- Item
- AIAC_1874
- Name
- La Civitucola
- Date Range
- 800 BC – 1259
- Website
- http://www.bsr.ac.uk
Seasons
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AIAC_1874 - La Civitucola - 2001Geophysical and topographical survey was undertaken at Capena, which forms part of the ‘Roman Towns in the Middle and Lower Tiber Valley Project’. The results build upon earlier work, and provide new information about the layout and development of the site between c. the eighth century BC and the late antique period. The geophysics revealed that the ancient settlement was structured around a road system that followed the ridge of La Civitucola, with branch roads opening off it. They also suggest that in the archaic period the site probably occupied some 3 ha, expanding to c. 8.7 ha under the Republic and then contracting to c. 6 ha in the Imperial period. Ancient structures appear at the western end of the site, around the standing structure of Il Castellaccio, where they are possibly related to the forum of the town, and at a much lower level at the eastern end of the site. Overall the results suggest that while Capena may have been a relatively small town when compared to centres like Falerii Novi, it was probably still quite densely occupied and played an important regional administrative role.
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AIAC_1874 - La Civitucola - 2010This work was undertaken in order to investigate a representative sample of the structures, situated at the centre of the site, and still demarcated by the remains of an ancient monumental building known locally as “Il Castellaccio”. During the first season (2007) two trenches were opened (A and B) in correspondence with the geophysical results obtained by Keay et al. These trenches confirmed the presence of the ancient buildings and, on the basis of the materials in the surface deposits, confirmed that the site was occupied for about 1200 years. During the 2010 season excavations continued in area B and it was extended with the aim of clarifying the functions and chronology of the late Roman complex excavated in previous years. Given that it was protected, at least in part, by material dumped following the site’s abandonment, it was still in a very good state of preservation. Following the enlargement of area B by 2 m towards the west and 2m to the north, it became fairly clear that the structure includes the remains of two parallel rooms. The room on the south side was part of a baths, paved with terracotta slabs (very well-preserved and probably originally below a hypocaust). The northern room (not completely excavated) overlay a wide tufa wall of early imperial date, which crossed the trench on a south-west alignment. This wall seemed to be part of a large podium construction including at least one other wall on a north-east alignment, a fact which may indicate that this was a monumental a cellae construction. This structure had deep foundations that were easily datable thanks to the substantial quantity of pottery found. To date where it has been possible to excavate below the level of the later structures (a difficult task given the latter’s very good state of preservation) large paving slabs of hard tufa have come to light, part of the imperial complex. Some remains of this same floor was also identified in trench A (south of the present excavation area) and on the same level. This suggests that this was a complex, probably public, built on the highest part of the ancient town around the mid 1st century A.D. Therefore, with the late Roman complex, this monumental structure constitutes a very interesting discovery to be placed along side other examples of public building found in the 1930s in the eastern part of the ‘Civitucola’. It now appears clear that ancient Capena continued to flourish despite its proximity to Lucus Feroniae. Together the Roman phases constitute an unprecedented result at Capena and will make a very significant contribution to the understanding of the history of ancient urbanisation in central Italy. In addition, the large quantity of artefacts ( and their excellent state of preservation) will shed light on the dating of regional and local material culture ( mainly pottery and metal artefacts) which will be of great importance for future archaeological research in this part of Italy. Furthermore, the preservation of organic material will facilitate the analysis of floral and faunal remains, to which little attention in has generally been paid in central Italian archaeology. Of particular interest among the finds recovered during the last campaign are the architectural terracottas found in a fill, dating to diverse periods.
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AIAC_1874 - La Civitucola - 2011During the 2011 excavation campaign, the team continued to excavate within the area extended at the end of the previous season. The three main objectives were, first, to expose the late Roman and early Imperial walls covered by a post-occupational layer of building debris; second, to establish the phasing of the site’s stratigraphy; and, third, to establish the type of the site’s final occupation. For the most part, all three objectives were met: occupation layers were exposed across the site, and the presence of early ‘Forum Ware’ in an abandonment layer below the debris indicated that the latter (amongst which some fragments of the same type were also found) was probably formed during the early Mediaeval period, in what appear to have been three (and, in some parts of the site, four) distinct depositional activities. By contrast, the final layer of occupation contained some diagnostic sherds of late sigillata, which confirms our previous assumption that the site was occupied before the Mediaeval period. At the same time, however, it also lowers the date of the final occupation significantly, which some scholars had previously argued to have ended during or shortly after the late third century AD. Yet, some uncertainty remains with regard to the site’s final use: while the interpretation of the southern room (excavated in 2009) as a bath-house provisionally stands, the function of the floor in the area adjacent to it is not entirely clear, although, as the presence of shallow, drain- and basin-like features cut into the hardened surface suggests, it may have involved water or other fluids. In addition, one built feature could be interpreted as a cistern-mouth: as this was over-built by a wall during the final phase of the site’s occupation, however, it is currently impossible to define its function for certain. Moreover, none of the very few artefacts found in the occupational layers contain any further evidence relating to the question of the site’s use, and only a further extension of the area during the next season can lead to more clarity. Although the quality of the floors and walls do not permit deeper excavation in most parts of the site, it will, in addition, be possible, to excavate several key-holes which should throw further light on the previous history of occupation.
Media
- Name
- La Civitucola
- Year
- 2001
- Summary
-
en
Geophysical and topographical survey was undertaken at Capena, which forms part of the ‘Roman Towns in the Middle and Lower Tiber Valley Project’. The results build upon earlier work, and provide new information about the layout and development of the site between c. the eighth century BC and the late antique period.
The geophysics revealed that the ancient settlement was structured around a road system that followed the ridge of La Civitucola, with branch roads opening off it. They also suggest that in the archaic period the site probably occupied some 3 ha, expanding to c. 8.7 ha under the Republic and then contracting to c. 6 ha in the Imperial period. Ancient structures appear at the western end of the site, around the standing structure of Il Castellaccio, where they are possibly related to the forum of the town, and at a much lower level at the eastern end of the site. Overall the results suggest that while Capena may have been a relatively small town when compared to centres like Falerii Novi, it was probably still quite densely occupied and played an important regional administrative role. -
it
A Capena sono state condotte indagini geofisiche e topografiche che costituiscono parte del ‘Roman Towns in the Middle and Lower Tiber Valley Project’. I risultati basati sui primi lavori forniscono nuove informazioni sulla pianta e sullo sviluppo del sito tra l’VIII sec. a.C. e il periodo tardo antico.
La geofisica rivela che l’antico insediamento fu strutturato intorno ad un sistema viario che correva lungo la sommità de La Civitucola, con strade secondarie aperte su essa. Nel periodo arcaico il sito occupava probabilmente 3 ettari, sviluppandosi fino ad 8.7 ettari nel periodo repubblicano e quindi contraendosi fino a 6 ettari in quello imperiale.
Strutture antiche appaiono all’estremità occidentale del sito, intorno alle strutture tuttora visibili pertinenti al cosiddetto Il Castellaccio, dove sono probabilmente collegate ai resti del foro della città romana e ad un livello molto più basso all’estremità orientale del sito. In particolare i risultati suggeriscono che se Capena è stata un città relativamente piccola se paragonata a centri come Falerii Novi, tuttavia era densamente occupata e giocava un importante ruolo amministrativo a livello regionale. - Research Body
- University of Southampton – Archaeological Prospection Services of Southampton
- University of Cambridge
- The British School at Rome
- Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Etruria meridionale
- Funding Body
- Arts and Humanities Research Board
Media
- Name
- La Civitucola
- Year
- 2010
- Summary
-
en
This work was undertaken in order to investigate a representative sample of the structures, situated at the centre of the site, and still demarcated by the remains of an ancient monumental building known locally as “Il Castellaccio”. During the first season (2007) two trenches were opened (A and B) in correspondence with the geophysical results obtained by Keay et al. These trenches confirmed the presence of the ancient buildings and, on the basis of the materials in the surface deposits, confirmed that the site was occupied for about 1200 years.
During the 2010 season excavations continued in area B and it was extended with the aim of clarifying the functions and chronology of the late Roman complex excavated in previous years. Given that it was protected, at least in part, by material dumped following the site’s abandonment, it was still in a very good state of preservation. Following the enlargement of area B by 2 m towards the west and 2m to the north, it became fairly clear that the structure includes the remains of two parallel rooms. The room on the south side was part of a baths, paved with terracotta slabs (very well-preserved and probably originally below a hypocaust). The northern room (not completely excavated) overlay a wide tufa wall of early imperial date, which crossed the trench on a south-west alignment. This wall seemed to be part of a large podium construction including at least one other wall on a north-east alignment, a fact which may indicate that this was a monumental a cellae construction. This structure had deep foundations that were easily datable thanks to the substantial quantity of pottery found. To date where it has been possible to excavate below the level of the later structures (a difficult task given the latter’s very good state of preservation) large paving slabs of hard tufa have come to light, part of the imperial complex. Some remains of this same floor was also identified in trench A (south of the present excavation area) and on the same level. This suggests that this was a complex, probably public, built on the highest part of the ancient town around the mid 1st century A.D.
Therefore, with the late Roman complex, this monumental structure constitutes a very interesting discovery to be placed along side other examples of public building found in the 1930s in the eastern part of the ‘Civitucola’. It now appears clear that ancient Capena continued to flourish despite its proximity to Lucus Feroniae.
Together the Roman phases constitute an unprecedented result at Capena and will make a very significant contribution to the understanding of the history of ancient urbanisation in central Italy. In addition, the large quantity of artefacts ( and their excellent state of preservation) will shed light on the dating of regional and local material culture ( mainly pottery and metal artefacts) which will be of great importance for future archaeological research in this part of Italy. Furthermore, the preservation of organic material will facilitate the analysis of floral and faunal remains, to which little attention in has generally been paid in central Italian archaeology. Of particular interest among the finds recovered during the last campaign are the architectural terracottas found in a fill, dating to diverse periods. -
it
Lo scopo dei lavori è stato quello di investigare un campione rappresentativo delle strutture, situate al centro del sito, è ancora demarcato dai resti di un antico edificio monumentale conosciuto localmente come “Il Castellaccio”. Durante la prima stagione di scavo (2007) erano state aperte due trincee (A e B) in corrispondenza precisa dei risultati geofisici ottenuti da Keay et al. Questi sondaggi sono riusciti ad identificare non solo la presenza di edifici antichi, ma anche l'intervallo temporale dei manufatti portati alla luce nei depositi superficiali, che hanno confermato come durata di vita del sito circa 1200 anni.
Durante la stagione del 2010, si è continuato e allargato lo scavo della trincea B (‘area di scavo’ in seguito), con lo scopo di chiarire le funzioni e la cronologia del complesso tardo-romano scavato negli ultimi anni. Dato che era stata protetta, almeno parzialmente, da materiale scaricato lì dopo l’abbandono del sito, essa è ancora in ottimo stato di conservazione. Seguendo l’estensione della trincea B per altri 2 m verso ovest, e 2 m verso nord, è abbastanza chiaro adesso che la struttura includa i resti di due ambienti paralleli. Nel caso del vano sul lato sud si tratta di un ambiente termale, pavimentato con lastre di terracotta (in ottimo stato di conservazione e probabilmente sottostanti un’ipocausto. L’ambiente al lato nord (finora non completamente scavato) poggia su un muro massiccio di tufo del prima età imperiale, il quale traversa la trincea nell’orientamento sud-ovest e sembra formasse parte di una costruzione di podio di grande dimensioni includendo almeno un’altro muro perpendicolare in direzione nord-est, fatto che potrebbe indicare che si tratti di una costruzione monumentale a cellae. Questa si trovava su fondazioni profonde e ben databili grazie alle considerevoli quantità di ceramica trovata. Laddove è stato possibile finora scavare sotto il livello delle strutture più tarde (un impegno difficile vedendo la ottima conservazione degli ultimi), sono state messe in luce grosse lastre di pavimento di tufo duro, le quali erano parte del complesso della fase imperiale. Vedendo che qualche resto dello stesso pavimento era anche nella trincea A (al sud dell’area di scavo presente) e allo stesso livello, si ipotizza che si tratti di un complesso, probabilmente con funzione pubblica, il quale fu costruito sul punto più elevato della città antica intorno alla metà del primo secolo d.C..
Assieme al complesso tardo romano, questa costruzione monumentale costituisce dunque una scoperta interessantissima, unitamente ad altri esempi di attività di costruzione pubblica rinvenuti negli anni Trenta nella parte est della Civitucola. Sembra adesso evidente che la Capena antica continuasse a fiorire nonostante il vicino insediamento a Lucus Feroniae.
Nel loro insieme, le due fasi romane costituiscono un risultato senza precedenti a Capena e porteranno un contributo di alto significato alla comprensione storica dell’urbanesimo antico nell’Italia centrale. In aggiunta, la grande quantità di manufatti (e la loro conservazione eccellente) permetterà di far luce sulla datazione della cultura materiale regionale e locale, principalmente ceramica e manufatti metallici, che saranno di grande importanza storica per la futura ricerca archeologica in questa parte d’Italia. La conservazione del materiale organico faciliterà, inoltre, le analisi dei resti di flora e fauna, che generalmente sono stati poco considerati nell’archeologia dell’Italia centrale. Tra i manufatti ricuperati durante l’ultima campagna di scavo spiccano in particolare le terracotte architettoniche trovate trai materiali di riempimento, databili in periodi storici diversi. - Summary Author
- Roman Roth
- Research Body
- University of Cape Town
Media
- Name
- La Civitucola
- Year
- 2011
- Summary
-
en
During the 2011 excavation campaign, the team continued to excavate within the area extended at the end of the previous season. The three main objectives were, first, to expose the late Roman and early Imperial walls covered by a post-occupational layer of building debris; second, to establish the phasing of the site’s stratigraphy; and, third, to establish the type of the site’s final occupation.
For the most part, all three objectives were met: occupation layers were exposed across the site, and the presence of early ‘Forum Ware’ in an abandonment layer below the debris indicated that the latter (amongst which some fragments of the same type were also found) was probably formed during the early Mediaeval period, in what appear to have been three (and, in some parts of the site, four) distinct depositional activities. By contrast, the final layer of occupation contained some diagnostic sherds of late sigillata, which confirms our previous assumption that the site was occupied before the Mediaeval period. At the same time, however, it also lowers the date of the final occupation significantly, which some scholars had previously argued to have ended during or shortly after the late third century AD.
Yet, some uncertainty remains with regard to the site’s final use: while the interpretation of the southern room (excavated in 2009) as a bath-house provisionally stands, the function of the floor in the area adjacent to it is not entirely clear, although, as the presence of shallow, drain- and basin-like features cut into the hardened surface suggests, it may have involved water or other fluids. In addition, one built feature could be interpreted as a cistern-mouth: as this was over-built by a wall during the final phase of the site’s occupation, however, it is currently impossible to define its function for certain. Moreover, none of the very few artefacts found in the occupational layers contain any further evidence relating to the question of the site’s use, and only a further extension of the area during the next season can lead to more clarity. Although the quality of the floors and walls do not permit deeper excavation in most parts of the site, it will, in addition, be possible, to excavate several key-holes which should throw further light on the previous history of occupation. -
it
Durante la campagna di scavo 2011, il team ha continuato a scavare all’interno dell’area estesa alla fine della stagione precedente. I tre obiettivi principali sono stati: mettere il luce i muri primo imperiali e tardo Romani coperti da uno strato post-occupazionale di detriti; stabilire la messa in fase della stratigrafia del sito; stabilire il tipo di occupazione finale del sito.
In prevalenza, tutti gli obiettivi preposti sono stati messi a fuoco: gli strati di occupazione sono stati messi in luce la presenza di “Ceramica a vetrina pesante” in uno strato di abbandono al di sotto dei detriti indicava che quest’ultima (all’interno della quale sono stati anche trovati alcuni frammenti dello stesso tipo) si è forse formata durante il primo periodo Medievale, in cui sembra ci siano stati tre diverse attività deposizionali (in alcune parti del sito quattro). Al contrario, invece, lo strato dell’ultimo livello di occupazione conteneva alcuni frammenti di tarda ceramica sigillata, che confermano la nostra iniziale ipotesi che il sito fosse occupato prima del periodo medievale. Allo stesso tempo comunque il dato presentato abbassa in maniera significativa la datazione dell’occupazione finale del sito, che alcuni studiosi avevano precedentemente ipotizzato fosse finite durate o poco dopo la fine del III d.C.
Alcuni dubbi permangono riguardo all’utilizzo finale del sito: mentre perdura l’interpretazione dell’ambiente a sud (scavato nel 2009) come una complesso termale, la funzione del pavimento nell’area adiacente ad esso non è chiara, sebbene possa aver coinvolto acqua o altre sostanze liquide, come suggeriscono la presenza di elementi simili a canalette e vasche tagliate sulla solida superficie. In aggiunta un elemento di costruzione può far pensare alla bocca di una cisterna: dal momento che questa era sormontata da un muro durante la fase finale di occupazione del sito, è impossibile definire con certezza la sua funzione. Inoltre, nessuno dei pochi artefatti trovati negli strati occupazionali contiene ulteriori evidenze relative alla questione dell’utilizzo del sito, e solo un ulteriore estensione dell’area durante la prossima campagna potrà portare maggiore chiarezza. Sebbene la qualità dei pavimenti e dei muri non permetta indagini più in profondità, sarà possibile scavare alcuni punti chiave che dovrebbero gettare luce sulla precedente storia di occupazione dell’area. - Summary Author
- Roman Roth
- Research Body
- University of Cape Town
Media
-
Keay, Millett and Strutt 2006S. Keay, M. Millett and K. Strutt, 2006, An Archaeological Survey of Capena (La Civitucola, Provincia di Roma), in Papers of the British School at Rome 74: 73-118.
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Roth, Roth Murray, 2010R. Roth, C. Roth Murray, 2010, in Papers of the British School at Rome.