Throughout its history, 6th century and early 5th century B.C., the emporium sanctuary of Gravisca saw a series of transformations, often linked to the arrival and predominance of new peoples who were active in the sanctuary area. Phocaean merchants, who landed where the coast of Tarquinia offered safe harbour and the possibility of easily replenishing water supplies, probably built the first _sacellum_ dedicated to Aphrodite in 590/580 B.C. There were two more reconstructions, the first datable to the mid 6th century B.C., coinciding with the arrival of a large number of people from Samos and with the spread of the cult of Hera. The second, in 530 B.C., is linked to the emergence of the carriers from Aegina, who put up two of the three dedications to Apollo found in the sanctuary. The above data is the result of excavations undertaken between 1969 and 1979. The University of Perugia and the Archaeological Superintendency for Lazio and South Etruria carried out further excavations in the area of the so-called “North Sanctuary” associated with the Etruscan divinities Śuri and Cavatha. More recently (2011-2015), the university’s research revealed more evidence for the layout of the new sacred area in the archaic and Classical phases. Trenches dug below the floor levels of the Hellenistic complex identified the eastern and southern limits of the new warehouse monumentalized in about 520 B.C. (coeval with the phase III archaic Greek _sacelli_ discovered in the 1970s). The new structure was divided into two _temène_, originally paved with thick slabs of macco limestone, which housed two monumental altars, the northernmost one probably dedicated to Śuri, the one to the south to Cavatha. The 2015 campaign aimed to explore the unexcavated area, that is, the entire strip outside the later wall delimiting the west side of the “North Sanctuary”, in order to check the hypothesis formulated in previous years suggesting the almost total correspondence of the western limit (already known) of the Hellenistic sanctuary, with that of the Classical and archaic periods. Three trenches were opened: the first, (L) was situated outside the south-western of the sacred complex (6 x 10 m) revealed the presence of a long narrow rectangular structure, on an east-west alignment, immediately below the topsoil. Its eastern side was sub-circular and for the moment its function and chronology remain uncertain, but it was certainly not in continuity with the _temenos_ of Cavatha (only the surface layers were excavated). A second trench (LII, 6 x 4.50 m) was opened a few metres to the north. Here, a sequence of two floor surfaces was identified, coherent with the known chronology (the latest dating to the late 4th century B.C., the other to during the 4th century B.C.). The excavations excluded the presence of walls, at least for the 4th century phase. The third trench, (LI, 3 x 4 m) was opened in the area north-east of the late 4th century B.C. building. The floor of the late 4th century B.C. phase was uncovered, with the usual traces of burning relating to the destruction in 281 B.C., and that of the 4th century B.C., in phase with two walls that were part of the western perimeter of the Hellenistic building.

La campagna di scavo svoltasi a Gravisca del settembre 2016 ha rappresentato la continuazione delle indagini intraprese nel 2015 tese ad indagare tutta la fascia esterna al limite occidentale del santuario di Cavatha di età ellenistica, per verificare l’estensione dell’area sacra in età arcaica in questa zona del cd. “Santuario Settentrionale”. A questo scopo sono stati aperti tre saggi denominati L (e ampliamento), LI e LII (ampliamenti N e E). Le ricerche nel saggio L hanno continuato a portare alla luce i resti di una piccola costruzione, stretta e allungata in senso E-W, di cui nella passata campagna di scavo si era individuata l’estremità orientale costituita da una serie di blocchi di macco arrotondati nella loro interfaccia esterna, connessa a due muretti laterali paralleli in ciottoli di medie e grandi dimensioni, da considerarsi le fondazioni della struttura. La continuazione dello scavo ha avuto dunque come scopo l’individuazione per intero della planimetria della costruzione, di difficile interpretazione, raggiungendo contemporaneamente il livello dell’ultimo battuto pavimentale, prima dell’abbandono. Solo in un secondo momento si è optato per uno scavo in profondità, seppure più limitato in estensione, riguardante meno di un terzo dell’intero complesso, posizionato nel settore orientale della costruzione. L’individuazione dell’ultimo strato di sabbia frammista a terra (US 38/16), portato alla luce, pur senza essere stato asportato all’interno del saggio L, rappresenta un dato estremamente importante sia dal punto di vista cronologico, sia per le ipotesi che permette di formulare per quanto attiene alla possibile funzionalità dell’area. L’US infatti attesta anche in questa zona la presenza del grande livellamento di sabbia che le ricerche condotte fino ad ora nel “Santuario Settentrionale” di Gravisca hanno permesso di connettere allo smantellamento dei due temene arcaici di Śuris e Cavatha da collocare cronologicamente nel 420 a.C. Le indagini condotte i questi anni hanno chiarito come questo strato, all’interno del quale come un vero e proprio _piaculum_ erano stati frantumati e ridotti in piccolissimi frammenti interi corredi per lo più di ceramiche attiche, sia stato spianato unicamente all’interno delle zone sacre, risparmiando gli spazi esterni (lo _stenopos_ sud, l’ _ambitus_ tra i due santuari). Il suo rinvenimento in questo settore potrebbe dunque indicare che in età arcaica questa zona doveva trovarsi ancora all’interno dei limiti del _temenos_ di Cavatha, per esserne poi escluso nel rifacimento edilizio della fine del V secolo a.C. Le ricerche nel saggio LII, immediatamente a sud del precedente, hanno invece permesso di verificare l’ipotesi avanzata ad inizio scavo della continuazione verso ovest dell’ _ambitus_ (UUSS 73/16 e 74/16) di età arcaica il cui piano di vita in macco era già stato individuato nelle precedenti campagne di scavo più ad est, in corrispondenza del cortile dell’edificio di Cavatha. Posteriormente all’abbandono dell’area da datare alla fine V secolo a.C. come conseguenza della defunzionalizzazione della strada per la chiusura dell’ingresso al “santuario settentrionale” da questa zona – che da ora in poi rimarrà esterna - , si assiste al livellamento di alcuni strati (UUSS 104/15, 71/16 e 76/16) che, pur in mancanza di materiale ceramico datante, possiamo collocare cronologicamente tra la fine del V e la fine del IV a.C., quando invece è attestato il livellamento di due differenti livelli di vita UUSS 51/16 e 53/16, da mettere in relazione alla sistemazione dell’area in concomitanza con la costruzione della struttura individuata superficialmente nel saggio L. Importanti dati provengono inoltre dal saggio LI (ampliamenti N ed E): anche in questo saggio infatti la sequenze stratigrafica ha permesso di individuare la defunzionalizzazione dell’area sacra arcaica connessa con il culto di Śuris nel 420 a.C., seguita dal livellamento di uno spesso strato di terra mista a sabbia. Al di sopra di quest’ultimo strato sono state individuate ed indagate una serie di fornaci metallurgiche (UUSS 138/16, 139/16, 127/16=128/16 e 109/16), impianti che con la loro presenza stanno ulteriormente ad attestare come l’area del precedente _temenos_ sia da considerare oramai in questa fase esterna ad ogni ritualità, contemporaneamente al trasferimento del culto di Śuris-Apollo presso l’edificio α.

The 2017 excavations at the sanctuary-emporium of Gravisca continued the research begun in 2015 to the west of the external strip of the western edge of the Hellenistic sanctuary of Cavatha. The following trenches were opened: LII extension (continuation of trench LII), LIV and LV, the latter both situated west of the archaic _temenos_ of Śuris. The investigations in LII extension exposed the thick macco stone make-up of for a paving of stone slabs (US 5/17; 156/17) belonging to the 6th century B.C. phase (phase III 530/20 B.C.) and probably part of the archaic building dedicated to Cavatha. So far only the northern perimeter of the building has been identified, the robbing of which was documented last season. Two pairs of macco stone blocks (the base of an _agalma_?) aligned E-W (UUSSMM 4/17 and 157/17) also belong to this building. In trench LII extension it was seen that the thick layer of sand (US 38/16; US 14/17=25/17) was also used in this zone to obliterate the sacred area after the systematic dismantling of the macco stone blocks that constituted the walls of the archaic sanctuary of Carvatha and this relates to the life of the “northern sanctuary” post 420 B.C. A similar sequence was uncovered in trenches LIV and LV (sand UUSS 66/17, 81/17, 148/17), attesting that the same fate was suffered by the sanctuary of Śuris, that was dismantled in the same way. Therefore, the topography for the late 5th century B.C. and throughout the following century can be described thus: across the excavated western sector the perimeters of two buildings are beginning to appear, the northernmost delimited by wall 105/17, which forms a corner with wall 112/17 in trench LV. The second complex is delimited to the north by wall 21/15 and to the east 105/09. These walls, which were restored several times until the end of the 4th century B.C., seemed to enclose two structures that, based on comparisons, can be identified as two ramps (the first excavated in 2003-2004, the second in 2015-2016. The ramps were built at different times and were used to drag the boats that arrived in the port of Gravisca into dry-dock in the two buildings mentioned above, perhaps identifiable as _neoria_ (cf. for example the more complex example of the _neoria at Naxos). To the east of these buildings, in trench LIV, the remains of metalworking activity came to light, traces of furnaces or reddening caused by heat, indicating this was an open area. It is also indicates that all of this northern side, once occupied by the _temenos_ of Śuris, was abandoned and temporarily occupied by artisans working on the reconstruction of the sanctuary.

This season’s excavation, like those of 2016 and 2017, investigated the sector of public land situated west of the building constructed in the late 5th century B.C. in the area occupied in the archaic period by the sanctuary dedicated to Cavatha. Previous excavations had revealed a chronological sequence, which from the sacred building of 530/20 B.C. continues until the Hellenistic period. A wall which, together with one found in 2003-2004, was identified as a slipway for dry-docking boats, situated inside a building with long narrow rooms that can probably be identified as a _neorion_. Four trenches were opened in 2018 (L extension, LVI, LVII and LVIII). The previously documented sequence was present in the trench denominated L extension. The earliest phase dating to the last twenty years of the 6th century B.C. relates to the construction of a monumental building, still only partially legible in the robbing trenches that were opened a century later. In fact, the dismantling of its monumental structures (phase II) dates to the last decade of the 5th century B.C. The excavation revealed that the large wall, aligned N-W/S-E(US -5/18= US -162/18 saggio LVI), was dismantled first after which the entire area became a building site. Several structures were built directly on the macco stone floor make-up of the archaic _temenos_. These structures were probably built of perishable materials (UUSS da -152/18 a -159/18, -167/18, -168/18), and may be interpreted as a light structures (roofs?), or more probably as devices for raising blocks of dismantled macco stone. At the same time as the robbing was taking place, craft-working/ construction activities also took place on the site, as several shallow pits (US – 152/18, circular hollow at the centre of the south edge of cut US -/18) in the macco floor, filled with detritus, burnt earth, sand, clay mixed with terracotta materials seem to suggest. The macco level was badly deteriorated and in some points fires were lit on it, which left slight traces of burning. In a subsequent period, the area was covered by a substantial layer of sand in turn sealed by large quantities of dumped earth mixed with charcoal and slag (US 20/18=US 108/18, US 111/18, US 4/187), the result of metalworking activity (also documented in trench LI in 2015), which closed this building site phase. The third phase dates to within the 4th century B.C. and coincides with the levelling (US 19/18) that sealed the late 5th century B.C. raising of the ground level. The fourth phase (late 4th century B.C.) can be identified with a raise in the ground level (US 18/18) in phase with the construction used for housing boats (UUSSMM 51/15, 52/15, 53/15, 5/16, 6/16) mentioned above.