Season Director

• AIAC_4 - Colle S. Angeletto - 1994
  Dal 1994 è in corso d'indagine la necropoli repubblicana relativa all'abitato di Corcolle. Alcuni studiosi identificano questo centro come l'antica Querquetulum, la città che aiutò i Tarquini dopo la caduta della monarchia e la loro cacciata da Roma. La necropoli è costituita da tombe a fossa e a camera, disposte lungo un asse viario, ricavato nel banco, che attraversa il costone tufaceo secondo la direttrice nord/sud. I corredi tombali recuperati testimoniano un uso della necropoli in età tardo-classica/primo-ellenistica, ma non mancano corredi della prima metà del VI secolo a.C.
• AIAC_5 - Tondo di Zagarolo - 2002
  Scavo di un piccolo anfiteatro, denominato "Tondo di Zagarolo", nei pressi della tagliata di Cavamonte, dove la Prenestina piegava verso nord, in direzione di Gallicano. Il monumento era già noto dagli schizzi di Andrea Palladio, secondo il quale l'anfiteatro, costituito da due anelli concentrici collegati da setti radiali, era a due piani. Le indagini di scavo hanno riportato in luce l'anello interno che delimitava l'arena e i resti dei muri radiali che formavano ambienti coperti da volte a botte. Sono inoltre stati scoperti ambienti sotterranei realizzati lungo gli assi ortogonali dell'anfiteatro e collegati fra loro al centro dell'arena.
• AIAC_51 - Cosiddetta Tomba - 2004
  During this campaign investigation continued of the circular monument (the so-called Sepolcro or Tomba) and a new excavation was undertaken on a nearby rectangular building which was probably a small temple with a frontal flight of steps. As regards the so-called Sepolcro, the trench opened in 2003 was completed and partly enlarged and trenches were put in above the central circular space of the building which removed parts of the apparent tumulus. These investigations clarified various aspects of the monuments history: the floor levels around the building had been completely destroyed, the light well was built in the same phase as the construction of the drum, the flight of steps was built up against a buttress, the structure present on the opposite side of the monument is certainly modern and the peristyle reconstructed by Piranesi around the drum is in reality situated above it. These elements, together with an accurate survey of the structure provide the basis for the first hypothetical reconstructions of the plan and walls. During the next campaign it is planned to extend the excavation around the Sepolcro and partially remove the deposit covering the drum. This will enable the investigation of the central space, which must surely have a decorative marble pavement and statues or sculpted decoration. (Alessandro Betori-Zaccaria Mari)

Season Team

• AIAC_64 - Teatro Greco - 2004
  The 2004 campaign concentrated on the cavea, the perimeter of the building (the _summa cavea_) and the adjacent portico (_porticus ad scaenam_). The excavation looked at the orchestra space in the cavea, at the meeting point between the orchestra and the _parados_. The cavea did not rest directly upon the ground but on an annular tunnel, partially visible at the two ends, through which access was gained to the interior via two rooms. Of the rows of seats only the core in _opus caementicium_ remains, completely robbed of its marble cladding. The side edge of the rows of seats was formed by a balustrade inserted above the corridor and whose presence seems to confirm that the _paradoi_ were open corridors. It can be deduced that the perimeter was not semicircular but ultra-elliptical, and that the orchestra and seating rows were not perfectly semicircular. The excavation of the _summa cavea_ revealed the presence of a rectangular construction, placed above a crypt at the top of the seating, in correspondence with the monument’s axis. This space was interpreted as the Imperial box, placed in the highest point in order to underline the Emperor’s importance, which combines the religious and imperial functions and seems appropriate for a building conceived, by its nature, to exalt the importance of the Emperor with respect to the rest of the spectators. In the _porticus ad scaenum_, the excavation led to the identification of a double terrace that was part of a terrace system that is largely hidden by modern walls that have been built on top of it. Excavation of the upper terrace revealed a raised portico on pilasters with a pavement in _opus sectile_ with a continuous geometric pattern, the first of its type in the Villa, the edges bordered by rectangles placed at a tangent and rhombi, in pavonazzetto, rosso antico and portasanta marble. The central open space was paved with a mosaic in _opus scutulatum_ of the type already present in the _Antinoeion_. However, the excavation has still not been able to provide a complete understanding of the terrace system, with _exedrae_ and niches containing sculptures described by Ligorio in the 16th century. (MiBAC) The results of the 2005 campaign will be made known in a monograph due to be published in 2006. (MiBAC)