Velia Eastern Quarter

The Austrian excavations at Velia in 2016 continued the exploration of the Eastern quarter of the town, started in the previous season 2015, but enlarged the study area, including not only area QE 2000 in the south of plateia QE-A, but also area QE 3000 in the south-east of the thermae in the Vignale.

In QE 2000 we excavated another furnace (FQE 2019, trench 1/16), very similar to that found in 2015, belonging probably to the 1st c. AD. Unfortunately it turned out to be strongly damaged by the roots of an olive tree in its north. In trenches 2-3/16 we continued our studies of the late-antique settlement and were able to distinguish two different phases as a small channel was constructed over a wall, already belonging to the houses of the 5th c. AD. We also excavated another part of the drainage channel discovered in 2015.

In the area QE 3000 we investigated the eastern part of the large building with central court which was identified by the geomagnetic prospection and could confirm its dating in the Early Imperial period, probably in the 1st c. AD. More exciting was the fact that this building was given up soon afterwards, possibly still in the 1st or the early 2nd c. AD. This observation was also confirmed by a control of pottery finds from the Austrian excavations in the 1980s and 1990s which show a very similar chronological distribution (see also Liko 1999). To the east of the building we found several tombs which all were inhumations graves similar to those excavated by A. Fiammenghi and L. Cicala outside Porta Marina Sud. As these graves were partly disturbed, only some of the grave goods could be attributed securely to the individual burials, but they all consisted of pottery of the 1st or 2nd c. AD as well. At the same time there was constructed a big circular structure with a diameter of more than 4 m that represented a kind of basin with walls that were clearly burnt. The first attempts to interpret it as a kiln for pottery or a limekiln had to be given up as neither structures typical for kilns or remains of calcium carbonate could be found. The excavation of this structure could not be concluded in this campaign and hopefully will be continued in 2017.

Also in area QE 3000 we found a stratum with pottery of the 5th c. AD that directly covered the earlier contexts. Unlike the situation in QE 2000 it could not be connected to any architecture. Therefore, at the actual state of research, we have to assume that the Eastern quarter lost its function as a domestic quarter at least partially at a very early moment in the Roman period and that settlement activities were only resumed in this area after a long hiatus in the 4th or rather the 5th c. AD.