Research undertaken in July 2007 provided data regarding the lay out of the insula where the Casa del Miliario stood (uncovered by Belgian excavators in the 1960s) of which only the northern part was known to date. The investigations identified: a) the southern limit of the insula, delimited by a wall in _opus quasi reticulatum_ with breccia quoins; b) an important crossroads, where the via del Miliario, a paved road coming from Colle San Pietro (the so-called Via del Grifo after the discovery of a table support depicting this mythical animal) met a road directed towards the temple of Isis and the theatre; c) a series of refined artefacts for domestic furnishing (including the marble table support and herms used in the decoration of gardens and peristyles) which suggest the presence of other high status houses in the area. Via del Grifo – 2.80 m wide, its visible phase datable to the late Republican period – was similar in every way to the other roads uncovered in the town. It was paved in limestone basoli of various dimensions, with two blocks for pedestrian crossing placed in correspondence with the crossroads with Via del Miliario. This arrangement, until now only attested along Via dei Pilastri, was therefore only characteristic of the most important roads in the town. Its presence here can be explained by the existence at this point of a three-way crossroads linking Via del Miliario (which here widened from 3.80 m to 5.05 m), Via del Grifo and the oblique road directed towards the temple of Isis and the theatre, already partially uncovered by previous excavations (trenches 184-184bis). Below Via del Grifo the main sewer was found, built of limestone blocks with local sandstone parapets. Lastly, the roads showed the signs of a series of restructuring operations and robbing undertaken between the 4th-5th century A.D. Summarising, the campaign documented diverse interventions in this part of the town which include: 1) the definitive construction of the _insulae_ which occurred at the same time as the paving of the main roads; 2) the progressive abandonment of the residential and commercial buildings, suggested by the formation of a thick layer of building rubble and decorative elements belonging to structures in the _insulae_; 3) limited repairs to the roads following the partial destruction of the sewers, which led to the relaying of the basoli; 4) the formation of a substantial accumulation of earth and dumped archaeological material.

In 2008 research continued on the southern sector of the _insula_ of the _domus_ of Via del Miliario and along Via del Grifo. It was established that in this part of the _insula_ three shops faced onto Via del Miliario and thus the residential zone must have been to the back and facing onto the secondary road. The data from the two shops whose stratigraphy was examined ( _tabernae_ 1 and 2) attests their long occupation. The original walls, constructed in some sort of perishable material, probably pisé and wood, were built up against imposing substructures in polygonal masonry. These walls were rebuilt during the 1st century B.C. and used, with many alterations, until a devastating fire put an end to their primary use. After that date, occupation was sporadic, with the ancient rooms being used for a long period for the accumulation and salvaging of materials, some of which valuable. In fact, amongst the finds of this phase in _taberna_ 1 were numerous architectural fragments and an elegant marble statue of Venus of the type “undoing a sandal”. The architectural fragments probably came from the nearby sanctuary of Hercules and the statue from the _domus_ situated in the rear part of the _insula_. The structure of _taberna_ 1, well preserved on the whole, was very similar to the other shops facing onto Via del Miliario and Via dei Pilastri. The ground floor space was divided into three, the shop opening onto the road and behind it a large living space and a latrine. A fire ended the use of this structure for commercial purposes, as it did for the adjacent structure to the north, _taberna_ 2, which was only partially excavated. The dating of this catastrophic event may be placed, with a certain amount of precision, in the second half of the 4th century A.D. based on the find of a “hoard” in the burnt layer of _taberna_ 2 comprising over 250 coins (of which 70 date to the reign of Constans II, 337-361).

The 2011 field research has been held in the south-east side of the ancient Forum, as a prosecution of the previous campaigns (2007-2010), during which a _taberna_ (the third one starting from the south corner) had been excavated. Immediately next to the north, a part of a great monumental building has been discovered: it is rectangular in plan (length ca. m 18,50, width as excavated ca. m 5,50), and it is disposed on three different levels, the lowest one corresponding to the level of the paved pedestrian passage next to the Forum, the upper to the level of the paving of the “via della Medusa”. The building technique is a polygonal masonry, which has been maintained since the first phase till the latest restoration of the construction: thus it is absolutely different from the technique employed in the adjoining _tabernae_. The excavation of this field campaign has been limited to the upper strata of ground ( _humus_ and _colluvium_ ), and it has discovered an archaeological situation dating to the latest, post-classical phases of life of the structure. Nevertheless the materials found are completely different from the ones which had been recovered in the adjoining _taberna_ n. 3. Noteworthy are some fragments of black-gloss ware (some part of miniature cups, others with rests of inscriptions), and of terracotta votives (heads, anatomical offerings), which are typical of the Middle Republican votive contexts and seem to suggest the existence of a nearby temple . The building underwent a number of structural phases, being reused many times and spoiled since the late antique period, when, in a date before the middle of the V century A.D. the porch in the front was closed by walls made by reused blocks.

The sector excavated in 2012 was a northwards extension of the 2011 excavation area. This sector was in correspondence with a large rectangular structure with several stories, with the forum floor (to the west) and via della Medusa (to the east). The construction techniques and finds suggest this was a cult site, dating to the colony’s origins and transformed over the course of time. The excavations were preceded by geophysical surveys (geo-electric and geo-magnetic). These revealed the continuation of the via della Medusa towards the north (the road on a raised level that flanks the monuments facing onto the east side of the forum), the existence of several structures on the same alignment as the contiguous remains and, more generally, with the colony’s overall urban plan. In this sector, a thick layer of colluvial soil was removed confirming the presence of the structures noted. Another stretch of the basalt road surface (partially robbed) was exposed, above which was a substantial accumulation of building materials including architectural terracottas, votives, and sculptural elements. The latter included a marble relief with floral decoration and a lion’s head from a table support. Ancient floor surfaces survived close to the ground surface, an indication that the walls had not survived. On the side facing the forum, the building was faced with large blocks. The excavation concentrated on a room delimited to the east by the front of the building itself and to the south and west by walls relating to the late antique blocking of the portico flanking the forum square. Heavy robbing was documented (in particular of floors and the podium blocks). Between the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., the building was restructured and changed function, which concords with what was recorded in the adjacent _taberna_.

The sector explored this season was a northwards extension to the area excavated in the previous year, still in correspondence with the large rectangular structure with more than one storey, the forum floor to the west and the via Medusa to the east. Here, below the colluvial soil, several patches of a floor made of roughly positioned small terracotta blocks were exposed, on the same level as the via della Medusa. A number of walls were present, built of small irregular stone chips bonded with mortar, delimiting rectangular rooms that were perhaps open onto the street. They had been heavily robbed down to foundation level. On the side facing the forum, excavation continued with the aim of reaching the earliest levels. On the one side, the fill of the structure continued to produce residual materials still dating to the Republican period (fragments of architectural terracotta, anatomical votives, statuettes, and black gloss pottery, all of which confirmed the sacred nature of the site). On the other side, the find of a number of coins and fragments of ARS provided the dating for the phases of post-classical alterations to the entire structure.

Work continued on the excavation of the large terraced structure on the south-eastern side of the forum that interrupted the sequence of shops facing onto the piazza. The structure was at least 3 m higher than the piazza and the entrance has yet to be identified. To the rear (east), the terrace was on the same level as the road surface of the via ‘della Medusa’. A series of walls were identified in the upper levels of the terrace; some of these, mostly robbed, formed rooms opening onto the via Medusa. The floors were made of terracotta _cubilia_ and connected by small channels positioned at a lower level, and may have been part of craft-working structures in the rooms. Other walls were of post-antique date. There was a thick layer of colluvial material, homogeneous in colour, composition, and consistency across the entire area of the substantial terracing. It contained a large quantity of fragmented architectural elements, votives, and pottery (some inscribed), that certainly come from a sacred context. The materials can be dated to the 3rd-2nd century B.C.; later, this layer (cut by recent rebuilding of the podium) was used as the fill of the large artificial terrace. In fact, this layer was not present in the levels in front of the podium on the forum side. Further excavation at the front of the terracing revealed its antiquity: in fact, below the present surface (perhaps corresponding with the late Republican floor of the lateral portico of the piazza) there was another course (on a row of foundation blocks), in carefully built polygonal walling without the brick/tile wedges that characterised the restructured upper courses. Therefore, the structure’s original offset was lower that the portico level. Thus, it provides the original level of the forum floor of the Latin colony. Tens of stone blocks, mostly cut into wedges, suitable in size and materials (soft sandstone, quarried at nearby Forme) for building, were found across the entire area. Most were shaped on one side and it is possible that they were part of a structure with a moulding (podium? base?). A deep _sondage_, although limited in size, by the adjacent Taberna 3, did not uncover any evidence proving the existence of a preceding construction phase. If this is confirmed by the continuation of the excavations it would mean that until the building of the _tabernae_, the polygonal terracing stood alone on this side of the forum. Lastly, a large stone-built sewer was found below via della Medusa; it will provide further evidence for the dating of the road and associated infrastructures.

Investigation of the south-eastern sector of the forum area continued, outside and inside the large terraced structure that interrupts the series of workshops facing onto this side of the square. The terracing, built of large polygonal blocks set more or less horizontally, extended for at least 20 m and its minimum height, based on the position of several blocks in the collapse in front, was at least five courses above the foundation offset (that is 2.50-3.00 m with respect to the floor of the portico in front of the workshops. The collapse of the central part of the substructure was probably caused by the thrust from the terrain behind, which also caused the leaning position of some of the blocks that are still _in_ _situ_, visible in the structure’s lower part. The series of walls that had been partially uncovered in the upper levels of the terracing were exposed further, clarifying the stratigraphic relationships and construction techniques. The walls were mainly dry-stone constructions, built with irregular stone ships, and the use of elements cut from brick/tile fragments (mainly tile). The walls’ construction technique and positioning, transversely and longitudinally to form a sort of internal ‘grid’, functioned to contrast the geo-pedological characteristics of the area and provide necessary drainage of a zone – one of the two sides of the Piano di Cività, on which the forum lies – naturally subject to phenomena of colluviation. The Republican chronology of the structure was confirmed by the materials found to date within the layers of fill, which can be attributed to the 3rd century B.C., or at the latest to the 2nd century B.C., but no later. Of note, the large quantity of fragmented terracotta votives and architectural elements found throughout the terracing area. Craft-working structures were uncovered during previous seasons (surfaces in terracotta cubic tesserae linked to a small channel) and others were identified this year at lower levels, certainly earlier in date and probably relating to the colony’s early phases. Evidence for production activities was provided by numerous fragments of crucible waste, lumps of clay and fragments of brick/tile kiln wasters, large areas of terrain reddened by exposure to heat and the moulds for anatomical ex-voto. One of these bore the inscription M(arcus) Lapio(s) Q(uinti) s(ervos), which gives us the figure of a potter who is at the same time the dedicator, working at Alba in the mid Republican period. The excavation was deepened in correspondence with the threshold of adjacent _taberna_ III. This trench revealed a similar stratigraphic sequence to that already recorded by the _in_ _situ_ column of the portico in front, therefore clarifying the contemporary relationship: portico and _taberna_ both date to the late Republican period, later than the adjacent terraced building, whose original ground floor level was substantially lower. Therefore, this season’s excavations have provided new evidence about the layout of the Latin colony and its forum. In addition to containing the hillside, the imposing wall of polygonal masonry delimited, in a period pre-dating the construction of the _tabernae_, a sector facing the forum and separating it from the latter. Thus, the terracing was a functional part of the urban structuring of the city’s central area, linked both to the line of a road above, via della Medusa, and to the creation of the sewer system that was intercepted below the basalt paving of this road. This system collected water from the hillside, which probably drained into the large north-south main sewer at the centre of the valley.

The continuation of excavations on the large terrace on the south-eastern side of the forum, north of _taberna _ III (with which it shares the east-west delimitation wall), produced new data regarding the city’s history, especially the Republican phases. The construction of the terracing (_terminus_ _post_ _quem_: second half of the 3rd- first half of the 2nd century B.C., based on the stratigraphy investigated to date) preceded that of the shops (late 2nd – early 1st century B.C.). It was bordered, on the side facing the forum, by a wall of large limestone blocks that it was possible to follow for a length of 22 m, at least four times the module of the shops, which confirmed what was previously supposed. It functioned as a support for the basalt road behind, the via della Medusa, which ran parallel to the forum on a higher level, while the series of dry-stone walls present within the terrace can partially be explained as relating to drainage. Regularizing the eastern side of the forum, the terrace altered its original appearance, obliterating the pre-existing structures. This season’s excavations showed that these comprised a kiln and adjacent structures that probably related to it. Based on the stratigraphy, it was established that the kiln functioned during the first century of the Latin colony’s life (3rd century B.C.). The production installation was identified by a series of elements found in one of the terrace fills (slag, mould fragments, vitrified clay, lumps of baked clay). Two parallel walls emerged (_praefurnium_ corridor or supports for the firing floor), built with pieces of broken tile of various sizes, mixed with baked clay reddened by heat. The terrace structures that cut and obliterated the kiln make the excavation complicated and hard to read in plan, which it is hoped will be clarified during coming investigations. The kiln was surrounded by a wide area of terrain characterised by a reddish colour caused by exposure to heat, which could suggest the presence of other similar structures. So far, the evidence of the production type consists of several fragments of votive moulds. One of these bore the name of the artisan: M(arcos) Lapio(s) C(ai) s(ervos). The kiln must have been associated with a nearby sanctuary, perhaps situated by the forum, to which the votive and architectural choroplastic (3rd – 1st century B.C.), found in fragments within the terrace, can be attributed. Lastly, in the area in front of the substructure, beneath the collapsed wall blocks, another element relating to the city’s late antique phases emerged, which can be linked to those found during previous campaigns. This was a surface of closely-joined worn bricks, of which an area measuring c. 120 x 105 cm was exposed. The surface continued under the western excavation edge and the trench will have to be extended in order to clarify its nature.

This short campaign investigated an area on the large terrace on the south-eastern side of the forum. The terrace was constructed after the end of the 3rd century B.C. and obliterated several structures dating to the colony’s early phases, in particular a kiln. The latter’s presence was indicated by a series of elements within the terrace fill (waste materials, mould fragments, lumps of baked clay), and two small walls built of broken tiles, with vitrified surfaces caused by prolonged exposure to heat. The kiln’s plan could only be partially identified. In fact, the tile structures were cut by the foundation trenches for the later walls, coeval with the terracing, which reach a substantial depth. The kiln was aligned NW/SE, like the overall plan of the city, and probably had a combustion chamber with a double corridor, and a south-facing _praefurnium_ as suggested by the oblique alignment of the remains of the two walls. A series of stacked imbrices and tiles placed on edge were found on the opposite side, beyond the northern side of the kiln structure. Further mould fragments, including that of a left foot with big toe, and a draped female statuette provided an indication of the kiln’s production. In addition to anatomical votives, the kiln probably produced truncated pyramid-shaped loom weights, of which numerous examples were recovered and, primarily plain ware lamps, several of which were found just above the firing floor of the kiln itself, and therefore probably represent the final load before the structure went out of use. Therefore, it was a differentiated production, which perhaps also included architectural terracottas; a fragment of mould was found outside the excavation area. A substantial area of baked earth with characteristic reddish colouring extended around the kiln, which suggests that other similar structures may have been present. Other production structures must have existed in the proximity of the kiln as suggested by the presence of several dry-stone walls on the same NW/SE alignment. The discovery of a bowl containing the remains of red pigment (probably belonging to a _pictor_) indicates that the terracottas were probably painted in one of these structures, which remains to be identified.