Previous seasons work at this site had uncovered a large late second century B.C. terrace wall of substantial polygonal masonry, delimiting a broad terrace partly built up of architectonic debris consistent with a sanctuary of the late Hellenistic period. We presumed that the terrace itself had supported some now lost sanctuary structure. The terrace seems to go out of use in the late Republic, with rebuilding in the Augustan period and some sort of occupation down to the second century A.D.

The construction phases of the terrace are now better understood, excavations having revealed a substantial controterra within the terrace, which served twin purposes of structural stability and drainage. The terrace was cut into in the Augustan period to create a series of small rooms; this resulted in considerable interference in the structure, and probably the extent, of the polygonal terrace wall. The relationship of Augustan structures and subsequent occupation and destruction horizons to the Hellenistic terrace still pose interpretative problems.

Four trenches were dug in two fields at Acquachiara, on the slopes of Monte Pallano, continuing the previous year’s stratigraphic investigations of rural habitation suggested for this area by John Lloyd’s field survey. As in previous year, archaeological horizons were found intact below the depth currently affected by ploughing. In this case the make-up for a cocciopesto floor of an internal area was found, probably to be interpreted as a storage area in a rural farming complex, given the large number of dolia and amphorae discovered. Remains of bronze tableware and semi-luxury floor paving suggest a residential building nearby. The dolia were marked with their carrying capacity in amphorae (17•••, half the Ostian norm), suggesting a farming enterpise plugged into the world of commercial redistribution.