In recent years a series of archaeological interventions in the Portico d’Ottavia which have considerably improved the comprehension and fruition of the monument. In fact, at present most of the front part of the portico, with the central entrance propylaeum, is visible. Furthermore, numerous structures came to light relating to medieval interventions linked to the church of Sant’Angelo in Pescheria.

The ongoing excavation, begun in 2010, in the interior of the propylaeum, has produced important results showing that this was a cemetery church and also revealed some elements from earlier phases.

Excavation of the tombs (which cut into the Roman structure) revealed several sections of wall, made up of an opus caementicium core and opus incertum facing. These belonged to the monumental entrance of the Republican building erected by Metellus sometime around the mid-2nd century B.C. This find confirmed for the rear area what had already been documented for the anterior facade: in the Republican period the building did not have a projecting propylaeum, but the entrance must certainly have had a monumental appearance. In fact, the walls of the base, which were aligned with those of the portico, were of a thickness suggesting they supported a much heavier and more imposing structure than that of the wings. Also of interest was the discovery of a further stretch of very thick wall, again with opus incertum facing, abutting the perimeter wall towards the interior of the quadriporticus.

Further data came to light regarding the Augustan phase of the monument, in particular the discovery of several stretches of the front and back wall of the propylaeum’s base highlighted the differences in construction technique and use of materials. For the Severan period the phenomenon of reusing earlier materials was confirmed.

In the medieval period the construction of the church caused large-scale changes. The excavation has documented the presence of an uninterrupted network of tombs across all of the investigated area, except for the space in front of the central intercolumnium.

Nineteen tombs were identified (to date 8 fully and 4 partially excavated). The stratigraphy was far more complex and rich in finds than the burials already known from the propylaeum, despite the presence of a large robber trench.

The tombs were quite ‘regular’ in size (50-93 cm wide and 200-220 cm long), on the same alignment as the Roman walls, but not uniformly aligned among themselves. The depth was also variable. With the exception of one earth grave all the tombs were multiple burials inside ‘a cassone’ tombs. Some were ossuaries with bones in secondary deposition, other contained individuals in primary deposition, some placed side by side and almost always accompanied by infant remains.

Most of the graves lined in moderately good quality brick, sometimes with reused marble inserts. Some tombs also had stone dividing walls.

The cemetery chronology seems to fall between the end of the 10th and beginning of the 12th century, however study of the pottery and numerous coins found will further define this dating.