Lecturer in Byzantine History, Dr Daniel Reynolds introduces the University of Birmingham research project excavating at the Lombard Church of Sant'Ambrogio in Montecorvino in Italy. This summer, Dan was joined by students Jack and Neve as part of our Undergraduate Research Scholarship.
This is a British Academy funded project, collaborating with Dr. Francesca Dell'Acqua, (Università di Salerno/ Birmingham) and Prof. Chiara Lambert (Università di Salerno), and a number of higher education intuitions across the UK, Italy and the Czech Republic. The project involves a full archaeological and historical analysis of the ninth-century Longobard Church of Sant’Ambrogio, Montecorvino Rovella, and has resulted in a re-dating of the site and its burials to the mid-ninth century. It also explores the significance of Sant’Ambrogio and the nearby site of San Michele Olevano sul Tusciano, to ninth-century pilgrimage routes and sacred landscapes. This discovery and reconsideration of its dating underpinned and justified the inclusion of the church within two EU heritage initiative, and has also influenced local public policy. The project will also work closely with UNESCO and the European Commission with the aim of incorporating Sant’Ambrogio within its World Heritage List, ‘Italia Langobardorum’.