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Excavation

  • Villa A di Dragoncello
  • Acilia
  •  
  • Italy
  • Lazio
  • Rome
  • Rome

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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)

  • The archaeological investigation of Villa A at Dragoncello, the earliest of those found in the area between the via Ostiense to the south and the Tiber to the north, began with two excavation campaigns, in 2016 and in 2017.

    During the 2016 campaign, the main intervention was the completion of the villa plan through the excavation of the previously unexplored rooms, as part of the overall study of the building, its occupation phases and place within a specific historical-territorial context. More specifically, work took place around the peristyle in the north-western sector (Sector A), and, at the same time, in the area at the villa’s southern edge, already uncovered by the last excavations in the 1990s (Sector B).

    The 2017 excavation concentrated on the development towards the north of the rooms situated on the peristyle’s north side, identified during the 2016 campaign. A new area of 341 m2 was uncovered, which added to the 241 m2 already investigated makes a total of 582 m2. A necropolis area was identified inside rooms X, Y and T. Dating to period 4, it lay directly on the levels of collapse from the residential structures in this sector north of the peristyle.

    During this second campaign, about half of an underground structure (V) was excavated. Situated in the north-eastern corner of the peristyle, it was identified in 2016. This large rectangular structure is divided into small cells, excavated down to the internal floor level, arranged in parallel rows of 12 along each of the long sides.

    2019 campaign
    The main focus of this campaign was the geophysical survey prior to excavation along the south and west edges of the villa, in the park area adjacent to private houses. This survey was also extended in the northern zone of the park, previously unexplored, with the aim of checking for the presence of ancient structures.

    An area of 350 m2 was excavated.
    Three vats were uncovered in the villa’s production sector, which related to at least three different phases (Sector C) and presented various building techniques. Alongside these structures there were several walls belonging to rooms that were partially excavated in the ‘90s in order to reconstruct the plan of the entire sector.

    In order to complete the excavation of room V, the remaining subterranean cells in its northern part and the collapsed remains of the structure’s north wall were investigated, for a total of 81 m2. During the excavation particular attention was aimed at identifying an entrance to this subterranean structure on the north side. However, no traces were found suggesting that it was accessed from the upper level via a ladder positioned at the centre or on one of the long sides.

  • Gloria Olcese- Università degli Studi di Milano 
  • Xabier Gonzàlez Muro- Università di Bologna 
  • Andrea Razza- Universitat de Barcelona / Università degli Studi di Milano 
  • Domenico Michele Surace- Università degli Studi di Milano 

Director

  • Gloria Olcese- Università degli Studi di Milano

Team

  • Andrea Razza- Universitat de Barcelona / Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Domenico Michele Surace- Università degli Studi di Milano
  • Michele Di Filippo- CNR
  • Xabier Gonzàlez Muro- Università di Bologna

Research Body

Funding Body

  • Sapienza - Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità (2016-2017), Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali (2019)

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