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Excavation

  • Nora, Area E, Terme Centrali
  • Nora
  • Nora
  • Italy
  • Sardinia
  • Province of Cagliari
  • Pula

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Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • Milan University began research at Nora in autumn 2002 continuing the project begun by Venice University, directed by Prof. Giorgio Bejor. The area in question is situated at the heart of the Roman city: the central insula of the peninsula, between the theatre and the so-called Temple of Eshmun, partially occupied by the grand Central Baths and numerous houses with standing remains, excavated and consolidated by the Superintendent Gennaro Pesce at the end of the 1950s.

    The first campaign concentrated on the planning of the visible walls and reconstruction of the occupation phases dating to between the 5th and 7th century A.D. The presence of at least three houses, A1, A2 and B, datable to the post-Constantinian period was documented, attesting the continuation of residential occupation in this area that must have characterised this zone until the final decades of the city’s life. In 2003-2005, the excavations concentrated on the archaeological evidence dating to the immediately preceding phase, clearly obliterated by the 5th-7th century houses. The excavation and observation of the relationships between the structures revealed the existence of at least three residential complexes with mosaic floors, stylistically datable to between the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. These comprised a large domus situated in the north-eastern part of the quarter, a house built around a peristyle with eight columns in the central part of the insula and a large monumental atrium, wrongly interpreted as a nymphaeum during excavations in the 1950s. From 2006 onwards, the research followed two lines of investigation looking at the central residential structures and beginning the examination of the peripheral areas, which had not been excavated since the 1950s. The latter included the coastal strip overlooking the south bay (occupied by numerous houses known as “case a mare”), which was documented and analysed in order to gain a better understanding of the city’s road network, and to make visiting the site easier.

    The four campaigns undertaken in the years 2007-2010, aimed to clarify the occupation phases of the monumental Central Baths in order to define its architectural development and above all to reconstruct the dynamics of its transformation over the centuries. The stratigraphy showed at least two occupation phases distinguished by paved and plastered rooms, pre-dating the Bath’s construction, and belonging to the mid 2nd century A.D. houses. Thus, the recent excavations have documented the complex stratigraphy of this area from the early imperial period until the 7th century A.D., showing the continuity of the city’s occupation from the Phoenician period until the threshold of the medieval period.

  • Ilaria Frontori 

Director

Team

  • Cristina Iacovino - Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Francesca Zollo - Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Ilaria Frontori - Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Pietro Mecozzi - Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Silvia Mevio - Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Stefano Cespa - Università degli Studi di Milano

Research Body

  • Università degli Studi di Milano

Funding Body

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