The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained i... more The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained in 1956, fifteen centuries ago was the seat of a fortified settlement and in the Middle Ages a church dedicated to St. Andrew was built on its top. After sporadic discoveries started in the 19th century, in 1998 the Archeaology Department of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project on the site, comprising a series of summer excavation campaigns. The archaeological investigations, completed in 2017, have brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the Prehistoric age to Late Antiquity, Medieval times and even until the First World War. While the first volume (published in 2016) was about the results of the research concerning the 5th-7th century castrum, this second work takes into consideration the results of the archaeological research in the area of the church (Sectors C and C1) L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Rus Africum IV: La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
In 1891 Louis Carton discovered a Severian copy of the lex divi Hadriani de rudibus agris in the ... more In 1891 Louis Carton discovered a Severian copy of the lex divi Hadriani de rudibus agris in the rural site of Aïn Wassel, and this is why in 1994 this site was chosen in order to investigate the work and living conditions of the sharecroppers who had asked Septimius Severus the application of that lex. The lex granted the land for cultivation to the coloni who had requested this application, allowing them to bequeath it to their heirs. Many historic and juridical studies had analyzed this and other six (now seven) so-called ‘great agrarian inscriptions’, which were found in the Medjerda valley. The 252 m2 excavated during three campaigns between 1994-96 have revealed part of a Byzantine farm built around 600 AD on top of a previous structure and abandoned in the early 8th c. This chronology is based on the in-depth analysis of a conspicuous amount of pottery, amphoras, coins, glass and metal finds. The excavation also aimed at providing a stratigraphic model to apply to the other sites discovered during the field-survey of Map 33 (Téboursouk) of the Carte Nationale des Sites Archéologiques et des Monuments Historiques in progress, on behalf of the Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunisie, s. http://rusafricum.org/en/thugga survey/ Thanks to the excavation we have a precise chrono-typology of pottery and amphoras, the stratigraphic sequence of the Vandal and Byzantine period was outlined, which was confirmed by other data coming from the field survey. The size of the excavated area -252 m2 -, is rather limited compared the 8000 m2 of the whole settlement, but all the same significant. Until today Aïn Wassel is the only rural site of Africa Proconsularis which has been excavated with stratigraphic method, published in detail and thanks to archaeological field survey related to the surrounding rural region. The field survey outlined the history of the settlement, which started on or near the estate of the Late Republican triumphator, Titus Statilius Taurus, who was the brilliant general of Octavian. After the transfer from Statilius’ great-grandson to Agrippina or Nero, the estate took the name of Saltus Neronianus. Its farmers worked as sharecroppers in accordance with the tenure arrangement, known as lex Manciana, with remarkable success. Local imitations of African Red Slip (ARS) wares are identified for the first time during the excavation of Aïn Wassel and during the field survey of the surrounding region of Map 33. They were not found on the coast, only in the hinterland along the via a Karthagine Thevestem, which was North Africa’s backbone. So far, during the survey of Map 33, no kilns were discovered; therefore the tableware came from so far unknown northern Tunisian kilns, except some ARS D1 high quality forms coming from El-Mahrine (76 km to the north near the Medjerda river) and from El Gattar (70 km to the south, central Tunisia). Three new types of large amphoras were discovered at Aïn Wassel, and classified as Aïn Wassel 1, 2 and 3. The partial excavation of this rural settlement proved that in the 7th c AD north Africa was still very active and dynamic, where regional trade used both fluvial and ground transportation. Until recent times, this was considered instead as a period of crisis, abandonment of the countryside and ruralization of cities; it was not so.
L’articolo ripercorre le vicende relative alla donazione alla città di Rovereto di un antico capi... more L’articolo ripercorre le vicende relative alla donazione alla città di Rovereto di un antico capitello corinzio di lesena proveniente da Creta, a partire dall’iniziativa di Paolo Orsi di promuovere la costituzione di un Comitato onorare con un monumento la memoria di Federico Halbherr, morto a Roma nel luglio del 1930. Orsi propose di utilizzare un marmo proveniente dagli scavi di Halbherr a Creta, ricevendo l’approvazione entusiastica del direttore della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, Alessandro Della Seta. Attraverso una serie di documenti d’archivio si ricostruiscono così le tappe che portarono alla consegna del capitello marmoreo da parte del Museo di Candia. Il reperto non venne utilizzato per l’esecuzione del monumento, realizzato da Alcide Ticò e inaugurato nel 1937, ma fu esposto accanto a esso nella loggia del cortile del Palazzo dell’Annona; infine, per esigenze legate ad attività di ristrutturazione architettonica, fu prelevato e collocato presso il Museo Civico di Rovereto, dove si trova attualmente
The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1985-1998 in the site of Vigna Barberini ... more The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1985-1998 in the site of Vigna Barberini on the Palatine hill by the French School at Rome in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome leaded to the identification of the remains of a prestigious residential area occupied by one (maybe two) domus going back to the Julio-Claudian age. During this research a big amount of fragmentary wall paintings has been unearthed. After an article concerning a preliminary analysis of the oldest fragments among those brought to light, this paper aims at presenting a selection of the most significant finds belonging to the third and the fourth style
Alpine Festungen 400–1000. Chronologie, Räume und Funktionen, Netzwerke, Interpretationen,, 2020
The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 2016 and 2017 by the Archaeology Section ... more The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 2016 and 2017 by the Archaeology Section of the Rovereto Civic Museum Foundation on the island of Sant'Andrea in the Provincial Natural Reserve “Lago di Loppio” (Trentino Region, Italy), have brought to light, near the Church of St. Andrea, the remains of a rectangular stone building of uncertain nature, whose chronology can be placed between the 14th and the 16th centuries. It was built on the sparse remains of an older structure, demolished and levelled, that seems to go back to the Late Antique/Early Medieval period. In the strata of destruction that covered this building a quantity of fragmentary iron strips has been found. These findings can be attributed to a lamellar armour and seem to confirm the military nature of the site in Late Antiquity
Rus Africum IV. La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
This chapter examines the terracotta containers used for transport and storage (amphoras and jars... more This chapter examines the terracotta containers used for transport and storage (amphoras and jars) found during the archaeological excavation of Aïn Wassel. Most of them were in fragments, but in some cases they were fully or partially reassembled. We have 1968 assembled items, mainly consisting of body sherds and only occasionally belonging to rims, handles or bases; only 290 fragments can be used to reconstruct the shape and typology of the vessels. The most significant fragments were moved to the Archaeology Laboratory of the University of Trento, where it was possible to complete their graphic and photographic documentation; other material was stored in the warehouses created inside the Roman cisterns of Dougga.
The stereoscopic microscope analysis showed that almost all vessels belong to the North African production; import amphoras are almost completely absent: there is only one fragment of a Late Roman Amphora 1, a transport wine container produced in the Aegean region. The numerous amphoras prove that food was imported from different areas of the Provincia Africa; they mainly date to the 7th c AD.
Most of the African vessels found during the excavation are different from known amphora types. Only a very limited number could be compared to types used for interprovincial trade, in particular Keay LXI and LXII; however, they show only a generic morphological and technological similarity to those types. Other types found in the site of Aïn Wassel are the amphora Keay L, two small spatheia, two ovoid jars and a significant number of Castrum Perti type amphorae: all of them have interprovincial diffusion.
As for the other types identified at Aïn Wassel (amphoras and jars), there is an almost complete lack of typological comparisons, probably due to the state of research on this subject in North Africa. This suggests a limited local production which was little widespread, probably meant for ‘intraprovincial’ trade only. This is the case of four large-sized cylindrical amphorae found in situ in room A. 15: only two of them can be compared with a type called Sidi Jdidi 2/Bonifay 55, which was produced in the region of Nabeul/Hammamet/Sidi Jdidi and is not known outside Africa. The other ones, Aïn Wassel 1 e 2, find no parallels in Africa nor elsewhere and may be considered a local production – even if amphora kilns are not yet known in the Dougga region. They were probably used as transport containers and also for storage and processing of agricultural products; various types of jars found in the excavation were also used for transport and storage. Unfortunately there is no evidence about their content: probably it was olive oil; in one case olive kernels were found together with the amphora fragments.
The final part of Chapter 4 is dedicated to the contextualization of the finds coming from Aïn Wassel in the wider African scene and to some considerations about the economic history of North Africa in Late Antiquity. In particular, the evidence provided by the amphoras of Ain Wassel shows that this settlement was well-placed within a lively intraprovincial market, until the beginning of the Islamic age. This helps us in correcting the idea of a drastic fall of the agricultural production of the African countryside in the 7th century AD.
Rus Africum IV. La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
Chapter 2 discusses the stratigraphic evidence of the archaeological excavation conducted in the ... more Chapter 2 discusses the stratigraphic evidence of the archaeological excavation conducted in the years 1994-1996 by the University of Trento on the south east slope of the hill of Aïn Wassel. The research, that covered an area of about 250 squared meters, led to the discovery of the north-western part of a large Byzantine farm probably organized in three masonry blocks around a large open courtyard. The building that was unearthed by the archaeological excavation was apparently composed by sixteen rooms (A. 1, A. 2, A.3, A. 4, A.5, A. 6, A. 7, A. 8, A. 9, A. 10/13, A. 11/16/17, A 12, A. 14, A. 15, A. 18, A. 19). Not in all rooms the archaeological deposits were completely removed due to various reasons.
In every single room the excavated deposits are analysed in detail. The description of the stratigraphy is organized in a diachronic sense, starting from the deeper levels and from the earliest periods to reach the superficial levels and the more recent periods. This description is based on a chronological framework: the periodization of the archaeological evidence is divided in three main Periods of different duration, Period I corresponding to the evidence preceding the construction of the Byzantine farm, Period II to the construction, the use and the abandonment of the rural settlement, and Period III to the long time span going from the disuse of the ancient building to the modern age. The Periods were in turn divided into Phases called A, B and C. Within this grid the 253 contexts (‘actions’) have been assembled in groups of actions called Activities.
The complexity of the relationships between single actions and between actions and activities has been translated into diagrams; in particular, one single matrix of activities interprets the archaeological evidence of the entire excavation, while the stratigraphic sequences of any single room are illustrated by detailed stratigraphic matrices, in which all the actions composing the activities are displayed.
After the discussion of the stratigraphic evidence regarding every single room, the chronological data are briefly examined and the most significant dating finds are displayed in tables. Some hypotheses are also expressed about the functionality of the living spaces.
The final section of this chapter summarizes the main conclusions of the research, starting with the interpretation of the most ancient evidence (4th-6th c. AD), consisting in the scarce remains of a masonry building and in a late antique burial, that preceded the construction of the Byzantine rural settlement. The construction technique and the building materials, the functional organization of the living spaces and the chronology of the farm, built between the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD and abandoned by the beginning of the 8th century AD, are then examined. Finally the scant archaeological evidence concerning the period that followed the abandonment of the rural settlement (8th-20th c. AD) is briefly discussed.
The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained i... more The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained in 1956, fifteen centuries ago was the seat of a fortified settlement and in the Middle Ages a church dedicated to St. Andrew was built on its top. After sporadic discoveries started in the 19th century, in 1998 the Archeaology Department of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project on the site, comprising a series of summer excavation campaigns. The archaeological investigations, completed in 2017, have brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the Prehistoric age to Late Antiquity, Medieval times and even until the First World War. While the first volume (published in 2016) was about the results of the research concerning the 5th-7th century castrum, this second work takes into consideration the results of the archaeological research in the area of the church (Sectors C and C1)
L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Mariarosaria Barbera (ed.) La collezione Gorga. Museo Nazionale Romano. Milano , 1999
Mariette de Vos, Gli stili “pompeiani” a Roma. In margine al materiale della collezione Gorga, 22... more Mariette de Vos, Gli stili “pompeiani” a Roma. In margine al materiale della collezione Gorga, 223-233 Barbara Maurina, Frammenti d’intonaco e stucco romani: una panoramica, 234-295 A selection of fragmented wall and ceiling paintings and stucco frames from the huge Gorga collection is analyzed, documented and contextualized in two papers. They merit attention because of their provenance from Rome and environments, filling the gap of the meager quantity frescoes known from the metropolis and rebalancing discretely the history of Roman wall painting based almost entirely on Campanian material. The fragments were acquired during the first half of the 19th century by the collector E. Gorga and passed recently to the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome. The first paper by M. de Vos presents a concise chronological overview of the different systems of wall decoration in the Mediterranean worlds, on purpose not taking in consideration the Vesuvian area, from the 4th century BC until the III century AD, through the four ‘styles’ and post-Pompeian ways of decoration. The second paper by B. Maurina contains an in deep analysis and illustration of the painted fragments and a description of the different layers which compose their support by observation through microscope. The reduction of quality in preparation layers (tectorium) and in finesse of painted motifs in 4th style fragments deserves attention and is attested both in Rome and the Vesuvian area.
Nell’iter formativo dell’archeologo Orsi il periodo roveretano e l’esperienza presso il locale mu... more Nell’iter formativo dell’archeologo Orsi il periodo roveretano e l’esperienza presso il locale museo civico rappresentano un punto di partenza di fondamentale importanza. Qui prende infatti forma, sia nell’indagine di superficie che nello scavo archeologico, una metodologia che il grande studioso avrebbe poi perfezionato e applicato su più vasta scala nelle sue instancabili ricerche nei territori della Sicilia e della Magna Grecia.
Gli scavi archeologici condotti fra il 1985 e il 1998 dall’École Française de Rome in collaborazi... more Gli scavi archeologici condotti fra il 1985 e il 1998 dall’École Française de Rome in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma nel sito di Vigna Barberini sul Palatino, hanno condotto all’individuazione dei resti di un prestigioso quartiere residenziale occupato da una (forse due) domus di epoca giulio-claudia. Nel corso delle indagini è stata rinvenuta una ingente quantità di intonaci dipinti allo stato frammentario. In attesa dell’edizione completa dei risultati delle ricerche, il presente contributo si propone di esaminare, in via preliminare, una selezione dei frammenti più significativi e più antichi fra quelli messi in luce. Tali reperti si collocano cronologicamente tra la fine del II secolo a.C. e la prima età augustea ; mentre solo una parte esigua è attribuibile al primo stile, sono numerosi gli esemplari riconducibili al periodo finale del secondo stile e alla fase di transizione fra il secondo e il terzo stile; fra questi ultimi è particolarmente interessante un insieme di frammenti con foglia d’oro e con raffigurazioni egittizzanti, che probabilmente dovevano rivestire uno degli ambienti più importanti della domus di epoca giulio-claudia
The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De R... more The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De Rossi in the years 1990-2005, yielded a plethora of fragments of frescoes and stucco. The authors present a selection of the materials found in two rooms of the balneum of the villa (sudatorium 19 and caldarium 23/39). The plaster fragments seem to be part of a wall fresco, whose paratactic scheme can be assigned to the transition phase from the 3rd to the 4th Pompeian style. The scaenae frontes of the rooms were decorated by stucco figures of high quality, which represent wrestlers, portraits of old men (imagines maiorum?) and a seated female figure with an Eros (Venus?). In the public and private baths of the Vesuvian area, all the scaenae frontes date back to the years between the earthquake of 62 AD and the eruption of 79 AD. If the Ventotene stucco fragments belonged to the same decoration phase of the wall frescoes that were found together with them, they are to be dated some 20 years earlier than the Vesuvian examples
Si propongono alcuni spunti di riflessione sulla metodologia di ricerca adottata da Paolo Orsi in... more Si propongono alcuni spunti di riflessione sulla metodologia di ricerca adottata da Paolo Orsi in ambito archeologico e in particolare nell’indagine di superficie, a partire dagli anni della formazione trentina. Tale metodo, ovunque lo studioso venne a trovarsi, lo portò a perlustrare minuziosamente il terreno, incurante delle asperità dei luoghi, dei rigori climatici e dei pericoli che le escursioni in terre incognite comportavano. A riprova di ciò si presentano alcuni documenti inediti, facenti parte degli archivi della Fondazione Sergio Poggianella e della Fondazione Museo Civico di Roveret
In the last 20 years archaeological excavations have provided new and significant evidence of the... more In the last 20 years archaeological excavations have provided new and significant evidence of the import of pottery in the Trentino – South Tyrol Region (Northern Italy) during the Roman and Late Antique period. In particular, although the material was mostly found in a highly fragmentary state, the evidence of amphora sherds unearthed in urban and rural sites, points out that in this territory from the 1 st century BC to the Early Medieval period there was an almost constant demand for essential goods (especially wine, olive oil and fish sauces) usually transported in amphorae and that the region was part of a long distance exchange circuit supplied by seaborne trade. The recorded amphora types are quite numerous and show a provision of foodstuff both from Italy (especially between the 1 st century BC and the 2 nd century AD) and from different Mediterranean regions (Greece and Spain particularly in the first two centuries AD; North Africa and the Near East especially in the 4 th –7 th centuries AD). This supply was available thanks to a commercial circuit mainly East oriented through the NorthEast Adriatic Region, thank to a well developed waterways network connected to the River Adige and a road system based on the via Claudia augusta. This contribution presents a synthesis of the more recent data on the presence of Roman and late antique amphorae in urban and rural contexts and their meaning for the regional economy.
Since 1998 the Museo Civico di Rovereto-Archaeological Department has been carrying out excavatio... more Since 1998 the Museo Civico di Rovereto-Archaeological Department has been carrying out excavation campaigns at the site of Loppio - S. Andrea, in the Regione Trentino in Northern Italy. The unearthed masonry structures in the dig areas named A and B are parts of a late antique-early medieval fortified settlement (castrum), characterized by a sequence of different building phases. Many finds belonging to weaponry and soldiers equipment suggest that this site, strategically located along the ancient route going from the Adige Valley to the North Garda Lake, was settled for military reasons and housed soldiers with their families. Based on the finds studied so far, the settlement can date back to at least the first half of the 6th century AD. It seems possible to identify an Ostrogothic-Byzantine phase, followed by a Lombard phase; a Carolingian presence is also documented in the site. A total amount of 90 coins has been found, mainly consisting of late Roman bronze specimens which served as local loose change currency; Gothic and Byzantine coins in silver and gold are also well attested, offering a very representative view of integration of old 4th-5th centuries issues in the three-metallic 6th century monetary system, as well of their re-use within the Lombard society.
FOLD&R Fasti On Line Documents & Research, 402, 2018
The author presents a set of wall fresco and stucco fragments unearthed during the archaeological... more The author presents a set of wall fresco and stucco fragments unearthed during the archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1990-1995 by Andrea Carandini in the area of the domus Publica on the Palatine Hill in Rome. They come from dump layers that have been deposited in order to obliterate demolished structures and raise the floor levels of the site. Most of them have a monochrome surface that is not useful for classification, but the analysis of the technique features and the ornamental repertoire of the decorated ones allowed the identification of different stylistic periods. In particular, a small amount of fragments can be assigned to the first Pompeian style, while the most of them have been divided into different units attributable to various phases of the second style. Very significant in the chronology of the context is the presence of fragments that can be ascribed to the transition phase from the second to the third Pompeian style (20-10 B.C.). There are also three different types of stucco mouldings. Key-words: Rome, Palatin Hill, fresco wall paintings, stucco mouldings, first style, second style, transition phase.
This article is part of the publication of the Archaeological excavation of the Roman Villa of Is... more This article is part of the publication of the Archaeological excavation of the Roman Villa of Isera in the River Adige Valley, conducted by the Civic Museum of Rovereto in collaboration with the University of Trento.
Architectural features, articulation of the building, chronology and contextualization in the territory are taken into consideration here.
The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained i... more The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained in 1956, fifteen centuries ago was the seat of a fortified settlement and in the Middle Ages a church dedicated to St. Andrew was built on its top. After sporadic discoveries started in the 19th century, in 1998 the Archeaology Department of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project on the site, comprising a series of summer excavation campaigns. The archaeological investigations, completed in 2017, have brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the Prehistoric age to Late Antiquity, Medieval times and even until the First World War. While the first volume (published in 2016) was about the results of the research concerning the 5th-7th century castrum, this second work takes into consideration the results of the archaeological research in the area of the church (Sectors C and C1) L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Rus Africum IV: La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
In 1891 Louis Carton discovered a Severian copy of the lex divi Hadriani de rudibus agris in the ... more In 1891 Louis Carton discovered a Severian copy of the lex divi Hadriani de rudibus agris in the rural site of Aïn Wassel, and this is why in 1994 this site was chosen in order to investigate the work and living conditions of the sharecroppers who had asked Septimius Severus the application of that lex. The lex granted the land for cultivation to the coloni who had requested this application, allowing them to bequeath it to their heirs. Many historic and juridical studies had analyzed this and other six (now seven) so-called ‘great agrarian inscriptions’, which were found in the Medjerda valley. The 252 m2 excavated during three campaigns between 1994-96 have revealed part of a Byzantine farm built around 600 AD on top of a previous structure and abandoned in the early 8th c. This chronology is based on the in-depth analysis of a conspicuous amount of pottery, amphoras, coins, glass and metal finds. The excavation also aimed at providing a stratigraphic model to apply to the other sites discovered during the field-survey of Map 33 (Téboursouk) of the Carte Nationale des Sites Archéologiques et des Monuments Historiques in progress, on behalf of the Institut National du Patrimoine de Tunisie, s. http://rusafricum.org/en/thugga survey/ Thanks to the excavation we have a precise chrono-typology of pottery and amphoras, the stratigraphic sequence of the Vandal and Byzantine period was outlined, which was confirmed by other data coming from the field survey. The size of the excavated area -252 m2 -, is rather limited compared the 8000 m2 of the whole settlement, but all the same significant. Until today Aïn Wassel is the only rural site of Africa Proconsularis which has been excavated with stratigraphic method, published in detail and thanks to archaeological field survey related to the surrounding rural region. The field survey outlined the history of the settlement, which started on or near the estate of the Late Republican triumphator, Titus Statilius Taurus, who was the brilliant general of Octavian. After the transfer from Statilius’ great-grandson to Agrippina or Nero, the estate took the name of Saltus Neronianus. Its farmers worked as sharecroppers in accordance with the tenure arrangement, known as lex Manciana, with remarkable success. Local imitations of African Red Slip (ARS) wares are identified for the first time during the excavation of Aïn Wassel and during the field survey of the surrounding region of Map 33. They were not found on the coast, only in the hinterland along the via a Karthagine Thevestem, which was North Africa’s backbone. So far, during the survey of Map 33, no kilns were discovered; therefore the tableware came from so far unknown northern Tunisian kilns, except some ARS D1 high quality forms coming from El-Mahrine (76 km to the north near the Medjerda river) and from El Gattar (70 km to the south, central Tunisia). Three new types of large amphoras were discovered at Aïn Wassel, and classified as Aïn Wassel 1, 2 and 3. The partial excavation of this rural settlement proved that in the 7th c AD north Africa was still very active and dynamic, where regional trade used both fluvial and ground transportation. Until recent times, this was considered instead as a period of crisis, abandonment of the countryside and ruralization of cities; it was not so.
L’articolo ripercorre le vicende relative alla donazione alla città di Rovereto di un antico capi... more L’articolo ripercorre le vicende relative alla donazione alla città di Rovereto di un antico capitello corinzio di lesena proveniente da Creta, a partire dall’iniziativa di Paolo Orsi di promuovere la costituzione di un Comitato onorare con un monumento la memoria di Federico Halbherr, morto a Roma nel luglio del 1930. Orsi propose di utilizzare un marmo proveniente dagli scavi di Halbherr a Creta, ricevendo l’approvazione entusiastica del direttore della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, Alessandro Della Seta. Attraverso una serie di documenti d’archivio si ricostruiscono così le tappe che portarono alla consegna del capitello marmoreo da parte del Museo di Candia. Il reperto non venne utilizzato per l’esecuzione del monumento, realizzato da Alcide Ticò e inaugurato nel 1937, ma fu esposto accanto a esso nella loggia del cortile del Palazzo dell’Annona; infine, per esigenze legate ad attività di ristrutturazione architettonica, fu prelevato e collocato presso il Museo Civico di Rovereto, dove si trova attualmente
The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1985-1998 in the site of Vigna Barberini ... more The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1985-1998 in the site of Vigna Barberini on the Palatine hill by the French School at Rome in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome leaded to the identification of the remains of a prestigious residential area occupied by one (maybe two) domus going back to the Julio-Claudian age. During this research a big amount of fragmentary wall paintings has been unearthed. After an article concerning a preliminary analysis of the oldest fragments among those brought to light, this paper aims at presenting a selection of the most significant finds belonging to the third and the fourth style
Alpine Festungen 400–1000. Chronologie, Räume und Funktionen, Netzwerke, Interpretationen,, 2020
The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 2016 and 2017 by the Archaeology Section ... more The archaeological excavations carried out in the years 2016 and 2017 by the Archaeology Section of the Rovereto Civic Museum Foundation on the island of Sant'Andrea in the Provincial Natural Reserve “Lago di Loppio” (Trentino Region, Italy), have brought to light, near the Church of St. Andrea, the remains of a rectangular stone building of uncertain nature, whose chronology can be placed between the 14th and the 16th centuries. It was built on the sparse remains of an older structure, demolished and levelled, that seems to go back to the Late Antique/Early Medieval period. In the strata of destruction that covered this building a quantity of fragmentary iron strips has been found. These findings can be attributed to a lamellar armour and seem to confirm the military nature of the site in Late Antiquity
Rus Africum IV. La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
This chapter examines the terracotta containers used for transport and storage (amphoras and jars... more This chapter examines the terracotta containers used for transport and storage (amphoras and jars) found during the archaeological excavation of Aïn Wassel. Most of them were in fragments, but in some cases they were fully or partially reassembled. We have 1968 assembled items, mainly consisting of body sherds and only occasionally belonging to rims, handles or bases; only 290 fragments can be used to reconstruct the shape and typology of the vessels. The most significant fragments were moved to the Archaeology Laboratory of the University of Trento, where it was possible to complete their graphic and photographic documentation; other material was stored in the warehouses created inside the Roman cisterns of Dougga.
The stereoscopic microscope analysis showed that almost all vessels belong to the North African production; import amphoras are almost completely absent: there is only one fragment of a Late Roman Amphora 1, a transport wine container produced in the Aegean region. The numerous amphoras prove that food was imported from different areas of the Provincia Africa; they mainly date to the 7th c AD.
Most of the African vessels found during the excavation are different from known amphora types. Only a very limited number could be compared to types used for interprovincial trade, in particular Keay LXI and LXII; however, they show only a generic morphological and technological similarity to those types. Other types found in the site of Aïn Wassel are the amphora Keay L, two small spatheia, two ovoid jars and a significant number of Castrum Perti type amphorae: all of them have interprovincial diffusion.
As for the other types identified at Aïn Wassel (amphoras and jars), there is an almost complete lack of typological comparisons, probably due to the state of research on this subject in North Africa. This suggests a limited local production which was little widespread, probably meant for ‘intraprovincial’ trade only. This is the case of four large-sized cylindrical amphorae found in situ in room A. 15: only two of them can be compared with a type called Sidi Jdidi 2/Bonifay 55, which was produced in the region of Nabeul/Hammamet/Sidi Jdidi and is not known outside Africa. The other ones, Aïn Wassel 1 e 2, find no parallels in Africa nor elsewhere and may be considered a local production – even if amphora kilns are not yet known in the Dougga region. They were probably used as transport containers and also for storage and processing of agricultural products; various types of jars found in the excavation were also used for transport and storage. Unfortunately there is no evidence about their content: probably it was olive oil; in one case olive kernels were found together with the amphora fragments.
The final part of Chapter 4 is dedicated to the contextualization of the finds coming from Aïn Wassel in the wider African scene and to some considerations about the economic history of North Africa in Late Antiquity. In particular, the evidence provided by the amphoras of Ain Wassel shows that this settlement was well-placed within a lively intraprovincial market, until the beginning of the Islamic age. This helps us in correcting the idea of a drastic fall of the agricultural production of the African countryside in the 7th century AD.
Rus Africum IV. La fattoria Bizantina di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia), 2019
Chapter 2 discusses the stratigraphic evidence of the archaeological excavation conducted in the ... more Chapter 2 discusses the stratigraphic evidence of the archaeological excavation conducted in the years 1994-1996 by the University of Trento on the south east slope of the hill of Aïn Wassel. The research, that covered an area of about 250 squared meters, led to the discovery of the north-western part of a large Byzantine farm probably organized in three masonry blocks around a large open courtyard. The building that was unearthed by the archaeological excavation was apparently composed by sixteen rooms (A. 1, A. 2, A.3, A. 4, A.5, A. 6, A. 7, A. 8, A. 9, A. 10/13, A. 11/16/17, A 12, A. 14, A. 15, A. 18, A. 19). Not in all rooms the archaeological deposits were completely removed due to various reasons.
In every single room the excavated deposits are analysed in detail. The description of the stratigraphy is organized in a diachronic sense, starting from the deeper levels and from the earliest periods to reach the superficial levels and the more recent periods. This description is based on a chronological framework: the periodization of the archaeological evidence is divided in three main Periods of different duration, Period I corresponding to the evidence preceding the construction of the Byzantine farm, Period II to the construction, the use and the abandonment of the rural settlement, and Period III to the long time span going from the disuse of the ancient building to the modern age. The Periods were in turn divided into Phases called A, B and C. Within this grid the 253 contexts (‘actions’) have been assembled in groups of actions called Activities.
The complexity of the relationships between single actions and between actions and activities has been translated into diagrams; in particular, one single matrix of activities interprets the archaeological evidence of the entire excavation, while the stratigraphic sequences of any single room are illustrated by detailed stratigraphic matrices, in which all the actions composing the activities are displayed.
After the discussion of the stratigraphic evidence regarding every single room, the chronological data are briefly examined and the most significant dating finds are displayed in tables. Some hypotheses are also expressed about the functionality of the living spaces.
The final section of this chapter summarizes the main conclusions of the research, starting with the interpretation of the most ancient evidence (4th-6th c. AD), consisting in the scarce remains of a masonry building and in a late antique burial, that preceded the construction of the Byzantine rural settlement. The construction technique and the building materials, the functional organization of the living spaces and the chronology of the farm, built between the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD and abandoned by the beginning of the 8th century AD, are then examined. Finally the scant archaeological evidence concerning the period that followed the abandonment of the rural settlement (8th-20th c. AD) is briefly discussed.
The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained i... more The island of Saint Andrew (Isola di Sant’Andrea), located in the basin of Lake Loppio, drained in 1956, fifteen centuries ago was the seat of a fortified settlement and in the Middle Ages a church dedicated to St. Andrew was built on its top. After sporadic discoveries started in the 19th century, in 1998 the Archeaology Department of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project on the site, comprising a series of summer excavation campaigns. The archaeological investigations, completed in 2017, have brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the Prehistoric age to Late Antiquity, Medieval times and even until the First World War. While the first volume (published in 2016) was about the results of the research concerning the 5th-7th century castrum, this second work takes into consideration the results of the archaeological research in the area of the church (Sectors C and C1)
L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Mariarosaria Barbera (ed.) La collezione Gorga. Museo Nazionale Romano. Milano , 1999
Mariette de Vos, Gli stili “pompeiani” a Roma. In margine al materiale della collezione Gorga, 22... more Mariette de Vos, Gli stili “pompeiani” a Roma. In margine al materiale della collezione Gorga, 223-233 Barbara Maurina, Frammenti d’intonaco e stucco romani: una panoramica, 234-295 A selection of fragmented wall and ceiling paintings and stucco frames from the huge Gorga collection is analyzed, documented and contextualized in two papers. They merit attention because of their provenance from Rome and environments, filling the gap of the meager quantity frescoes known from the metropolis and rebalancing discretely the history of Roman wall painting based almost entirely on Campanian material. The fragments were acquired during the first half of the 19th century by the collector E. Gorga and passed recently to the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome. The first paper by M. de Vos presents a concise chronological overview of the different systems of wall decoration in the Mediterranean worlds, on purpose not taking in consideration the Vesuvian area, from the 4th century BC until the III century AD, through the four ‘styles’ and post-Pompeian ways of decoration. The second paper by B. Maurina contains an in deep analysis and illustration of the painted fragments and a description of the different layers which compose their support by observation through microscope. The reduction of quality in preparation layers (tectorium) and in finesse of painted motifs in 4th style fragments deserves attention and is attested both in Rome and the Vesuvian area.
Nell’iter formativo dell’archeologo Orsi il periodo roveretano e l’esperienza presso il locale mu... more Nell’iter formativo dell’archeologo Orsi il periodo roveretano e l’esperienza presso il locale museo civico rappresentano un punto di partenza di fondamentale importanza. Qui prende infatti forma, sia nell’indagine di superficie che nello scavo archeologico, una metodologia che il grande studioso avrebbe poi perfezionato e applicato su più vasta scala nelle sue instancabili ricerche nei territori della Sicilia e della Magna Grecia.
Gli scavi archeologici condotti fra il 1985 e il 1998 dall’École Française de Rome in collaborazi... more Gli scavi archeologici condotti fra il 1985 e il 1998 dall’École Française de Rome in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma nel sito di Vigna Barberini sul Palatino, hanno condotto all’individuazione dei resti di un prestigioso quartiere residenziale occupato da una (forse due) domus di epoca giulio-claudia. Nel corso delle indagini è stata rinvenuta una ingente quantità di intonaci dipinti allo stato frammentario. In attesa dell’edizione completa dei risultati delle ricerche, il presente contributo si propone di esaminare, in via preliminare, una selezione dei frammenti più significativi e più antichi fra quelli messi in luce. Tali reperti si collocano cronologicamente tra la fine del II secolo a.C. e la prima età augustea ; mentre solo una parte esigua è attribuibile al primo stile, sono numerosi gli esemplari riconducibili al periodo finale del secondo stile e alla fase di transizione fra il secondo e il terzo stile; fra questi ultimi è particolarmente interessante un insieme di frammenti con foglia d’oro e con raffigurazioni egittizzanti, che probabilmente dovevano rivestire uno degli ambienti più importanti della domus di epoca giulio-claudia
The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De R... more The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De Rossi in the years 1990-2005, yielded a plethora of fragments of frescoes and stucco. The authors present a selection of the materials found in two rooms of the balneum of the villa (sudatorium 19 and caldarium 23/39). The plaster fragments seem to be part of a wall fresco, whose paratactic scheme can be assigned to the transition phase from the 3rd to the 4th Pompeian style. The scaenae frontes of the rooms were decorated by stucco figures of high quality, which represent wrestlers, portraits of old men (imagines maiorum?) and a seated female figure with an Eros (Venus?). In the public and private baths of the Vesuvian area, all the scaenae frontes date back to the years between the earthquake of 62 AD and the eruption of 79 AD. If the Ventotene stucco fragments belonged to the same decoration phase of the wall frescoes that were found together with them, they are to be dated some 20 years earlier than the Vesuvian examples
Si propongono alcuni spunti di riflessione sulla metodologia di ricerca adottata da Paolo Orsi in... more Si propongono alcuni spunti di riflessione sulla metodologia di ricerca adottata da Paolo Orsi in ambito archeologico e in particolare nell’indagine di superficie, a partire dagli anni della formazione trentina. Tale metodo, ovunque lo studioso venne a trovarsi, lo portò a perlustrare minuziosamente il terreno, incurante delle asperità dei luoghi, dei rigori climatici e dei pericoli che le escursioni in terre incognite comportavano. A riprova di ciò si presentano alcuni documenti inediti, facenti parte degli archivi della Fondazione Sergio Poggianella e della Fondazione Museo Civico di Roveret
In the last 20 years archaeological excavations have provided new and significant evidence of the... more In the last 20 years archaeological excavations have provided new and significant evidence of the import of pottery in the Trentino – South Tyrol Region (Northern Italy) during the Roman and Late Antique period. In particular, although the material was mostly found in a highly fragmentary state, the evidence of amphora sherds unearthed in urban and rural sites, points out that in this territory from the 1 st century BC to the Early Medieval period there was an almost constant demand for essential goods (especially wine, olive oil and fish sauces) usually transported in amphorae and that the region was part of a long distance exchange circuit supplied by seaborne trade. The recorded amphora types are quite numerous and show a provision of foodstuff both from Italy (especially between the 1 st century BC and the 2 nd century AD) and from different Mediterranean regions (Greece and Spain particularly in the first two centuries AD; North Africa and the Near East especially in the 4 th –7 th centuries AD). This supply was available thanks to a commercial circuit mainly East oriented through the NorthEast Adriatic Region, thank to a well developed waterways network connected to the River Adige and a road system based on the via Claudia augusta. This contribution presents a synthesis of the more recent data on the presence of Roman and late antique amphorae in urban and rural contexts and their meaning for the regional economy.
Since 1998 the Museo Civico di Rovereto-Archaeological Department has been carrying out excavatio... more Since 1998 the Museo Civico di Rovereto-Archaeological Department has been carrying out excavation campaigns at the site of Loppio - S. Andrea, in the Regione Trentino in Northern Italy. The unearthed masonry structures in the dig areas named A and B are parts of a late antique-early medieval fortified settlement (castrum), characterized by a sequence of different building phases. Many finds belonging to weaponry and soldiers equipment suggest that this site, strategically located along the ancient route going from the Adige Valley to the North Garda Lake, was settled for military reasons and housed soldiers with their families. Based on the finds studied so far, the settlement can date back to at least the first half of the 6th century AD. It seems possible to identify an Ostrogothic-Byzantine phase, followed by a Lombard phase; a Carolingian presence is also documented in the site. A total amount of 90 coins has been found, mainly consisting of late Roman bronze specimens which served as local loose change currency; Gothic and Byzantine coins in silver and gold are also well attested, offering a very representative view of integration of old 4th-5th centuries issues in the three-metallic 6th century monetary system, as well of their re-use within the Lombard society.
FOLD&R Fasti On Line Documents & Research, 402, 2018
The author presents a set of wall fresco and stucco fragments unearthed during the archaeological... more The author presents a set of wall fresco and stucco fragments unearthed during the archaeological excavations carried out in the years 1990-1995 by Andrea Carandini in the area of the domus Publica on the Palatine Hill in Rome. They come from dump layers that have been deposited in order to obliterate demolished structures and raise the floor levels of the site. Most of them have a monochrome surface that is not useful for classification, but the analysis of the technique features and the ornamental repertoire of the decorated ones allowed the identification of different stylistic periods. In particular, a small amount of fragments can be assigned to the first Pompeian style, while the most of them have been divided into different units attributable to various phases of the second style. Very significant in the chronology of the context is the presence of fragments that can be ascribed to the transition phase from the second to the third Pompeian style (20-10 B.C.). There are also three different types of stucco mouldings. Key-words: Rome, Palatin Hill, fresco wall paintings, stucco mouldings, first style, second style, transition phase.
This article is part of the publication of the Archaeological excavation of the Roman Villa of Is... more This article is part of the publication of the Archaeological excavation of the Roman Villa of Isera in the River Adige Valley, conducted by the Civic Museum of Rovereto in collaboration with the University of Trento.
Architectural features, articulation of the building, chronology and contextualization in the territory are taken into consideration here.
The Roman villa of Punta Eolo is a large “pavilion villa” on the northern promontory of the islan... more The Roman villa of Punta Eolo is a large “pavilion villa” on the northern promontory of the island of Ventotene. It juts into the sea for about 300 m in length and 100 m in width, and covers an area of three hectares which surrounded a small harbour. Originally conceived as an otium villa, from 2 BC to 3 AD it became the place of relegation of Iulia Maior, the daughter of the emperor Augustus, who had been sentenced for adultery. In the following decades the villa continued to be used as an imperial ‘prison’ for four female members of the imperial family. A large amount of fragmentary frescos, stuccoes, pavement revetments and Campana reliefs was brought to light in the residential area of the Villa during the archaeological excavations by G.M. De Rossi in the years 1990-2005. The present study is the outcome of a long and patient work of documentation and analysis of this material.
L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici sec... more L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
The island of Sant’ Andrea, situated on the road that since ancient times has linked the Adige Va... more The island of Sant’ Andrea, situated on the road that since ancient times has linked the Adige Valley with the Lake Garda, once rose impressively from the green expanse of water, but now is a small hump on the edge of a vast marshy basin. Fifteen centuries ago it was the fortified seat of a contingent of soldiers and their families. In 1998, after a long series of sporadic discoveries that started way back in the 19th century, the Archeaology Section of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project that involved a series of summer excavations, that brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the prehistoric age to late antiquity, medieval times and right through to even the First World War. Along the northeastern side and the southern edge of the island the remains have been found of some buildings that can be traced to a fortified settlement and on the top part of the hump the remains of a Romanesque church have been investigated. The buildings that made up the settlement illustrate a complex series of construction periods; so far these have been dated between the 5th and 7th centuries. Numerous examples of armoury and military clothing have been found in the settlement area and this clearly suggests the military function of the site. The volume is devoted to the results of the research in the castrum: A general overview of the site is followed by a part devoted to periodization and stratigraphic analysis of the dig; then there is a large section that includes contributions on the small finds; the fourth part contains some concluding remarks.
The site of St. Andrea, situated in the basin of Lake Loppio that was drained in 1956, fifteen ce... more The site of St. Andrea, situated in the basin of Lake Loppio that was drained in 1956, fifteen centuries ago was the seat of a fortified settlement. After sporadic discoveries that started way back in the 19th century, in 1998 the Archeaology Section of the Rovereto Civic Museum began a research and study project on the site, which involved a series of summer excavation campaigns. The archaeological investigations, that still continue today, have brought to light a multi-layered archeological site with finds ranging from the prehistoric age to late antiquity, medieval times and right through to even the First World War. This book is dedicated to the results of the research concerning the 5th-7th century castrum, starting with the 1998 sample and ending with the 2014 excavation. The first part, consisting of a general contextualization of the site, is followed by a part dedicated to the periodization and the stratigraphic analysis of the excavated area, and then by a large section comprising the contributions about the small findings; the fourth part, eventually, collects some brief final considerations.
Nuovi dati per la conoscenza della pittura antica. Atti del I colloquio AIRP Aquileia 16-17 giugno 2017. AIRP I, 2019
The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De R... more The archaeological excavations of the Roman imperial villa of Ventotene, carried out by G.M. De Rossi in the years 1990-2005, yielded a plethora of fresco and stucco fragments. The authors present a selection of the materials found in two rooms of the balneum of the villa (sudatorium 19 and caldarium 23/39). The plaster fragments seem to be part of a wall fresco, whose paratactic scheme can be assigned to the transition phase from the 3rd to the 4th Pompeian style. The scaenae frontes of the rooms were decorated by stucco figures of high quality, which represent wrestlers, portraits of old men (imagines maiorum?) and a seated female figure with an Eros (Venus?). Discussion of chronology.
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Papers by Barbara Maurina
The stereoscopic microscope analysis showed that almost all vessels belong to the North African production; import amphoras are almost completely absent: there is only one fragment of a Late Roman Amphora 1, a transport wine container produced in the Aegean region. The numerous amphoras prove that food was imported from different areas of the Provincia Africa; they mainly date to the 7th c AD.
Most of the African vessels found during the excavation are different from known amphora types. Only a very limited number could be compared to types used for interprovincial trade, in particular Keay LXI and LXII; however, they show only a generic morphological and technological similarity to those types. Other types found in the site of Aïn Wassel are the amphora Keay L, two small spatheia, two ovoid jars and a significant number of Castrum Perti type amphorae: all of them have interprovincial diffusion.
As for the other types identified at Aïn Wassel (amphoras and jars), there is an almost complete lack of typological comparisons, probably due to the state of research on this subject in North Africa. This suggests a limited local production which was little widespread, probably meant for ‘intraprovincial’ trade only. This is the case of four large-sized cylindrical amphorae found in situ in room A. 15: only two of them can be compared with a type called Sidi Jdidi 2/Bonifay 55, which was produced in the region of Nabeul/Hammamet/Sidi Jdidi and is not known outside Africa. The other ones, Aïn Wassel 1 e 2, find no parallels in Africa nor elsewhere and may be considered a local production – even if amphora kilns are not yet known in the Dougga region. They were probably used as transport containers and also for storage and processing of agricultural products; various types of jars found in the excavation were also used for transport and storage. Unfortunately there is no evidence about their content: probably it was olive oil; in one case olive kernels were found together with the amphora fragments.
The final part of Chapter 4 is dedicated to the contextualization of the finds coming from Aïn Wassel in the wider African scene and to some considerations about the economic history of North Africa in Late Antiquity. In particular, the evidence provided by the amphoras of Ain Wassel shows that this settlement was well-placed within a lively intraprovincial market, until the beginning of the Islamic age. This helps us in correcting the idea of a drastic fall of the agricultural production of the African countryside in the 7th century AD.
In every single room the excavated deposits are analysed in detail. The description of the stratigraphy is organized in a diachronic sense, starting from the deeper levels and from the earliest periods to reach the superficial levels and the more recent periods. This description is based on a chronological framework: the periodization of the archaeological evidence is divided in three main Periods of different duration, Period I corresponding to the evidence preceding the construction of the Byzantine farm, Period II to the construction, the use and the abandonment of the rural settlement, and Period III to the long time span going from the disuse of the ancient building to the modern age. The Periods were in turn divided into Phases called A, B and C. Within this grid the 253 contexts (‘actions’) have been assembled in groups of actions called Activities.
The complexity of the relationships between single actions and between actions and activities has been translated into diagrams; in particular, one single matrix of activities interprets the archaeological evidence of the entire excavation, while the stratigraphic sequences of any single room are illustrated by detailed stratigraphic matrices, in which all the actions composing the activities are displayed.
After the discussion of the stratigraphic evidence regarding every single room, the chronological data are briefly examined and the most significant dating finds are displayed in tables. Some hypotheses are also expressed about the functionality of the living spaces.
The final section of this chapter summarizes the main conclusions of the research, starting with the interpretation of the most ancient evidence (4th-6th c. AD), consisting in the scarce remains of a masonry building and in a late antique burial, that preceded the construction of the Byzantine rural settlement. The construction technique and the building materials, the functional organization of the living spaces and the chronology of the farm, built between the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD and abandoned by the beginning of the 8th century AD, are then examined. Finally the scant archaeological evidence concerning the period that followed the abandonment of the rural settlement (8th-20th c. AD) is briefly discussed.
L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Barbara Maurina, Frammenti d’intonaco e stucco romani: una panoramica, 234-295
A selection of fragmented wall and ceiling paintings and stucco frames from the huge Gorga collection is analyzed, documented and contextualized in two papers. They merit attention because of their provenance from Rome and environments, filling the gap of the meager quantity frescoes known from the metropolis and rebalancing discretely the history of Roman wall painting based almost entirely on Campanian material. The fragments were acquired during the first half of the 19th century by the collector E. Gorga and passed recently to the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome. The first paper by M. de Vos presents a concise chronological overview of the different systems of wall decoration in the Mediterranean worlds, on purpose not taking in consideration the Vesuvian area, from the 4th century BC until the III century AD, through the four ‘styles’ and post-Pompeian ways of decoration. The second paper by B. Maurina contains an in deep analysis and illustration of the painted fragments and a description of the different layers which compose their support by observation through microscope. The reduction of quality in preparation layers (tectorium) and in finesse of painted motifs in 4th style fragments deserves attention and is attested both in Rome and the Vesuvian area.
Architectural features, articulation of the building, chronology and contextualization in the territory are taken into consideration here.
The stereoscopic microscope analysis showed that almost all vessels belong to the North African production; import amphoras are almost completely absent: there is only one fragment of a Late Roman Amphora 1, a transport wine container produced in the Aegean region. The numerous amphoras prove that food was imported from different areas of the Provincia Africa; they mainly date to the 7th c AD.
Most of the African vessels found during the excavation are different from known amphora types. Only a very limited number could be compared to types used for interprovincial trade, in particular Keay LXI and LXII; however, they show only a generic morphological and technological similarity to those types. Other types found in the site of Aïn Wassel are the amphora Keay L, two small spatheia, two ovoid jars and a significant number of Castrum Perti type amphorae: all of them have interprovincial diffusion.
As for the other types identified at Aïn Wassel (amphoras and jars), there is an almost complete lack of typological comparisons, probably due to the state of research on this subject in North Africa. This suggests a limited local production which was little widespread, probably meant for ‘intraprovincial’ trade only. This is the case of four large-sized cylindrical amphorae found in situ in room A. 15: only two of them can be compared with a type called Sidi Jdidi 2/Bonifay 55, which was produced in the region of Nabeul/Hammamet/Sidi Jdidi and is not known outside Africa. The other ones, Aïn Wassel 1 e 2, find no parallels in Africa nor elsewhere and may be considered a local production – even if amphora kilns are not yet known in the Dougga region. They were probably used as transport containers and also for storage and processing of agricultural products; various types of jars found in the excavation were also used for transport and storage. Unfortunately there is no evidence about their content: probably it was olive oil; in one case olive kernels were found together with the amphora fragments.
The final part of Chapter 4 is dedicated to the contextualization of the finds coming from Aïn Wassel in the wider African scene and to some considerations about the economic history of North Africa in Late Antiquity. In particular, the evidence provided by the amphoras of Ain Wassel shows that this settlement was well-placed within a lively intraprovincial market, until the beginning of the Islamic age. This helps us in correcting the idea of a drastic fall of the agricultural production of the African countryside in the 7th century AD.
In every single room the excavated deposits are analysed in detail. The description of the stratigraphy is organized in a diachronic sense, starting from the deeper levels and from the earliest periods to reach the superficial levels and the more recent periods. This description is based on a chronological framework: the periodization of the archaeological evidence is divided in three main Periods of different duration, Period I corresponding to the evidence preceding the construction of the Byzantine farm, Period II to the construction, the use and the abandonment of the rural settlement, and Period III to the long time span going from the disuse of the ancient building to the modern age. The Periods were in turn divided into Phases called A, B and C. Within this grid the 253 contexts (‘actions’) have been assembled in groups of actions called Activities.
The complexity of the relationships between single actions and between actions and activities has been translated into diagrams; in particular, one single matrix of activities interprets the archaeological evidence of the entire excavation, while the stratigraphic sequences of any single room are illustrated by detailed stratigraphic matrices, in which all the actions composing the activities are displayed.
After the discussion of the stratigraphic evidence regarding every single room, the chronological data are briefly examined and the most significant dating finds are displayed in tables. Some hypotheses are also expressed about the functionality of the living spaces.
The final section of this chapter summarizes the main conclusions of the research, starting with the interpretation of the most ancient evidence (4th-6th c. AD), consisting in the scarce remains of a masonry building and in a late antique burial, that preceded the construction of the Byzantine rural settlement. The construction technique and the building materials, the functional organization of the living spaces and the chronology of the farm, built between the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD and abandoned by the beginning of the 8th century AD, are then examined. Finally the scant archaeological evidence concerning the period that followed the abandonment of the rural settlement (8th-20th c. AD) is briefly discussed.
L’isola di Sant’Andrea, situata nell’alveo del Lago di Loppio, prosciugato nel 1956, quindici secoli fa ospitò un insediamento fortificato e in epoca medievale, sulla sommità, una chiesa dedicata a Sant’Andrea. In seguito a segnalazioni e rinvenimenti sporadici susseguitisi fin dal XIX secolo, nel 1998 la Sezione Archeologica del Museo Civico di Rovereto avviò un progetto di ricerca e di studio del sito, concretizzatosi in una serie di campagne di scavo estive. Le indagini archeologiche, concluse nel 2017, hanno portato alla scoperta di un contesto archeologico pluristratificato, con testimonianze che vanno dalla preistoria all'epoca tardoantica, a quella medievale, per giungere fino alla Grande Guerra. Mentre il primo volume (pubblicato nel 2016) è stato dedicato ai risultati delle ricerche nel castrum di V-VII secolo, questo secondo volume prende in considerazione i risultati delle ricerche archeologiche condotte nell’area della chiesa (Settori C e C1).
Barbara Maurina, Frammenti d’intonaco e stucco romani: una panoramica, 234-295
A selection of fragmented wall and ceiling paintings and stucco frames from the huge Gorga collection is analyzed, documented and contextualized in two papers. They merit attention because of their provenance from Rome and environments, filling the gap of the meager quantity frescoes known from the metropolis and rebalancing discretely the history of Roman wall painting based almost entirely on Campanian material. The fragments were acquired during the first half of the 19th century by the collector E. Gorga and passed recently to the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Rome. The first paper by M. de Vos presents a concise chronological overview of the different systems of wall decoration in the Mediterranean worlds, on purpose not taking in consideration the Vesuvian area, from the 4th century BC until the III century AD, through the four ‘styles’ and post-Pompeian ways of decoration. The second paper by B. Maurina contains an in deep analysis and illustration of the painted fragments and a description of the different layers which compose their support by observation through microscope. The reduction of quality in preparation layers (tectorium) and in finesse of painted motifs in 4th style fragments deserves attention and is attested both in Rome and the Vesuvian area.
Architectural features, articulation of the building, chronology and contextualization in the territory are taken into consideration here.
years 1990-2005, yielded a plethora of fresco and stucco fragments. The authors present a selection of the materials
found in two rooms of the balneum of the villa (sudatorium 19 and caldarium 23/39). The plaster fragments
seem to be part of a wall fresco, whose paratactic scheme can be assigned to the transition phase from the
3rd to the 4th Pompeian style. The scaenae frontes of the rooms were decorated by stucco figures of high quality,
which represent wrestlers, portraits of old men (imagines maiorum?) and a seated female figure with an Eros
(Venus?). Discussion of chronology.