorded the previous non-invasive surveys. The excavation has brought to light a long and complex chronological sequence, with the earliest recovered material dating to the neolithic period, as well as features belonging to a possible ancient-mid-Bronze Age settlement, itself disturbed by the later Roman vicus.

The Furfo Project, launched in 2023, is an interdisciplinary and international research collaboration between the Soprintendenza ABAP AQ-TE, l’Università dell’Aquila – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane, the British School at Rome and the Comune di Barisciano which focuses on the vicus of Furfo and its territory. The first season of research involved an intensive fieldwalking campaign of the plateau, together with geophysical prospection in the area close to the ruins of the church of Santa Maria di Farfona. Guided by these initial findings, a second season in September 2024 saw the extension of the geophysical prospection, as well as a small excavation targeting features recorded the previous non-invasive surveys. The excavation has brought to light a long and complex chronological sequence, with the earliest recovered material dating to the neolithic period, as well as features belonging to a possible ancient-mid-Bronze Age settlement, itself disturbed by the later Roman vicus.