The 2017 excavations at Paestum undertaken by Naples “Orientale” University aimed to explore a domestic building of archaic date, discovered in 1987 and partially excavated in 1994 and 1996. The objective was to investigate the entire northern sector, of which only one room had been excavated, and to establish the east and west perimeters of the property. The southern part of the building may be excavated in the future. The room of archaic date that was partially explored in 1994 was fully excavated. This large room measured 8 m on its N-S side by 4.50 m on the W-E side and was built in small limestone blocks arranged in double rows; the entrance was to the south. It had already been identified as an _andron_ as the remains of a banquet and an assemblage of vases for a symposium were found here. This season’s trench re-exposed elements of a water supply system belonging to a Roman house that were excavated in 1996 (a well, a cistern and a vat/pool lined with _opus_ _signinum_). The excavations were limited to identifying and cleaning some of the constructions known from earlier work. The only newly excavated element was a short stretch of a wall on an east-west alignment on the north-western side of the archaic room. It probably delimited, to the north, an adjacent room also of archaic date and therefore part of the archaic house we intend to investigate. Inside the room/_andron_ the archaeology relating to the final occupation phase of the Greek house (c. 500-480/70 B.C.) was reached. The latter corresponded with the level at which the previous investigations were halted. Fragments of black glaze pottery were present on the surface, which were part of the furnishings when the room was abandoned, which previous excavation results date to sometime within the first half of the 5th century B.C. In 2018, it is hoped to excavate the room down to its original layout dating to the first half of the 6th century, and identify the west and eastern perimeters of the domestic building. Based on a series of clues that emerged during previous investigations, they should be marked by two parallel walls on a north-south alignment situated a few metres to the west and east of the _andron_

This season, the University of Naples “L’Orientale” continued the exploration of the late archaic domestic building, which, discovered in 1987 and investigated in 1994 and 1996, was partially re-exposed in 2017. In 2018, the fill was removed from the only known room of the domestic complex. This large room, 8 m N-S x 4.50 m W-E, was built in double rows of small limestone blocks and the entrance was positioned to the south. This room had already been identified as an _andron_ as it contained the remains of a banquet and pottery assemblage attributable to a symposium. The exploration inside the room identified the level at which the 1994 excavations halted. In fact, the archaeology still corresponded with the final occupation phase of the Greek house (c. 500-480/70 B.C.) as attested by the numerous fragments of black glaze pottery visible at the surface. The latter were part of the furnishings present in the room at the time of its abandonment that has been dated, based on earlier excavations, to the first half of the 5th century B.C. In the southern part of the room, the trench excavated in 1987 was emptied: it had led to the discovery of the entrance to the room, a stone bench abutting the south wall and the beaten earth floor datable to the structure’s first phase, within the late 6th century B.C. Several occupation levels were identified east of the _andron_, which had not previously been explored, containing pottery (cooking wares, coarse wares and black glaze ware, both local and imported Attic vessels including fragments of _kylikes_ and two miniature _unguentaria_) datable to the first decades of the 5th century B.C. However, it is not clear whether these layers belonged to a room adjacent to the banqueting hall or an open area, as suggested by the presence of a stone channel. The latter, identified in 1987 and uncovered this year, had in fact been dated to the first decades of the 5th century B.C. In the same zone, slightly further east, another length of a stone channel emerged, running north to south and parallel to the room’s east wall, which appeared to join the other one. This feature appeared to relate to the water supply structures of Roman date that were explored, in 1996, in the sector north of the archaic room, rather than to the archaic house. The aim in continuing the excavations is the systematic exploration of the room/_andron_ down to the level of the first construction phase, dating to about the mid 6th century B.C., and the identification of the western and eastern limits of the domestic building. Based on a series of clues that emerged during previous investigations, the perimeter of the building should be marked by two parallel walls on a north-south alignment, positioned a few metres west and east of the banqueting hall.