Vivere e morire nel castello di Rontana. Lo sfruttamento del Gesso in un insediamento di fondazione medievale della Vallata Del Lamone

The castle of Rontana is one of the earliest and most important fortified settlement in Lamone’s valley, and was chosen as a pilot-excavation to better understand the dynamics of this type of settlements in Romagna, since our first dig-season in 2007. The surveys showed the main features of this settlement and showed the close relationship between the rural population and Gypsum bedrock from the earli- est phase of its occupation. Mt. Rontana’s Gypsum (Messinian Gypsum outcrop of the Vena del Gesso romagnola, Northern Italy) was used by the community of the castle to fortify the settlement, to live there and to bury their loved ones. All these activities are the center of the story we are about to tell, a story written especially starting from material sources, the foundation of any archaeological research.