Season Team

• AIAC_136 - Fregellae - 2004
  Il sito di Fregelle è ben noto dalle fonti storiche, come città romana repubblicana distrutta nel tardo I secolo a.C. Essa è stata indagata tramite scavi in aree precise scelte in base alla scoperta sia di edifici pubblici, sia privati. La ricognizione geofisica e topografica condotta per questo progetto è stata concepita per fornire un più ampio quadro del sito da integrare con i precedenti rinvenimenti. I risultati finora sono stati promettenti, avendo individuato il foro, il comizio e la curia (già in parte conosciuti dallo scavo), come edifici che circondano il foro e che si trovano verso l’area in cui si è pensato fossero situate le mura della città. Future indagini saranno finalizzate ad ampliare la conoscenza della pianta e dell’organizzazione della città.
• AIAC_137 - Teano - 2008
  _Teanum Sidicinum_ (modern Teano) is situated on a rock outcrop on the slopes of the extinct volcano of Roccamonfina, about 30km to the north west of Caserta in Campania, Italy. Geophysical survey in the form of magnetometer survey was undertaken at the Roman town by teams from The British School at Rome and The University of Southampton over a period of 5 consecutive seasons, starting in 2002. The project was commissioned by Soprintedenza Archaeologica di Caserta e Benevento, in particular Dott. Francesco Sirano and funded by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, the University of Cambridge Faculty of Classics, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies and Southampton University. Three main areas were surveyed. At the sanctuary site of Loreto, a small temple was discovered in the first season with further work in the next seasons locating a street grid system with buildings as well as a potential temple or sanctuary compound with processional way. A striking oval feature, the remains of an amphitheatre was located (Have taken this out because we are not sure what they are and we do not want too much interest in them before we are sure. Sounds a little odd but we are trying to protect them in case they are and stops tomb raiders). The survey undertaken around the extant remains of the theatre revealed insights to the town plan immediately surrounding it, with various buildings and building complexes being identified. At La Trinitá, a complex townscape with a dual grid system was established by the divergent alignments of roads, with structures aligned along both orientations along the road network. See also http://www.fastionline.org/micro_view.php?)item_key=fst_cd&fst_cd=AIAC_1868.
• AIAC_185 - S. Pietro di Villamagna - 2006
  In June and early July a campaign of excavation and geophysical survey was carried out at the site of Villa Magna. In spite of the fact that the villa is mentioned in two letters from _Marcus Aurelius_ to his tutor, Fronto (iv.5), and on a well-known inscription recording the paving of a road from Anagni to the villa (CIL X, 5909, A.D. 207), the site had never been the subject of scientific investigation. Over the northern sector of the villa was built the monastery of S. Pietro di Villamagna, mentioned in documents from the tenth century onwards. Of this, a Romanesque church and a line of 15th century fortifications are still visible. The magnetometry covered around 9 ha. Its spectacular results, still in the process of elaboration show the plan of the northern half of the villa. Excavation took place in front of the church and in the courtyard of the nineteenth-century casale, built on extensive vaulted substructures. An extensive cemetery occupied a yard at the entrance to the church, subsequently sealed by the fortification of the borgo around 1400. Inside the church, excavation in the northwest chapel revealed a group of tombs dating perhaps to the sixteenth century, cutting a series of pavements beneath. A Cosmatesque pavement was also revealed during the cleaning of a small clandestine excavation in the presbytery. In the courtyard of the casale, 300 meters to the South, the general plan of the productive sector of the villa was revealed. All floors were paved in marble, including that of the sumptuous _cella vinaria_ paved in _opus spicatum_ with tiles of Numidian marble, and panelled with marble and serpentine. Dolia emerging from this pavement leave no doubt that, in spite of its decoration, the room was used for the pressing and storage of wine.
• AIAC_1871 - Riva di Roma - 2007
  Between 12th July 2006 and 10th August 2007 a geophysical survey was undertaken at the site of Riva di Roma close to the town of Acilia Madonetta, 20km to the south west of Rome in the Comune di Roma. The survey was conducted to assess the archaeological potential of an area of terrain some 135 hectares in size, located between the low hills of Acilia to the north east, and the coastal plain of Casal Palocco to the south west. The work was carried out on behalf of SIACI for Pirelli RE – Aree Urbane, and was conducted by the British School at Rome and the University of Southampton. The survey was successful in mapping and identifying a number of archaeological features across the area, mainly relating to the works of the Bonifica conducted along the coastal plain in the 19th and 20th centuries. Remnants of some military and telecommunications infrastructure were also identified in the survey results, but no extensive evidence was found to suggest significant human habitation in the area in the prehistoric, Roman and medieval periods.
• AIAC_1873 - Calatia - 2007
  In June/July 2006 and November 2007 geophysical survey was undertaken at the site of Roman town of Calatia by a joint team from the British School at Rome and the Archaeological Prospection Services of Southampton (APSS). The work was funded by and conducted on behalf of the Comune di Maddaloni. Both magnetometry and resistivity techniques have been successful in detecting major anomalies such as roads and large walls but each has failed to identify more detailed traces of the internal layout and form of the town. This survey has highlighted the advantages of using two methods as they can compliment each other and it is easier to evaluate the integrity of the results. A number of roads were detected in the magnetometer survey. The alignment of the _decumanus_ and _cardines_ clearly compliment the traces of roads identified in the previous season’s results (Hay 2006: 11) and the overall grid system applied in the town. Once again, there is a paucity of internal structures relating to these routeways. The integration of the resistivity survey certainly confirms the presence of these roads, represented as areas of high resistance in the results. Critically, the course of the town wall was identified in the northern part of the survey area. As a direct result of applying and integrated survey methodology a trace of the northern part of the town’s circuit wall was detected.
• AIAC_1884 - Domus Aurea - 2007
  Between the 9th and 15th of January 2007, a geophysical survey was undertaken at the site of Nero’s _Domus Aurea_. The work was carried out on behalf of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma, and was conducted by the British School at Rome and the University of Southampton. The geophysical survey over the _Domus Aurea_ was successful in locating a significant number of changes in deposits relating to archaeological deposits at the site. The undulating nature of the overburden and deposits covering the _Domus_ was clearly illustrated, with shallower overburden located to the northern side of the survey area and deeper overburden situated along the south part of the area, possibly relating to the erosion of deposits from the terrace, and repairs made to the terrace wall and subsequent backfilling. A significant depth of overburden is suggested close to the northern edge of the square cement cover situated in the park. In general the archaeological deposits at the site appear to be situated between 1.2m and 4m below the modern ground surface, although this varies considerably, with significant structural evidence visible in the eastern half of the survey, corresponding with the ground plan of the _Domus_, and in the eastern half of Grid 1-2, corresponding with the western side of the Domus. The survey also indicates the significant build up of paving, hard standing and modern infrastructure such as pipelines, over the entire surface of the park.
• AIAC_1897 - Porto - 2007
  The first season took place over five weeks during September and early October 2007, and was directed by Simon Keay and Graeme Earl (Southampton), assisted by Dott.ssa Lidia Paroli (Soprintendenza per I Beni Archeologici di Ostia), and involved participants from the universities of Southampton, Cambridge, Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Aix-en-Provence, Tarragona and Seville. It built upon two earlier seasons of topographic work (March 2007) and resistance tomography (June 2007). The excavations uncovered a large (250 mq) open area at the eastern edge of the Palazzo Imperiale, a key building at the centre of the port, revealing a large rectangular dock or canal that was probably of Claudian date, defined by a spectacular series of moles on the south side of the main Claudian basin of the port. This was filled with sand in the course of the first and second centuries AD, and its central stretch subsequently covered by a large circular building in the Severan period. The whole area was extensively replanned in the later fifth and sixth centuries AD.
• AIAC_1897 - Porto - 2008
  Geophysics: The three year programme of magnetometer survey on the Isola Sacra began in the north-eastern corner of the island and has detected: • Structures to the south of the Fossa Traiana between Sant Ippolito and the Capo due Rami • that are possibly associated with the _Statio Marmorum_ • Road alignments • Field boundaries • Possible tomb structures overlooking the Tiber. Excavation: The main _focus_ of excavations remained the large open area at the eastern edge of the Palazzo Imperiale initiated in 2007. The sequence here is now clearer. Considerable emphasis was directed towards the southern side of the channel excavated in 2007. While the expected southern mole has proved elusive, the excavations uncovered the northern face and a range of rooms belonging to the large building delimiting the southern side of the channel: this runs for 250m in an east-west direction, and was c. 80 m wide. This southern wall face embodied a high complex structural sequence running from the 1st through to the later 5th centuries AD. More was learned about the circular building uncovered in 2007. It was in fact ovoid in shape (c. 42m x 35 m) and may have acted as a centre for the registration of incoming cargoes. Emphasis was also directed towards the excavation of the sequence of cisterns at its northern end. It now seems certain that these were built during the Trajanic and Hadrianic periods, undergoing an important series of modifications down into the late antique period, as well as providing evidence for limited occupation during the 11th-13th centuries AD. It is possible that these were the easternmost of a line of cisterns along the northern façade of the Palazzo Imperiale, that were fed by an aqueduct running along the south side of the channel uncovered in 2007, and which may have been used to provide freshwater for ships leaving Portus on their return journeys. Additional fieldwork included a programme of geoarchaeological coring in the excavation area (J-P Goiran, Universite de Lyons), as well as a sub-bottom profile survey of the Trajanic basin in collaboration with the Duca Sforza Cesarini.
• AIAC_1897 - Porto - 2009
  The third and final season of excavations at Portus were undertaken for two weeks in the first half of July, and between the 26th August and the 23rd October. This involved the continuation of excavation on the western side of the side at the foot of the late antique walls, within the large building at the southern end of the site (Building 5), on the western side of the cistern block (Buildings 1 and 3) and on the western side of the path in the direction of the main body of the “Palazzo Imperiale.” Overall an area of c. 3000 square metres has now been excavated with an international team of c 50 people, resulting in the identification of seven main periods of structural development along the eastern side of the “Palazzo Imperiale.” One of the highlights of the season included the discovery of the western side of the amphitheatre, which was found to be inscribed within a monumental hemicycle, a seriously of luxuriously appointed rooms lying immediately to the west which formed the eastern edge of a garden complex. The rooms generated large quantities of imported marble, including a very fine head, possibly representing Ulysses, and environmental material. Another was the discovery of the Claudian mole and an associated series of beach deposits. In addition to the excavation, there was an intensive programme of Ground Penetrating Radar survey covering the whole of the “Palazzo Imperiale,” further environmental coring (with the Université de Lyon) and a first programme of helicopter-based infra-red photography of the whole of Portus and the Isola Sacra (with the University of Ghent).
• AIAC_1898 - Falacrinae - 2007
  Alla terza campagna di scavo la ricerca si è concentrata in due settori: l’area di Vezzano, la cui esplorazione, già iniziata lo scorso anno, aveva rivelato la presenza di strutture pertinenti a un abitato, identificabile con ogni probabilità con il _vicus di Falacrinae_, luogo di origine dell’imperatore Vespasiano; e l’area adiacente al cimitero di S. Lorenzo, dove indagini di superficie ed esplorazioni geofisiche avevano segnalato la presenza di resti antichi, pertinenti verosimilmente ad una villa. L’esplorazione del sito di S. Lorenzo ha portato alla luce un’ampia area occupata dai resti di una villa di grandi dimensioni. Le murature conservate appartengono ad almeno tre fasi, comprese tra la tarda repubblica e il V secolo d.C., quando l’edificio venne distrutto e abbandonato (come dimostrano le numerose monete e gli altri manufatti, scoperti nei livelli di distruzione). La fase più importante va datata al periodo augusteo, cui appartiene un portico colonnato, di cui sono state scavate alcune colonne in laterizio e un capitello dorico in calcare. Dopo un’apparente fase di abbandono estesa dalla fine del II a tutto il III secolo d.C., il sito venne rioccupato nel corso del IV, quando almeno una parte di esso venne destinata ad usi industriali, come sembra attestare la scoperta di macine di lava, di fosse di decantazione, di recipienti di bronzo e scorie di lavorazione, in corso di studio. Non è escluso che possa trattarsi della villa appartenente ai Flavi, anche se la conferma di tale ipotesi, per ora prematura, richiederà ulteriori indagini. La partecipazione dell’archeologo-antropologo Llorençe Alapont Martin ha permesso l’analisi degli scheletri scoperti nella necropoli scavata nelle due campagne precedenti, con risultati particolarmente importanti per lo studio del popolamento e della società sabina in età tardo-antica.
• AIAC_1898 - Falacrinae - 2008
  La campagna di scavo del 2008 nel sito di _Falacrinae_ si è svolta tra il 7 luglio e il 16 agosto: in considerazione del fatto che si trattava dell’ultima campagna prima del bimillenario della nascita di Vespasiano (occasione di molteplici eventi, convegni e mostre, una delle quali avrà sede nella stessa Cittareale) si è ritenuto opportuno prolungarla a sei settimane (invece delle cinque abituali) e raddoppiare il numero delle persone coinvolte, portandolo a quaranta presenze quotidiane. Ciò ha permesso, tra l’altro, di ampliare notevolmente la superficie scavata. La stagione, cui hanno partecipato archeologi inglesi, italiani, francesi, spagnoli, slovacchi e australiani, ha fornito risultati di notevole importanza. Le aree prese in esame sono le stesse della campagna 2007: i siti di Vezzano e di San Lorenzo. L’esplorazione dell’area di San Lorenzo, iniziata nel 2007, ha rivelato la presenza di una villa di età imperiale di dimensioni imponenti: l’area scavata, che per ora ha permesso di identificare solo il lato occidentale, si estende frontalmente (da nord a sud) per circa 120 m; da est a ovest per circa 60: ma è evidente già da ora che la superficie occupata doveva essere assai più ampia. Le strutture sono disposte su terrazzamenti digradanti da ovest ad est, in direzione della pianura antistante, percorsa dal Velino e dalla via Salaria, che doveva costituire almeno in parte il terreno appartenente alla villa. Il settore orientale, dove probabilmente era l’ingresso, sembra occupato da un grande cortile, porticato almeno sul lato occidentale, come dimostra la presenza di una serie di basi _in situ_ e di resti di colonne in laterizio. Immediatamente più a ovest, un’area libera sembra corrispondere a un giardino, in relazione forse con una canalizzazione pavimentata con tegole, perfettamente conservata. L’area residenziale più importante doveva trovarsi più a nord, dove lo scavo ha portato alla luce un pavimento a mosaico bianco, pertinente ad una seconda fase del complesso, e un lussuoso pavimento in _opus sectile_, con lastre di preziosi marmi transmarini (giallo antico, serpentino, cipollino, ecc.): l’esplorazione di questa zona, solo iniziata, verrà completata nella campagna del 2009, e promette sorprese di grande rilievo. La prima fase della villa va datata, sulla base dei materiali scoperti, ai primi anni dell’età augustea, anche se non mancano indizi della presenza in loco di un edificio più antico, di età tardo-repubblicana, probabilmente più ridotto. L’abbandono dell’edificio sembra da attribuire al II secolo d.C., ma è incerto se l’occupazione sia o meno continuata nel III d.C., che corrisponde a un periodo di crisi per la villa. Molto più tardi (probabilmente nel IV secolo d.C., come confermano le numerose monete di bronzo scoperte) il settore più meridionale venne rioccupato, almeno in parte, e riadattato, a quanto sembra, per servire da cucina: oltre che dalla presenza di macine in lava, di piccoli silos sotterranei (da cui sono state recuperate granaglie di vario tipo: orzo, frumento ecc.) e di vasi di bronzo, l’identificazione è confermata dalla natura dell’abbondante ceramica rinvenuta, in gran parte contenitori da cucina. Si potrebbe pensare a una sorta di locanda, che a sua volta scompare agli inizi del V secolo d.C, nel corso di un incendio di cui si sono rinvenute tracce evidenti: tutto l’ambiente è apparso ricoperto e sigillato dal crollo del tetto (notevoli i resti delle travi carbonizzate e delle tegole). L’identificazione dell’edificio non è ancora possibile, anche se la sua cronologia, le sue dimensioni e l’aspetto lussuoso del suo settore residenziale fanno pensare a un proprietario di alto livello economico e sociale. La possibilità di attribuirlo alla gens Flavia (e quindi di identificarvi il luogo di nascita di Vespasiano) è allettante, anche se la scoperta di un dolio bollato con il nome di un _L. Octavius Calvinus _ farebbe propendere per una conclusione diversa. E’ possibile però che si tratti di un _dominus_ successivo ai Flavi, oppure, piuttosto, del proprietario della figlina dove era stato realizzato il dolio.
• AIAC_1902 - Santuario Siriaco - 2006
  Between 31st May and 2nd June 2006 a geophysical survey was conducted at the Santuario Siriaco on the Janiculum in Rome. The work was conducted on behalf of Dr Fedora Fillipi (Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma), Dr Richard Miles (Trinity Hall, Cambridge), Dr Christophe Goddard (University of Rheims) and Dr Massimiliano Ghilardi (Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani). The results of the resistance tomography were relatively successful in locating some features of varying resistance that are associated with possible archaeological deposits to the north of the excavated area at Santuario Siriaco. No evidence was present that immediately suggests the location of walls or clear remains of structures in the area, but some broad conclusions can be formulated from the survey results. The maximum depth reached using the resistance tomography was approximately 4m, which places the results well above the level of structural remains excavated to the south. This limitation was mainly due to the restricted size of the survey area, which did not allow the Wenner array to be expanded sufficiently to reach a depth of 6m. The depth of the high resistance deposits in the western part of the site may suggest that archaeological deposits are situated at a higher level then to the south. It is also conceivable that the results represent the level of bedrock situated below an overburden of deposited soil, although the presence of low resistance readings below this ledge in the profiles means that this is unlikely, and the deposits may feasibly represent archaeological remains.
• AIAC_2220 - Potentia - 2005
  In September 2004 and September/October 2005 a geophysical survey was undertaken at the site of the Roman colony of Potentia, Marche by the Archaeological Prospection Services of Southampton and The British School at Rome. The work was carried out on behalf of Prof. Frank Vermeulen of the University of Ghent, Flanders as part of the Potenza Valley Survey. The magnetometer survey revealed a comprehensive plan of the colony which complimented the interpretation of the aerial photographs. The extent of the road network was further unveiled and crucially was shown to extend to the town wall dividing up the territory into previously unknown insulae. Resistivity survey was employed over the area of the west gate with great success. The technique produced clear results undisturbed by the presence of materials that affected the magnetometer survey results. In many cases the magnetometer survey confirmed the findings of the aerial photography but in many other instances the survey revealed new and more detailed information on the layout and nature of the colony. Together with the resistivity survey results our understanding of the colony of Potentia is intensifying and developing.
• AIAC_311 - Fabriano - 2006
  Between the 17th and 31st of October 2006, a program of geophysical survey was carried out on four sites around Fabriano, Marche by the Archaeological Prospection Services of Southampton and the British School at Rome. The work was conducted on behalf of the Upper Esino Valley Project. Established in 2002, the project, conducted in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologica delle Marche has the aim of understanding the development of the cultural landscape of this important valley on the transapennine communication route. Over the course of a relatively short campaign, a range of sites were surveyed, with some successful results. Each site yielded information which greatly builds on the current knowledge of the site, and of the valley as a whole. Magnetometry survey allows the investigation of wide areas, in order that the spatial setting of archaeological features can be seen in a way which excavation and surface collection does not allow. It enables sites to be assessed on a variety of scales, and as features within a wider landscape. This has proved very important when looking at the complex sets of features which constitute a site, such as the villa rustica (site 347), roman town (Borgo Tufico) and possible prehistoric settlement (site 312). Although exact dating cannot be directly achieved through magnetometer survey, an idea of the chronology can often be proposed through an assessment of the form of the feature. The dating of sites can be better achieved when the results of the geophysical survey are combined with the overall results of the Upper Esino Valley Project. By using a combined approach, a greater idea of sites in their landscape can be achieved.
• AIAC_62 - Otricoli - 2005
  A new understanding of the overall layout and development of Ocriculum (modern Otricoli) is gradually emerging through the combination of results from the different methods used including topography, magnetometry, resistivity, GPR and surface collection. It now seems clear that the centre of Ocriculum was built on the ridge overlooking the Tiber sometime during the Republican period. The extent of the site on the ridge and the character of its surface finds suggest that it developed to become a significant urban focus by the early Imperial period. There is little evidence for the formal planning of the core of the site, and our survey has not identified a street layout. Where the via Flaminia cuts across the ridge, the magnetometer survey suggests that it may have passed through a large rectangular space defined by major terrace walls to the east and west. To the east the ridge rises with a terrace defined to the south and west by a major wall of late Roman date which dominated the topography of the later town and presumably defined its extent. To the north, the major remains can now be clearly understood as a temple precinct, built to be visible on the cliff. Along the southern side of the ridge the survey indicates that there were a series of buildings built above the stream and probably predating the Late Roman wall. To the west, the theatre dominated the southern side of the ridge and must have opened onto a terrace on the valley slope below before the valley was infilled. Deeply buried structures suggest the presence of a porticus behind the scena frons. The survey confirms the presence of a number of richly decorated buildings along the northern edge of the ridge. The infilling of the valley between the settlement on the ridge and the amphitheatre must be associated with the construction of the baths. Survey has shown that the infilled valley was not extensively built upon. At either end of it major structures survive, including what are apparently very large cisterns, presumably designed to supply the baths.