This was the first season of Progetto Acheloo, which aims to investigate the buried Roman town of Aquae Tauri. A large vat/pool linked to the thermal springs, situated on the summit of a low rise, was discovered. The Superintendency for the Metropolitan Area of Rome, Viterbo and South Etruria, in collaboration with the Rome’s La Sapienza University, the administration of Civitavecchia, and the Historical Society of Civitavecchia undertook diagnostic investigations over an area of 15 hectares and the first excavations. The geophysical survey (carried out by Archeores) identified two sides of a large rectangular structure covering an area of c. 15,500 m2, which included the hill on which the vat/pool was situated. The structure was divided into a series of rooms and seemed to have a monumental entrance. Outbuildings were also present.

The excavations revealed the function of the vat/pool, which was rock-cut and situated in a rectangular room built in opus listatum, with an entrance on the short side and semicircular and rectangular niches in the long sides. The hot water spring was situated at about 30 m away and was channeled into the pool. The excessive heat was cooled by cold water, which entered from the opposite side of the pool via a circulatory system, which thus controlled the temperature. A trench was opened along the south slope of the hill, where the geophysical survey indicated the presence of a series of rooms. The excavations confirmed the geophysics results, uncovering a room with an imposing marble threshold. The room was probably used for metalworking activities in the first half of the 5th century, as attested by the bronze coins issued by the emperors of the Theodosian dynasty.