In 2004 the team began a study of all remains unearthed during the 1961-1963 excavations of IV.17.1-2. None of this material has been published or analyzed in any systematic way. Relevant entries in the Giornali di Scavo were consulted to shed light on the methods employed at the time of excavation.

None of the 1961-1963 excavations used modern stratigraphic methods. As a result, it has been proven difficult to analyze the archaeological context of the material stored in the Ostian warehouse. Written records have provided only minimum supplementary data. Objects unearthed during excavation were stored in paper bags; handwritten labels document only general details of an object’s findspot (“ambiente col forno”). Other bags contain paper slips with similar notations. These labels have been most helpful when they record relative stratigraphic information (“object found under the mosaic” or “under the terra battuta floor on top of the mosaic”).

The team began by separating all the material by type (ceramic, wall plaster, marble, glass, and so on) with the aim of identifying any datable remains (ceramic indicators or identifiable coins). The handwritten notes and notations in the Giornali were then consulted to determine any known, relative context. Preliminary results have raised questions about the sequence of phases traditionally assigned to the architectural remains of the synagogue.

Analysis has brought to light evidence of a habitation phase not yet discussed in any secondary literature. The Giornali di Scavo (1961-1962, p. 18-19) records the discovery of a Roman coin of Maxentius which was discovered underneath the mosaic foundation of the room with the oven (IV.17.1.10, “ambiente col forno”). This material provides a secure terminus post quem for the extant mosaic floor. Prior to reaching the level of the mosaic, however, excavators had already identified and removed traces of a terra battuta, or beaten earth, floor at a higher elevation. This habitation layer was never studied as a distinct phase in the building’s history because ceramic material from it seemed to date between the second and fourth centuries C.E. These ceramics, preserved in the Ostian archives, now await a renewed study. At present, it is clear that coin beneath the mosaic and the presence of a floor level at a higher elevation demonstrate that there was not one but two Late Antique phases in this room. The first of these dates to the fourth century; the second calls for further investigation, perhaps in unexcavated areas of the site.

The area surrounding the reticulate wall in IV.17.1.6 (see entry 2003) was explored as one possible area of undisturbed ancient stratigraphy. A small probe (T1) was also begun in IV.17.2.10. Its purpose was to investigate whether a small wall feature on the west side of IV.17.1.18 may have at one point in time extended into the corridor of IV.17.2.10. Preliminary investigation suggests that they do and that they are worth exploring again in the future.