Italy
Gabii – 2013

The 2013 fieldwork season

The first excavation season took place from the 5^th of August to the 12^th of September 2013. Its aim was to establish the nature of the remains and their stratigraphy and to characterise various earlier excavation areas.

The 2013 season principally consisted of the opening of a large trench on the edge of the forum, as one of the project’s aims was to understand how the forum fit into its urban surroundings. In addition, a trench dug by Spanish researchers working on the temple of Juno Gabina in the 1950s and 1960s was cleaned in order to understand the nature of the remains in this sector which is adjacent to the new trench.

Within the excavation zone, layers containing material from the Archaic period were reached, but only sporadically. A system of wells associated with underground galleries was identified. This has been heavily obscured by more recent structures, so further analysis will take place in due course. The structures identified within the excavation zone date for the most part to the Republican and Imperial periods. We are currently unable to interpret accurately the nature of these buildings, or to reconstruct their form.

Observations carried out in the area around the temple appear to suggest that the peribolos is partly constructed on a system of compartments filled with rubble. This hypothesis will need to be tested further.

A routeway was observed south of the temple. Evidence for numerous repairs was identified, and it is clear that this road was in use over a long time period. Further investigations will be carried out to establish a precise chronology.

Finally, a small necropolis was found in the southern part of the trench. It comprises burials placed on top of the latest dwellings identified on the site. An accurate date for these burials has yet to be established.

The results from the 2013 field season are therefore very promising. The sector contains a high density of archaeological remains encompassing a long time period.