Name
Elizabeth Fentress

Season Director

  • 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_185 - S. Pietro di Villamagna - 2007
    A Casale la nostra interpretazione del 2006 che l’ambiente situato a nord-est fosse una _cella vinaria_ per la produzione e per l’immagazzinamento del vino durante la fermentazione è stata confermata dalle indagini di tutta la stanza. Gli scavi hanno rivelato una serie di _dolia_ all’interno della cella. Benché sia il pavimento in _opus spicatum_ sia i _dolia_ stessi siano stati quasi completamente spoliati, i tagli negli strati d’argilla sottostanti mostravano la posizione di 28 di questi contenitori, sistemati su quattro file parallele. A sud della _cella vinaria_ si trova un secondo ambiente, II, definito da un muro che descrive un’emiciclo lungo il lato meridionale. Oltre di quest’ultimo, un secondo muro parallelo genera un ambulatorio, la stanza III. L’interpretazione della stanza II come _coenatio_ deriva non solo dal confronto con strutture analoghe in ville lussuose, ma anche dalle celebri lettere scritte da Marco Aurelio a Frontino (Fron., 4.6), in cui menziona la sua cena nel _torcular_. Verso ovest si trova un’ampia scalinata che costituisce l’entrata all’edificio. Essa è composta da una sequenza di pianerottoli pavimentati con un semplice mosaico bianco, separati da rampe di tre gradini completamente rivestiti di marmo lunense. I muri erano rivestiti con lo stesso marmo separato da lastre di pavonazetto. Un’occupazione più tarda è indicata da circa 200 buche di palo e fosse: quelle databili si inquadrano entro il XII secolo. Tale materiale ci permette di suggerire che il villaggio rappresentato dai buchi di palo era uno dei _casalia_ menzionati nei documenti contemporanei del monastero di S. Pietro di Villamagna. Scavi nell’area della chiesa hanno rivelato una torre campanaria, una fossa dentro la chiesa per la fusione della campana, oltre 200 tombe e strutture relative al monastero stesso. Ad est della chiesa, un nuovo sito, D, ha rivelato una strada romana ben pavimentata che correva in senso est-ovest, lungo cui fu costruita una struttura con una pianta a griglia, distrutta dal fuoco in qualche momento del periodo tardo-imperiale. Sia la strada sia le rovine dell’edificio erano tagliate da un fossato che correva in senso nord-sud attraverso la trincea. Nella sua parte occidentale mucchi di macerie indicano la presenza di una palizzata. Il fossato è datato dalla ceramica e dalle monete approssimativamente alla metà del V sec. d.C.
  • AIAC_185 - S. Pietro di Villamagna - 2009
    In the winery, excavation aimed at determining the limits of the building. To the south of the winery the search for the entrance to the imperial stair – designed to allow the emperor’s litter to be carried up to the press room – revealed a long corridor connected to a bath suite with, so far, a small peristyle court leading to a round _laconicum_. The corridor was as elegantly decorated as the stair, with veneers in Portasanta and Numidian marble and moldings in Luni marble. On the other three sides of the building vaulted substructures were explored, probably intended to hold the _dolia_ in which the wine was fermented. While it had long been known that the site was reoccupied by the medieval village of Villamagna, new this year is the discovery, based on abundant Forum Ware, that this dates to the ninth century. A small oven was found in one of the subterranean vaults, while a series of huts, first sunken-floored and then timber-built, occupied the area of the peristyle from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Excavation at the site of the barracks was completed, two blocks of rooms opening onto a small alley with a central drain. Along with the _dolia_, hearths and querns discovered last year, a number of infants buried under the floors can be taken as proof of the occupation of the space by family units; in two cases these were multiple burials separated by tiles. X-rays of the bone mass suggested that the infants were notably undernourished. The building collapsed around the time of Constantine. A reoccupation towards the end of the fourth century came to a close by the middle of the fifth. At the monastery, excavation of the cemetery brought the total of burials to over 400: anthropological work on these has begun in earnest, with a team of four and the participation of Janet Monge of the University Museum as consultant. Under the cemetery and the remains of the monastic garden is emerging a large paved courtyard dating to the beginning of the villa. The church was constructed directly on top of this, probably in the sixth century, over the foundations of a Roman building. Also fronting onto the piazza is what we interpret as a façade of the imperial residence, whose extension to the north is covered by the monastic buildings. Here again, reoccupation appears to date to the ninth century A.D., although its exact form will be established in the final excavation next year. The form of the thirteenth-century cloister has now been firmly established: built over a cistern with funnel-shaped inlets into its cross-vaulted roof, it combines a cloister courtyard with a substantial _impluvium_.
  • AIAC_185 - S. Pietro di Villamagna - 2010
    The full season covered June and July, and aimed at the completion of all the catalogues. Only two weeks were devoted to digging. At Site B, where the church and monastery of S. Pietro di Villamagna has been excavated by Caroline Goodson, the Roman and Late Roman hases were revealed beneath the cemetery and monastic deposits. The earliest deposit is a paving of white paving stones covering almost the whole area of the excavation. This was clearly a courtyard in front of one of the buildings on the estate, whose facade is visible in the section of the trench. Into this paved area in the third century was constructed a brick building with the same plan as the later church. Too early to be identified as a church, with a beaten-earth floor and without decoration, it was probably a cella vinaria, replacing the earlier, marble-line building at site A. However, a series of burials, including two flanking the door, suggest that during the mid-sixth century it was transformed into a church. The building was removed to foundation level, and a new church built on the same plan, although with three doors in the front facade rather than a single central one. Within the portico surrounding the great court a cella vinaria was established with at least eight large dolia whose pits are visible in two rows: pottery and coins allow us to attribute both events to the second half of the sixth century, probably under the Byzantine emperor Justinian. South of the Hadrianic winery the excavation of the dense sequence of huts that covered atrium the bath building was completed. Although little was left of the decoration, the collapsed marble from the monumental corridor of the baths excavated last year was reconstructed by Dirk Booms to give a complete reconstruction of the wall veneers. The water supply of the villa was also investigated, both in a small cistern that served as a castellum divisoriu and at a monumental fountain between the slave barracks and the villa. Finally, an amphitheatre, clearly visible on a RAF air photograph was investigated by magnetometry, with ambiguous results. The over 500 individuals from the cemetery have now been catalogued, aged, sexed and measured: they are stored in Anagni for future research, the preliminary catalogues of the architectural fragments, sculpture, pottery and other finds are also complete. We hope to complete the publication of the site within a few years.
  • AIAC_1896 - Villa d’Adriano, Villa Fiorentini - 2003
    Magnetometry surveys of two areas of ancient Praeneste were completed during a five-day season in early November 2003. The work successfully revealed and accurately mapped the presence of building structures at both sites. Most of the highlighted anomalies display morphological characteristics associated with planned buildings and structures. More specifically, at Villa d’Adriano several prominent features most probably correspond to the villa complex or perhaps even indicate the vestiges of a peristyle garden from the Roman period. Similarly at Ville Fiorentini results again suggest a series of arranged rooms perhaps laid out in conjunction to road or pathways. Kilns may furthermore be a feature of this site.
  • AIAC_3653 - Utique - 2014
    Tra la fine di settembre e i primi dieci giorni di ottobre 2014 si è svolto ad Utica (Tunisia) il secondo cantiere di restauro sulle pavimentazioni della Maison du Grand Œcus (fig.1). Nei mesi di agosto e settembre era stata portata avanti l’ultimazione dello scavo della porzione Nord-Est della Maison in seno alla collaborazione tra l’Università di Oxford e l’Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisien. Le ricerche avevano messo in luce notevoli porzioni di pavimentazione in mosaico e opus sectile che confermavano l’importanza dell’edificio. Le nuove importanti scoperte accrescevano l’urgenza di un intervento conservativo sia nell’immediato che nella prospettiva di una futura valorizzazione. Il cantiere ha, per questi motivi, avuto due finalità: 1) salvaguardare l’esistente nel presente; 2) progettare la conservazione futura attraverso una protezione del sito e una manutenzione programmata.
  • AIAC_4705 - Volubilis site A - 2018
    Situé plus ou moins au centre de la ville médiévale, le site a été choisi pour son double mur d'enceinte massif, qui enfermait une zone d'environ 900 m2. Très visible lors de notre précédent relevé de la ville, l'enceinte faisait partie de quatre propriétés adjacentes de taille et de technique de construction similaires, disposées de part et d'autre de la route qui traversait la ville du nord au sud. Les quatre murs d'enceinte étaient clairement visibles, ainsi que des traces de murs intérieurs et une grande pièce à l'extrémité sud. La fouille a débuté dans le quadrant nord-ouest, où une série de bâtiments relativement petits a été rapidement visible. Le mieux conservé d'entre eux était une maison à deux pièces, les pièces A et B. La pièce A était manifestement utilisée pour le stockage. Dans sa première phase, elle contenait un silo et divers trous pour les jarres. Un petit mur la séparait de la pièce B, d'une largeur similaire mais dont la longueur n'a pas été déterminée. Des goujons et des charnières montrent qu'il y avait une porte entre les deux pièces. Les sols des deux pièces sont en plâtre soigné, bien que celui de la pièce A semble s'être effondré en son centre. Cette phase semble s'être terminée par un grand incendie. La pièce A, en particulier, s'est remplie de débris provenant d'un grenier situé au-dessus d'elle, dont une grande jarre de stockage qui est tombée sur les poutres calcinées qui la soutenaient. Parmi les découvertes importantes de cet effondrement figurent deux brûleurs d'encens en poterie et une jarre à eau intacte portant un graffito de la lettre berbère S. Le plan de l'ensemble de la maison n'est pas encore clair, car le bord ouest du site semble avoir subi une érosion importante, mais il semble clair que son plan est similaire à celui de la maison élémentaire de Bourdieu, avec une petite pièce pour les réserves couverte par un grenier de stockage, et une pièce plus grande pour l'habitation.
  • AIAC_5650 - Volubilis site E - 2024
    Entre 2018 et 2024, des fouilles ont eu lieu à l'extérieur de la porte principale de la ville, sur un site où des fouilles françaises inédites des années 1950 avaient révélé de nombreux murs médiévaux et quelques tombes romaines. Ces fouilles n'avaient laissé que peu de liens stratigraphiques entre les murs, et la série récente visait donc à reconstruire la stratigraphie et la séquence de construction. L'occupation la plus ancienne retrouvée est un four, produisant de la céramique commune, qui date probablement du premier siècle après J.-C. Aucune autre structure romaine n'a été retrouvée. Aucune autre structure romaine n'a été retrouvée. Au VIIe siècle, le site a été utilisé comme décharge, comme en témoignent d'importants dépôts d'os et de poteries. Les premiers bâtiments médiévaux semblent dater du huitième siècle. Il s'agit de grandes maisons rectangulaires avec des divisions apparentes entre les espaces d'habitation et les étables. Dans l'un des bâtiments, on trouve des traces d'une forge et d'autres activités industrielles possibles, tandis que dans un autre, une cuve a peut-être servi au foulage. Nous sommes donc en présence d'une communauté extra-muros, probablement contemporaine du quartier général d'Idris Ier sur le site B selon les monnaies, mais semblable à bien des égards aux habitats enregistré à l'intérieur des murs.

Season Team

  • AIAC_77 - San Sebastiano - 2003
    The monastery of S. Sebastiano was founded in the hills outside Alatri (Aletrium) in the sixth century, according to textual sources including Gregory the Great. The present project represents the collaboration of a group of Italian and American scholars - archaeologists, art historians, and historians, to describe the history of the abbey from its foundation to the early modern period using structural analysis, archaeological survey, excavation, and archival research. The constructions have been divided into 10 chronological phases, most dated to the period between the 11th -15th centuries. Seven small trenches have clarified the plan of some phases. These have also yielded limited pottery finds confirming dating evidence otherwise indicated by relative chronology of the structures and typological associations. The earliest structures on the site pertain to an aqueduct and terracing walls, though the original extent of the latter has been difficult to ascertain as they lie beneath subsequent structures. The original abbey comprised two parallel rectangular buildings separated by a courtyard, built on a rocky ridge below an abundant spring. These buildings were very tall; one had a second story, the other a monumental arcade of three arches, leading into the church (now entirely rebuilt). To the east of the church, a small triconch tomb was excavated in the tufo, reached by a flight of steps. These structures formed the nucleus of the later abbey, and even today the characteristic masonry of the sixth-century walls is visible, preserved in later additions. Throughout the middle ages, as the cenobitic community of S. Sebastiano grew, the monastery enclosed the areas between the two original structures and expanded along the ridge, creating a compact complex of buildings with diversified spaces including a cloister, chapter room, refectory, kitchens, and other rooms. Modifications to these spaces occurred as the community was replaced by Clarisse in 1234, a precocious house of these mendicant sisters who required strict enclosure. In the mid-fifteenth century, the nuns were evicted, and noted humanist Giovanni Tortelli was charged with the maintenance of S. Sebastiano. Tortelli worked both to preserverve the monastic nature of the buildings and to convert the abbey into a Renaissance villa. (Elizabeth Fentress, Caroline Goodson)

Publication Authors