“Rubbish heaps” are the equivalent of treasure troves for archaeologists, with pottery providing chronological markers and also evidence for local and imported wares. The “butto” of Palazzo Altemps in fact contained materials from the second half of the 14th through the early 17th centuries. Palazzo Altemps takes its name from the latinization of the surname of the Austrian Cardinal Hoenemps who in 1568 acquired the Renaissance building constructed c. 1477 for Girolamo Riario