Index for 2013
- 371 - Roberto Perna, Gianfranco Paci. 2013. Una villa romana nel territorio di Pollentia-Urbs Salvia: Note preliminari sulle indagini archeologiche condotte presso Villa-magna (Urbisaglia – MC) Investigations at Monte Palazzi (Passo Croceferrata, Grotteria, Calabria) and in the Locrian chora in 2010-2012. The paper deals with the preliminary results of the investigations conducted by the University of Macerata with the collaboration of Archaeological Superintendence of Marche, in the site of Villamagna, in the territory of the colony of Pollentia-Urbs Salvia. The excavation brought to light a portion of a large roman villa. It was in use between the 1st cent. BC and the 6th cent. AD and probably it belonged to the gens Herennia, at least in its early phase. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 302 - Verena Gassner, Mag. Dieta Svoboda, Università di Vienna, Istituto di Archeologia Classica. 2013. Le aree sacre n. 8 e n. 9 sul crinale di Velia – le ricerche degli anni 2011-2013 . The excavation of the Austrian Mission on the central ridge of Velia, conducted during May and July 2013, focused once again on the so-called terrace of Zeus (sacred area n. 8) and the sacred area n. 9 above it concluding thus a three-year research project. In the area of the terrace of Zeus we completed the documentation of the terrace wall by a study of the stairs on the south side. In addition we studied the west side of the terrace in its northern part where the only evidence for the course of the delimitation is given by cuts and some foundation trenches in the natural rock. The existence of two clearly diverging directions seems to confirm that the terrace was rebuilt at least once. In this area we also continued the documentation of the quarry identified here in 2012. Most probably it can be connected to the construction of the fortification walls in the 4th c. BC. The investigations of the sacred area n.9 tried to get better insight into the structure of this vast sanctuary that must have been organized in terraces as well according to the difference of height of more than 3 m between the Western and the Eastern part. However, no clear traces of an internal articulation have been found due to the strong erosion and possible late antique or post antique stone robbery. The excavations of this year brought to light further layers of bricks and tiles in which some well preserved vessels like a ring guttus might be taken as evidence for ritual activities. Three fragments of antefixes, one of them of the well known type of fiore con calice spinoso e corolla compatta confirm the existence of cult buildings. The fragment of a brazier dates this context to the first half of the 2nd c. BC. Of particular interest is also the proof of activities of the first half of the 1st c. AD by the find of a cup Conspectus form 26 as well as the presence of a consistent layer dated to the first half of the 5th c. AD by sigillata africana (forma Hayes 61B; 75/76). Similar phenomena have been found in the sacred area n. 6 in 2006 and make clear that at least the frequentation of the sanctuaries did not come to an end in the Roman period, but until now has not been realized as these strata have mostly been destroyed by earlier excavations. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 301 - Alessia Savi Scarponi. 2013. Fornaci da calce di epoca romana e medievale in territorio capenate. In recent years, preliminary archaeological investigations required by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Etruria Meridionale in the municipalities of Capena, Morlupo and Fiano Romano (Rome) made it possible to discover thirteen lime-kilns dating from the imperial period to the Middle Ages. The paper describes the features and finds substantial differences, according to which the kilns can be traced roughly to two chronological - and cultural - horizons; it was observed that the lining of the walls of lime-kilns can occur in two different forms: a mixture of clay lining the walls or a masonry composed of stone’s fragments or reused bricks; the latter type of lining characterizes the kilns found inside or in the immediate vicinity of wrecked Roman buildings and that seems to be a distinguishing factor of the lime-kilns dating from the early medieval period. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 300 - Marco Valenti. 2013. Santa Cristina in Caio (Buonconvento - SI): la campagna di scavo 2013. During the first four excavation campaigns (2009-2012), we investigated a thermal complex in use between the end of the 1st century BC and the mid-4th c. AD, with important phases of reuse, at first productive and then for dwelling, between the beginning of the 5th c. and the 8th c. In 2013 the investigation has been focused on a hill called Poggio alle Fonti, located immediately southwards of the previous excavations, where we opened two new excavation areas. The first one is marked by the presence of some badly preserved walls and an extremely poor horizontal stratigraphy, probably due to heavy modern agricultural exploitations. Within these walls, generally dating from the Imperial Age to the mid-6th c. AD (there is also an earthen wall, typical building technique of this period on our site) some kind of metallurgic activities took certainly place, given the strong presence of slags and other indicators. Although the stratigraphic evidence does not allow us to advance more precise assumptions, a first observation of pottery suggests a chronology generically set between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The second area, intercepted a necropolis already partially excavated by the Tuscan Soprintendenza between 1992 and 1994. Twenty-six burials have so far been dug, dating between the end of the 1st and the 4th c. AD and all without any grave goods. The part of the cemetery we have investigated seems to change function by the mid-5th c., when an earthen wall (whose function is currently not clear) cuts some burials. Towards the western limit of the area, the dump of a furnace producing thin-walled pottery was identified; the presence of the furnace had already been recognized by surface surveys. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 299 - Marco Valenti. 2013. Miranduolo (Chiusdino – SI). Campagna di scavo 2013: nuovi dati sul villaggio di VIII secolo d.C. . This report on the 13th excavation campaign at the site of Miranduolo focuses mainly on the 8th century evidences, because of their actual major implications in terms of general interpretation of the site. In particular, on the north-eastern slope of the hill, we defined more precisely the settlement space of a farmer/blacksmith, consisting of a wooden house, a workshop where iron smelting and forging took place, a storehouse (mainly for foodstuffs) and several grain pits. The owner belongs to an intermediate social rank and occupies an area adjacent to one of the two nucleus of power of the village (specifically, the one on the hilltop). We were also able to identify a new section of the palisade that enclosed the other center of power, located in the western part of the hill and marked by the presence of a wooden church. A final matter of extreme interest is the discovery of 8th century evidences at the foot of the hill.. Even if we don't yet know whether there is a spatial continuity with the findings of the higher parts of the settlement, the existence of these traces is an important indicator which testifies a so far unsuspected dimensional articulation of the village in this period. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 298 - Simon J. Barker, J. Clayton Fant, Courtney A. Ward, Brittany Amiet. 2013. The Marmo al Mare Project 2013. Marble décor at the Roman Villas of Stabiae . This article provides a preliminary report on the 2013 field season of the Marmo al Mare Project. The principal object of our project is to undertake the first comprehensive study of the lithic decoration for the most prominent elite houses within the Vesuvian area. In the first field season our efforts were focused on a survey of the overall marble-use at the Villa Arianna (and the so-called secondo complesso) and the Villa San Marco, including but not limited to marble thresholds, pavements and wall crustae. This report outlines our initial impressions of the marble décor at both villas, as well as our approach to the quantification of marble varieties and prestige levels. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 297 - Pasquale Marino. 2013. Viterbo, ipotesi di identificazione dell’anfiteatro romano. This is a diagnostic study, conducted by comparing traces observed from the satellite and some signs on the ground. These signs are shown by cuts and by remains of rooms, built "in negative" in the tufa. The ancient structure is almost entirely overgrown and filled in almost its whole extent, is still visible only one side of its outer perimeter. These are (in all likelihood) the remains of a roman amphitheater carved into the tufa rock, similarly to the amphitheater of Sutri. Its exact identification must be done with direct investigations (excavation). The structures identified by the "anomaly" are in private areas nearby to a wide necropolis area, always next to the place considered the site of a Roman settlement as to identify with the city of Sorrina or Sorrina Nova. The latter is proved by epigraphs. Currently there are no scientific excavations carried out in the area, while many subterranean burial chambers in the site are badly known and insufficient studied. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 296 - Massimilano Laurora. 2013. Un’ipotesi interpretativa sulla funzione delle “spallette” rinvenute ad Aquileia presso la sponda orientale del Natiso (ex fondo Sandrigo) . In 2010, excavation of the east bank of the river Natiso aimed at the investigation of the suburbs of Aquileia revealed two series of parallel short walls, differing in chronology and orientation, but both built of clay, sand, pebbles and brick fragments. Notwithstanding the fact that the construction technique and materials are typical of rural architecture in Venetia, we have no other examples such structures. A possible parallel, based on the plan (a series of parallel rooms) and the topography (the banks of the river near an artisanal area): these could be the remains of granaries,with raised floors. After examination of sites in the Regio X, Germania Superior, Britannia and Tingitana it appears that the short parallel walls served as the foundation for floors aimed at the rapid storage of products brought in from the river, and, vice versa, for those destined to be loaded on to river boats that took part in the intense trade of the ports of Aquileia in the imperial period. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 295 - Michael L. Thomas, Ivo van der Graaff, Paul Wilkinson. 2013. The Oplontis Project 2012-13: A Report of Excavations at Oplontis B. The Oplontis Project has been studying Oplontis B since the summer of 2012. As with its work in Villa A, the study of Villa B includes excavation below the 79 CE levels. During the 2012 and 2013 campaigns, the project excavated a total of 8 trenches. These focused on the central courtyard, a sewer system in the SW corner of the central courtyard (OPB3 and 8), rooms to the west of the courtyard (OPB4), a street and town houses to north of the courtyard building (OPB5 and 7), and the portico on the south side of that building (OPB6). The 2012 and 2013 campaigns revealed some significant information hidden below the 79 CE levels at Oplontis B. Excavation documented at least three distinct pavement levels in the courtyard area, and the addition of a drainage system. At the north side of the site, these campaigns also identified a reconfiguration of the ground-floor rooms and a repaving of the street. Although the pending study of the material culture associated with Oplontis B should provide a more precise chronological narrative, these initial results suggest that the complex was part of a wider settlement built before the construction of neighboring Villa A. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 294 - Emanuela Stortoni. 2013. Indagini archeologiche dell’Università degli Studi di Macerata a Tifernum Mataurense (Sant’Angelo in Vado-PU). VI campagna di scavo (27 giugno - 16 luglio 2005) . This article reports the principal results of the excavation campaign carried out in the summer of 2005 by the University of Macerata for the rediscovery of the baths of Tifernum Mataurense, a mountain town in the upper valley of the Metauro on the Adriatic coast of Umbria, now known as Sant’Angelo in Vado. The complex, in the neighbourhood called Colombaro, was uncovered in 1957-1959 by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Marche and then reburied for conservation. The current project, begun in 2003 with the collaboration of the Soprintendenza, the Comune of Sant’Angelo in Vado and the Province of Pesaro-Urbino have comprised anual campaigns until now, and form part of a larger project of research, conservation and presentation of the archaeological area of Tifernum Mataurense, now almost fifteen years old. The object of this particular campaign 2005 was to empty the well cut into the area and to carry on with the previous trenches ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ placed along the central axis of the Cardo. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 293 - Francesca Rizzo, Carlo Pavolini, Michele T. Fortunato. 2013. Una deposizione rituale nell’area della domus ad atrio di Ferento. At Ferento (Vt), during the excavations brought on in September–October 2005, in the area occupied by the domus dated in the first Imperial age (Saggio III), the excavation of the levels immediately previous the construction of the domus discovered a presumed ritual deposition. This was located inside a fossa (US 3258), located under the atrium and under a probable living-room (Room 11). The present work analyzes the materials of the deposition, both as parts of a piaculum for the obliteration of the precedent area, occupied by metallurgic workshops, and as parts of a propitiation probable ritual for the edification of the new domus. Furthermore it examines the pottery, the other materials and the animal bones contained inside the fossa 3258, as well as the stratigraphic data, in order to study the relationships between the deposition, the metallurgic activities and the other finds of the same phase. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 292 - Giovanni Mastronuzzi, Giampiero Colaianni, Girolamo Fiorentino, Claudio Giardino, Valeria Melissano. 2013. Analisi stratigrafica e funzionale di un’area di combustione nel luogo di culto messapico di Piazza Dante (Vaste - Lecce). Archaeological investigations carried out in 1999 in the town centre of Vaste (Puglia, inland from Otranto) have brought to light a Messapian sanctuary. The sacred area includes a building divided in two enclosures with fireplaces, and an open space with three large underground pits. In the enclosure B a large hearth comprises layers pertaining to various activities in the life of the sanctuary. They show a persisting use of the same area going on through centuries since the sixth till the end of the third century BC. In the first century BC this place was still reminded, so it was protected by a crumbled limestone stratum. Metallurgical and archaeobotanical analysis contribute to reconstruct some aspects of the worship. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 291 - Massimo De Benetti. 2013. La moneta vetuloniese e la circolazione monetaria tra fine III e II secolo a.C. a Vetulonia (GR). Nuovi dati dagli scavi di Poggiarello Renzetti (1985-1990) . The Hellenistic quarter of Poggiarello Renzetti, within the city walls of Vetulonia, was explored in the late 19th century by Isidoro Falchi. In this area he recovered a large number of coins with legend “vatl”, now in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Florence, that confirmed the attribution to Vetulonia. Unfortunately little information was recorded about their find and the dating of the series is still under discussion. The yearly excavation campaigns undertaken between 1985 and 1990 in this quarter have provided new numismatic data. The excavations brought to light a domus built at the end of the 3rd/beginning of the 2nd century BC and destroyed probably under Sulla. This paper presents the numismatic finds, that consists of a sardo-punic bronze coin, several sextans of Vetulonia and asses and fractions of the Roman Janus/prow series. For the first time specimens of Vetulonia have been recovered in a stratigraphic context, associated to pottery and other materials. The new data support the hypothesis that sextans of the “trident with dolphins” series were probably minted in the last quarter of the 3rd century BC and were still circulating during the 2nd century BC PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 290 - Giuseppe Romagnoli, Francesca Occhiogrosso. 2013. Indagini archeologiche nella chiesa di San Giovanni in Zoccoli a Viterbo. The church of San Giovanni in Zoccoli, located in the northern area of the medieval centre of Viterbo, was built in the 1st half of 13st century, but was widely restored in 1880 and then in the 1950s, after the bombing in 1944. Before the restoration of the paving of the church and annexes (2010-2013) a preventive archaeological excavation was carried out in November-Dicember 2010 and January 2011. Two trial excavations (m 2,5 x 2,5) were conducted in the left and right aisles of the church in order to evaluate date, depth and characteristics of the deposit. In the right aisle, under levels relating to restoration interventions on paving dating from the early modern period, was uncovered part of a medieval cemetery with “anthropomorphic” tombs, trapezoidal in shape, directly carved in the bedrock and covered by the foundations of the Romanesque church. Only one of the five tombs uncovered was undisturbed and contained the skeleton of an adult individual. “Anthropomorphic” or “logette” tombs are well known in rock-cut contexts of Tuscia and also in Viterbo (Colle del Duomo) and date probably until the 10th-11th century. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 289 - Lidia Puddu. 2013. Il santuario nuragico Abini – Teti (Nu): i reperti ceramici delle campagne di scavo 2000-2002. The shown pottery come from the site of Abini, one of the most important sacred center of nuragic Sardinia. The protohistoric site includes a settlement and a sacred fountain inside a temenos. The reputation of the archaeological site is linked to the discovery of valuable and numerous votive bronzes found in some depots by shepherds and farmers, during the second half of the 800, and the excavations carried out by Gouin and Taramelli. In the course of the scientific investigation led, in the years 2000-2002, by Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici delle province di SS e NU in the heap accumulated during these ancient interventions, a great deal of pottery artefacts have been recovered associated to bronzes manufactures and construction blocks of the sacred fountain. The materials are related to the temporal range from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 288 - Angelo Ghiretti - ISCUM (Istituto di Storia della Cultura Materiale, Genova) e Direzione Museo delle Statue Stele della Lunigiana, Castello del Piagnaro, Pontremoli, Ms, Gianluca Bottazzi, Marco Bazzini, Cristiano Putzolu, Daniele Federico Maras. 2013. Il valico della Cisa in età romana: la Sella del Valoria (Comuni di Berceto e Pontremoli, Pr - Ms) Relazione preliminare . In June of 2011, following a field survey carried out on the highest ridge of the Appennines, a Roman shrine was located two kilometres east of the Cisa pass, at the Sella del Valoria (1224 m asl), frequented from the second century BC until the fourth century AD and beyond. A first excavation campaign, carried out as a concession in 2012 on an area of 64 m2, identified a stretch of votive offerings which consisted of the deposition of a coin in a small pit, pro itu et reditu. In rare cases, in place of the coin was found a small bronze: a forearm with a hand, perhaps making the gesture of the Latin benedictio of Jupiter Sabatius, or other bodily fragments (a small foot in bronze, a foot held in a lead base). The analysis of the numismatic documentation, comprising 168 coins, indicates that the use of the sanctuary was particularly intense during the second and first centuries BC. The pass was abandoned in the first two centuries AD, probably in favour of the actual Cisa pass, but was significantly restored in the third and fourth centuries. Around 300 metres away from Sella del Valoria, along the line of the Via Francigena that comes up from the Po Valley, was found an inscription bearing two letters in a pre-Roman alphabet datable between the end of the third and the beginning of the second century BC. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 287 - Alessandro Sebastiani, Elena Chirico, Matteo Colombini. 2013. Spolverino (Alberese – GR). Relazione alla III Campagna di scavi archeologici . The aim of this paper is to show the preliminary results of the third archaeological season, which took place in August 2012 at the river port of Rusellae (Spolverino, Alberese – GR). The research brought to the light the existence of a first glass workshop, datable to the last quarter of the 1st c. AD and used until the end of 2nd c. AD, when it was substituted by a bone workshop. The excavation revealed also the presence of a room serving as communal kitchens with a sacred niche, while with the enlargement of the excavated area it was possible to show at least other 5 rooms belonging to the manufacturing complex. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 286 - Taco T. Terpstra. 2013. The 2012 Excavation Season at the Villa San Marco, Stabiae: Preliminary Field Report . In the summer of 2012, Columbia University, in collaboration with H2CU (Centro Interuniversitario per la Formazione Internazionale) followed up on its successful 2011 pilot season in ancient Stabiae as part of the “Advanced Program of Ancient History and Art” (APAHA). The Program performs stratigraphic excavations in the Villa San Marco, one of the largest and most opulent villas in Campania, investigating both the Villa as a Roman elite structure and the pre-79 AD history of the site. The goal of the excavations is to give a full archaeological account of the stratigraphy from the eruption layers of Mt Vesuvius down to virgin soil. Building on the results from the previous year, the 2012 campaign had two main research goals: investigating the Villa’s system of water-supply and drainage, and clarifying the Villa’s relationship with the road that marks its northern limit. The results were on the one hand the discovery of a work area in the northern sector of the Villa, and on the other the clarification of the temporal relationship between the Villa and the road and a better understanding of the history of the road itself. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 285 - Valentina Caruso , Emanuela Sguazza, Francesca Sassi, Daniele Gibelli, Anna Ceresa Mori, Cristina Cattaneo. 2013. Gli scheletri della fossa comune di viale Sabotino a Milano: le vittime della peste manzoniana?. Demographic and paleopathological studies are an important resource for the analysis of earlier populations, and can furnish useful information for the reconstruction of epidemic events, where emergencies make it impossible to have good information about the more general health of the population. The current study concerns the find of a mass grave in Milan, near the ‘Spanish’ wallls of the seventeenth century, the period during which the plague of 1630 exploded in the city. On the basis of the hypothesis that the individuals found were victims of this epidemic anthropological and paleopatholical analyses were carried out on the skeletal remains. Anthropological analyses have revealed a minimal number of 240 individuals. The population was heterogeneous in sex and age with a high mortality in peripartum, adolescential and people between 36 and 65 years old, as in the demographic structure of ancient society. The paleopathological investigations have shown nutritional deficits, chronic anemia, debilitating congenital diseases, dental pathologies indicative of a low level of oral hygene, arthritis and lesions even in the case of adolescents. A highly important find is the presence of syphilis and tuburculosis, infective diseases with social repercussions. Anthropological and paleopathological investi-gations have thus given us precious information on the health of the population of Milan during the critical period of the epidemic. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 284 - Eric E. Poehler, Steven J.R. Ellis. 2013. The Pompeii Quadriporticus Project. The eastern side and colonnade. This article provides a preliminary report on the 2012 field season for the Pompeii Quadriporticus Project (Universities of Massachusetts Amherst and Cincinnati). This was the third field season for the Project, in which our efforts were focused on an architectural survey of the eastern side of the building and the entire inner colonnade. The report outlines the relative stratified sequences in the construction of the eastern side of the building, connecting the phases to those already outlined for the remainder of the building in earlier seasons, as well as to excavated data uncovered in the adjacent insula (VIII.7.1-15) by the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia. From these technologically sophisticated studies, as well as from two seasons of geoprospection and a novel approach to reading the complex but valuable chronological information in each of the columns of the colonnade, it is now possible to reconstruct the original form of the Quadriporticus and to chart its development over time – in relative and absolute terms – as well as to know something of its place in the infrastructural history of Pompeii. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 283 - Vincent Jolivet. 2013. Civita Musarna tra passato, presente e futuro. Discovered in the middle of the XIX century, the Etrusco-Roman city of Musarna, located between Viterbo and Tuscania, in the very heart of Tarquinia’s territory, has been founded at the end of the IV century BC as a military colony, and definitively abandoned at the beginning of the VII century AD. Between 1983 and 2003, the École française de Rome made extensive archeological campaigns in and outside the city. This paper summarizes the chief results of these excavations – urban planning, public and private buildings, defensive walls, Hellenistic and Roman necropolis, landscape –, and gives a general account of the on-going publication project. It also includes new datas from the city (underground cellars), necropolis (Hellenistic terracotta masks in the Vatican Museum, localization and context of the 18 sarcophagi from Musarna kept in the United States, with a new inscription of the Thvetlie in Berkeley) and territory (Monterazzano’s “Veiovis”, two unpublished Ferento’s cippi, question of the pestarole, nenfro caves), as well as indications about the first results of the excavations at the monumental Hellenistic tomb recently rediscovered at north-east from Musarna, loc. Grotte Scalina. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 282 - Massimo Pennacchioni, Alessandro Guidi. 2013. Presenze Paleolitiche a Casale Rotondo sull’Appia Antica (Roma). The paleolithic site of Casale Rotondo, explored from Guidi and Pennacchioni in 2012, is situated along the ancient street Appia Antica, near Rome. The mapping of the area has been effectuated from Topography staff of Geographical Information Center of Italian Air Force. In the 2012, searches the area has been explored making seven trenches but, apart two small flint, he has not been found material "in situ." The totality of the archaeological pieces, actually in study, he has been picked in surface. The raw material is the local silex. The result of the study of the industry is in course: preliminarly, the materials found is attribuited at the Aurignacian aspect of Upper Palaeolithic. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 281 - Paolo Visonà. 2013. University of Kentucky Archaeological Investigations at Monte Palazzi (Passo Croceferrata, Grotteria, Calabria) and in the Locrian chora in 2010-2012 . The University of Kentucky’s last field season at Monte Palazzi in 2010 included both excavation and a geophysical survey aimed at establishing the boundaries and the structural characteristics of the site, identified as a Greek mountain fort of Locri Epizephyrii. Topographical reconnaissances were also conducted between 2010-2012 at locations in the upper Torbido River Valley that could have been used for intersignaling (such as Monte Limina), and at other fortified sites in southern Calabria (e.g. San Salvatore, Serro di Tavola, and Monte Gallo) in order to better understand the functions of a military installation on Monte Palazzi. Excavation was focused upon two adjoining units at the southern end of the summit (E4 and F5), which had been partially investigated in 2008. It uncovered a portion of the fort’s central area, probably an open-air courtyard, and of the inner face of the southern perimeter wall, 2.5 m wide. The construction of this rampart was dated to the first half of the 5th century B.C. by the fineware recovered beneath its foundations. However, there is evidence that a Greek outpost existed at Monte Palazzi at least as early as the second half of the 6th century B.C. The site appears to have been occupied continuously throughout the classical period. It may have been abandoned or destroyed in the first half of the 3rd century B.C., although traces of an abandonment or destruction stratum have not yet been found. A magnetic and an electrical resistance survey have determined that a large structure, encompassing an area of c.1,300 m², occupied the entire summit. Its irregular design followed the contour of the mountaintop, and its general features are consistent with those of other Greek archaic forts within the region. The longer life span of our fort attests to its singular importance as a key node on an overland route connecting Locri to the Tyrrhenian and a control point on the northeastern flank of the Locrian chora. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 280 - Antonella Unali. 2013. Scavi a Sulky (Sant’Antioco): i livelli arcaici del Vano II G. The settlement of Sulky, in Sardinia, founded by the Phoenicians in the first years of the eighth century B.C., has been excavated since the eighties, revealing a settlement of notable complexity both from the point of view of its society and from that of its urbanism. The Phoenician setllement was founded directly on top of a Neo Eneolithic hut village, of the sub Ozieri facies. This is represented by its abandonment layers and part of a walled structure. This contribution analyzes the material culture of some of the archaic stratigraphy of the room II G, in particular that of the seventh-century phase. Specifically, the material examined comes from a coherent and homogeneous ceramic dump, interpreted as formed by the clearing out of a previoius earth floor. The pottery found in the settlement is varied and original, demonstrating a new formal experience deriving from knowledge of both Phonecian and Nuragic cultures, and allied to both traditions. This exemplifies the nature of the occupation in a composite community of the seventh century B.C. which had already absorbed uses and customs of both cultures which would persist in Sardinia for a long time. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 279 - Massimo De Benetti. 2013. I reperti numismatici dalla seconda campagna di scavi archeologici presso il sito di Scoglietto (Alberese – GR). This paper presents a catalogue of the 45 coins found at the temple area of Scoglietto (Alberese – Grosseto) during the 2010 excavation campaign. Chronologically the finds span a long period, from the 2nd-1st century BC to the 6th century AD, providing numismatic evidence of a longer occupation of the site compared to the results of the first campaign. Excavation of lower levels brought to light coins of the first imperial period, a roman republican as and a bronze coin of the last series of Elea/Velia. The majority of coins belongs to the second half of the 3rd century and the 4th century AD. Particularly interesting is a bronze coin of Justinian I, that provides further evidence of the probable moment of abandonment of the site. A group of four modern coins, minted in Florence and Siena in 16th-17th century, bear witness of a later occupation, when several fortified towers were built along the coast as protection from pirate raids. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 278 - Gianfranca Salis. 2013. Le rotonde con bacile: un nuovo contributo dal villaggio nuragico di Sa Sedda ‘e sos Carros-Oliena . The village, situated in the Lanaittu valley, is made up of numerous huts and buildings, one of which is circular and made of basaltic rock. Inside this building are the remains of a well-worked and lightly moulded basaltic bench. At the centre of the circular room there is a large sandstone basin with a drainage hole. One meter from the ground is found a row of limestone blocks which have carvings depicting rams in the middle and a hole connected to an internal canal from which water flowed. Excavations have brought to light a new circular hut, with a central basin, disassembled and reused in the construction of a new structure . The findings provide a new interpretation of these structures, which are a type of architecture known in the Nuraghic culture. This architectural model is rooted and widespread in Sardinia, and develops along with social, political and economic changes. In this dynamic we can see close contacts with the outside world, particularly the that of the Tyrrhennian Sea. This is evident from the material repertoire. These changes alter over time the symbolic value of round houses before transforming the original architectural features themselves, aspects that are particularly significant because they reflect the profound cultural transformations that predisposed the end of the Nuraghic spiritual world. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 277 - Paola Mancini. 2013. Il santuario di Santa Vittoria di Serri Campagna di scavo 2011 . The sanctuary of Santa Vittoria di Serri, one of the best known and important of Nuraghic Sardinia, was the object of an excavation in September 2011. The sanctuary covers over twenty hectares and can be divided into two areas, the eastern and the western. In the latter are found the well-known temple structures and the little church dedicated to Saint Victoria. The excavation was concentrated in the eastern area where most structures seem to be domestic rather than sacred/ Twp groups of rooms were studed, revealing the same plans: large circular huts and annexed rooms characterized by blocks set on edge. In this contribution we are presenting the full publication of the excavation and the of materials recovered. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 276 - Alessandro Sebastiani, Elena Chirico, Matteo Colombini. 2013. Dinamiche insediative di età romana nel territorio della foce dell’Ombrone: l’area dei templi di Scoglietto (Alberese – GR). Relazione alla campagna di scavo 2010 . The aim of this paper is to present the results of the 2010 archaeological season at the temple area of Scoglietto (Alberese – GR). After the discovery of a 3rd c. AD temple on the hilltop in 2009, new researches have brought to the light a complex with several rooms acting as a sanctuary for the worship of Diana Umbronensis. After the construction of a first religious structure, the so called Sacellum Dianae, sometimes in the first Imperial period new constructions were erected on the ancient promontory. These latter lasted until the end of 2nd c. AD when the sanctuary was abandoned and the main temple rebuilt or refurbished. By the end of the 4th c. AD, the area is systematically dismantled as shown by numerous masonry blocks found all over the perimeter of the Severan temple. The ruins were still attended in the 5th c., as a large collection of African lamps, found in the rubble layers, witnesses. Finally, in the first half of the 6th c. AD the south end of the ruined temple hosted a sunken hut and few other perishable infrastructures before the entire area was completely abandoned. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 275 - Chiara Blasetti Fantauzzi, Salvatore De Vincenzo. 2013. Indagini archeologiche nell’antica Cornus (OR). Le campagne di scavo 2010 – 2011 . The stratigraphic investigations were preceded by a surface survey of the area of the ancient Cornus, which allowed us to identify it’s chronological range as dating from the fifth century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. The first two excavations brought to light a series of structures linking back to three different occupation phases of the settlement. A cistern of large ashlars of limestone dates to the earliest phase. This has been dated, based on building techniques, to a stage no later than the second century A.D. A structure, interpreted as a bath building which, based on the African Sigillata D may be dated to the last quarter of the fourth century A.D, occurs in a second phase. The last phase, dating from the beginning of the sixth century A.D., coincides with a renewed occupation of Cornus as byzantine castrum. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 274 - Alberto Moravetti, Paolo Melis, Luca Doro. 2013. Complesso preistorico di Monte Baranta (Olmedo-SS): relazione sulla campagna di scavi 2012 . During September and October 2012 archaeological excavations reopened in the prehistoric complex of Monte Baranta (Olmedo-SS), under license to Alberto Moravetti (University of Sassari). The archaeological site of Monte Baranta was partially explored in the years 1979-81 and materials found dated the construction of the complex to the Copper Age (Culture of Monte Claro). In the 2012 campaign have been explored five of the six small huts of the village, while the sixth (hut no. 2), entirely excavated in previous campaigns, has been the object of limited tests outside. In the hut 1, current excavation has brought to light a floor of rough stones of medium and small size, in which is embedded a small quadrangular stone structure, perhaps a hearth (?).The hut 3, also quadrangular, had a similar hearth made on the floor, and another elliptical structure realized with orthostatic stones partially sunken in a central area of the hut (a grave?). The hut 4, only partially preserved, also shows the presence of a small quadrangular structure of stones sunken below the floor level. The huts 5 and 6, contiguous, showed the presence of a pavement stones arranged with a certain care; in the hut 6 is present a probable posthole in a central position, while in the hut 5 has been brought to light the usual quadrangular stone structure sunken below the floor level. The materials found have confirmed the chronology of the structures in the Monte Claro period, while there are no traces of post-Chalcolithic phases. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet
- 273 - Carlo De Mitri. 2013. La ceramica fine da mensa di produzione egea ed orientale nello scavo di via Santa Chiara a Brindisi: una prima nota sulle attestazioni. The excavation carried out in a construction site on via Santa Chiara in Brindisi, located in the area of the port, resulted in the recovery of a large amount of imported pottery coming from various areas of the Mediterranean. This material, mixed with earth, constituted the principal component of a thick levelling layer which obliterated a few underground rooms. The study of the finewares, in particular, gives evidence for the prevalence of productions from the Eastern Mediterranean compared to the rest of the Empire. Beyond standard productions like ESA, ESB ESC and Corinthian Relief Ware are found other classes of ‘Red Slipped Pottery’, for which we can identify production sites in the Greek provinces, especially between the third and the beginning of the fourth century. PDFpermalinkRecord Sheet