ABOUT US

Our Project

 

The burci were  a type of barges used in Veneto and  recorded since Medieval times. They were propelled by sails or animals and after the II War  by  engines. The burci  usually were the houses   of  the boatmen and their families, who were  therefore called, the gipsy of the river. Now extinct, the burci  are no longer in production at the local shipyards (squeri) because between the '60-‘70s  the management of transport  in  Italy turned  completely and  solely  into transport on the road. Rivers and channels were intentionally left. The Cimitero dei burci located  in the Sile river is therefore the most extensive archaeological site  in Italy that hosts this typology of boats. 

The research project, started in 2014 and is ongoing. 

 

Existing problems

 

The swift to transport on the road  had  disastrous effects  for the communities along the rivers and for their  social structures, identity and cultural landscape and determined the collapse of their  economy    including the cessation  of many local factories, crafts and other activities such as inns, religious feast and festivals. The Sile river was as well a  living place, managed locally for centuries in a well-balanced and sustainable system. Nowdays there is not a substantial management plan of the river and its tributaries. Beside the site is facing serious state of deterioration due to pollution, erosion and the total lackness of preservation. The local people  are very much attached to the area, its memories and stories.
 

Mission

 

The main aim of the project  is   to involve local communities and stakeholders  through a bottom-up process, spreading the awareness about the rich archaeology and the  cultural landscape of the river to inspire  more sustainable management and  development plans. For these reasons the project is above all a civic  duty to remember men and women of the area, who for generations have built, worked and  sailed on ltraditional boats. This project  is  the  first temptative, in Italy, to including in local communities in the river archaeological research.

Research Staff

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