Excavations undertaken in the atrium of domus VII 15.3, mainly built of limestone and lava opus incertum , identified floor levels relating to the earliest phases obliterated by later floors created by raising the overall floor level of the house. Four overlying pavements were uncovered: below the latest opus signinum pavement and its make up a second layer of beaten earth was revealed which extended across the entire trench. This surface can still be dated to the Imperial period due to the presence of sigillata pottery.
The third floor level, also of beaten earth, is preserved along the side of and below the impluvium ’s opus signinum border. The fourth floor rests directly on natural and is a beaten surface cut by a pit containing a large amount of pottery, mainly black glaze, including a base with an Oscan grafitto and a rim with a leonine protome spout, several fragments of bucchero and a leonine protome terracotta dripstone. (Marinella Antolini)