This latest excavation campaign aimed to test the nature of the archaeological remains in the western area of the sanctuary under investigation. Today, this area is slightly sloped, with an increase in the incline towards the west where it reaches a group of large boulders which show evident signs of ancient quarrying .
Three trenches were opened, forming a “U” shape, which revealed the existence in situ of structures belonging to the sanctuary and thus the latter’s great extension: it was also shown to occupy the terrace above.
The first trench, dug in correspondence with the axis of the main entrance to the sanctuary revealed the presence of three walls, orientated N-S, and thus on a slightly different alignment with respect to that found in front of the temple. Found below a collapse was a silver denarius of Quintus Antonius Barbatus (83-82B.C.), which provided useful dating information.
A second trench was dug with the aim of understanding the conformation of the plateau in this area at the time of the sanctuary’s latest construction phase. Numerous alluvial layers came to light, over 2 metres deep in the area nearest to the already known sanctuary structures; these layers filled the deep rift caused by the great landslide which probably lead to the definitive obliteration of the sanctuary. Collapsed material from the so-called temenos and east wall of room F were found in situ. Above the collapse an antefix of the “Artemis Bendis” type was found, together with a bronze “paragnatide”, which probably belonged to a Roman helmet of the “Hagenau” type (1st century B.C.-1st century A.D.), which would have originally hung inside room F. It seems certain that this latter structure would have had some kind of roof and thus it is unlikely that it was simply a boundary wall. (Maria Luisa Nava)