The University of Verona carried out excavations in the area of the Fondo ex Pasqualis (p.c. 644), situated at the far south-western end of Aquileia.

The terrain was partially investigated in 1954 by Giovanni Brusin, who identified various late antique structures, in particular three areas paved with stone slabs, interpreted as market squares, and two curtain walls parallel to each other and the river Natissa. Despite the large amount of data that emerged from these excavations, many questions remained unanswered about this sector that is of central importance to the city’s history.

A drone was used to survey the walls that remained visible after the 50s excavations and opened to the public, and a geophysical survey was carried out across the entire area. This season, two large excavation areas were opened, which confirmed some of the already known data, but also revealed new evidence.

1. a trench of c. 80 m2 was opened between the two sections of wall identified by Brusin in the southern part of the property, interpreted as town walls dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, in order to further define the chronology and function of the two structures;
2. a trench of c. 100 m2 was opened in the south-western corner of the westernmost square brought to light by Brusin, in order to define the plan and identify the construction, occupation and abandonment phases.

The first trench brought new reflections on the significance of the two walls within the overall urban picture. The imposing inner wall was built using materials retrieved from other city monuments (statue bases with inscriptions, moulded cornices, columns etc.) to create a robust defensive structure in a moment of need. The reconstruction of the wall was aided by the discovery of the collapse of a substantial portion of its facing, made up of brick courses and other stone blocks, and which had a small embrasure. By contrast, the outer wall was formed by a consolidation of the terrain with timber posts and amphorae, found in a very good state of preservation, which presented several apertures, one of which excavated and showed the relationship with a ramp rising up towards the squares. Therefore, this was probably a bank wall, perhaps connected to landing places on the riverside, where goods were unloaded for sale in the market places. To date, the study of the materials seems to confirm the suggestion already made in Brusin’s time that the structure can be dated to within the 5th century, as attested by the presence of amphora typical of this period (Keay 25.2, Spateion 1 and Keay 36).

The second trench revealed at least three occupation phases dating to between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D., characterised by stone slab floors, walls and pillars belonging to a square onto which colonnades and shops opened, which over time went through a series of alterations. The structures were abandoned following a fire, as attested by fragments of carbonised wood scattered across the western part of the trench, where heaps of cereal grains were present, probably originally contained in sacks (a first analysis suggests rye and wheat), and 45 coins that suggest a 5th century A.D. terminus post quem.

Following the collapse of the shops’ perimeter walls large-scale robbing took place, attested by various cuts. The archaeological material suggests a date between the second half of the 5th and first quarter of the 6th centuries. The finds include coins and pottery and glass fragments mainly dating to the second half of the 5th century (ARS: Hayes 91B-late variant, Hayes 87A/88 and Hayes cups 50B; African amphora Spatheion 1 and eastern types Ephesus 56).

In synthesis, the preliminary results from the two trenches confirm the close relationship between the river, the walls and the squares. The complex situated immediately south of the basilica must have been an important part of the urban layout and played a crucial role in the economic and social life of Aquileia when it was flourishing in the late antique period.