L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 7 SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY T e c h n o l o g y r e p r e s e n t s today a powerful tool for challenging the political nature of the chronicles of the past, the one we learn as truth at s c h o o l . T h e h i s t o r y o f " o l d Europe" is something that it is usually taken for granted. Unless w e h a v e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o explore it from a different per- spective. This is what Diego Calaon is doing while studying the history of Venice. Awarded w i t h t h e M a r i e C u r i e I n t e r n a t i o n a l O u t g o i n g Fellowship by the EU in 2014 f o r t h e p r o j e c t " V o i c e s o f Venice", Diego had the opportu- n i t y t o m o v e o u t t h e O l d Continent and chose one of the best academic centers in the world for archaeological theory, the Stanford University in Palo Alto. Using fresh archaeological evidence from Torcello and past excavations through a database and digital maps, Diego is trying to demonstrate the reasons why Venice suffers from its legends a n d h o w l i t t l e p e o p l e k n o w about the history of one of the most studied cities in the world. Diego, tell us your story. As a post-classical archaeolo- gist, I am currently directing a p r o j e c t i n T o r c e l l o , i n t h e Venice Lagoon. The excavation investigates the Late Antique and Early Middle Age origins of the "Serenissima". I am also an associated researcher on the " M a u r i t i a n A r c h a e o l o g i c a l P r o j e c t , " w h e r e I s t u d y t h e archaeological impact of the labor diasporas between slavery and indenture system. What does your research focus on? I am working on a reassess- ment of the Origin of Venice, with an anthro-ecological per- spective. Legends talk of Venice as a symbol of the end of the Roman Age. It represents the place where the noble Romans escaped. They rescued them- s e l v e s f r o m t h e b a r b a r i a n h o r d e s : t h e e a r l y V e n e t i a n s would have been forced to move to unwelcoming islands among the marshes to be free and safe. Being surrounded by hostile w a t e r s w o u l d h a v e b e e n a choice to avoid robberies and plunders. Venice - the tradition- a l h i s t o r i a n s s a y - b e c a m e Byzantine and could resist the Lombard and the Carolingian wars. Venice's freedom and prosperity would come from its independence, its Roman ori- gins, and its ability to be differ- e n t f r o m t h e u n c i v i l i z e d German-Barbarians. Why did you call it "Wood, Water, Slaves"? Which is the c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e s e things? Traditional historians have a h a r d t i m e r e c o g n i z i n g t h a t almost 95% of the Early Venice w a s m a d e o f w o o d . V e n i c e looked like much more a north- ern European trade hub than a Mediterranean late antique city. The only buildings that were built by reused Roman bricks, churches, survived. For many years, we studied and speculated about those relics, and we forgot that almost everything was tim- ber made, from houses to ves- sels. The Venetians were not only great merchants but they w e r e a l s o t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y advanced in wood technologies. When forests on the tiny islands started to disappear, Venetians needed to develop an ecological consciousness very early. We t e n d t o c e l e b r a t e t h e e a r l y Venetians because they were rich, powerful, and able traders. We tend to underestimate that they were also bright landscape planners. To reach their goals (diverting rivers, excavating channels, sawing trees, etc.), the early Venetians did not avoid to exploit local labor forces, con- SERENA PERFETTO Venice Between History and Archeology: A Talk with Researcher Diego Calaon trolling them limiting their free- d o m . T h e c o n q u e s t o f t h e Mediterranean economy was possible thanks to the supervi- sion of the skilled labor forces employed in significant activi- ties, such as ships construction, forest management, and chan- n e l s / p o r t s i m p r o v e m e n t s . Venice is also the quintessential c o n s e q u e n c e o f t h e f r u i t f u l encounter between the heirs of t h e c l a s s i c a l M e d i t e r r a n e a n world and the German North European traditions. Those con- tacts have been possible thanks t o t h e w a t e r . W a t e r w a s t h e road, water was the connection, water was the reason for pros- perity. How did you connect tech- nology with history and arche- ology? GIS analyses and database a l l o w u s t o r e - a p p r o a c h o u r past, identifying the location of the early settlements and com- paring them with other contem- porary lagoon sites. Equally, 3D technologies help a tentative material reconstruction of Early Venice. A comprehensive envi- ronmental approach suggests n e w r e a s o n s f o r V e n i c e ' s decline, such as the role of eco- logical sustainability. Modelling activities allow the reconstruc- tions of the settled area and pro- vide us with ideas about the s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f t h e f i r s t Venetian communities. Venice is unique for many r e a s o n s . W h i c h i s y o u r favorite? T h e f r a g i l e e q u i l i b r i u m between water and land, nature forces and human activities. When people ask me if is it true that Venice is sinking, I reply: " N o . I t is n o t s i n k i n g . S e a waters levels are higher and higher". The problem is that we stopped to raise up the city. We decided to preserve it like it was, crystallized in its past. After your research is com- pleted, do you expect people who read it to look at Venice with different eyes? S u s t a i n a b i l i t y , e c o l o g y , migration, labor control: the his- tory of Venice - but also the his- tory of the Mediterranean in the E ar l y M i d d l e A g e - c a n b e rewritten considering a very contemporary perspective. I hope that being informed about the ecological awareness of the past would help rethink about current (un)sustainable tourism g r o w t h . W e f o r g e t t h a t t h e Venetians have changed. Today, too many sees water in Venice as only a scenic mirror where the beauty of the city is reflect- i n g o n . W e f o r g e t a b o u t t h e maintenance of the fragile sys- tem, made of wood, stones and mud. Diego Calaon is the Site Director of the archaeological project in Torcello, Ca' Foscari University Diego Calaon is an associated researcher on the "Mauritian Archaeological and Cultural Heritage project" (M.A.C.H)

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