Objectives and Excavation History

Forum V is co-terminus with the house called Atrium Building V (henceforth AB V) by Brown. The sanctuary found in the garden led us to rechristen it the House of Diana in a preliminary report⁸. The building was casually examined during Brown and ScottÌs excavation of the forum. Their investigation was limited to a narrow trench cut along the face of the house, extending about 0.5m. into the vestibule of the fauces and the fronts of shops C and D, and a sounding cut along the line of the south wall at its halfway mark⁹. Our excavation in the area began in 1993 with the aim of establishing whether there was late occupation either within the area of the forum plaza on its southwest side, or in the houses that bordered it, of which AB V was chosen as an example. The small area excavated within the forum plaza was linked to the area inside AB V by the forum portico. However, as the portico had been cleared during previous excavations there was no stratigraphic link between the two. In 1995 the area of the original trench was extended to the southwest by eight meters. This renewal of excavation was based on the presence of an early medieval hut and agricultural activity in the area of the site. By the end of the excavation, however, it seemed clear that AB V was a Republican domus rather than the atrium publicum suggested by Frank Brown¹⁰. Its well-preserved pavements and the evident interest of the building led us to carry out a September season in the same year, extending the trench a further seven meters to the rear wall of the tablinum. This campaign also saw the initiation of restoration work on the mosaic border of the tablinum, by Thomas Roby, as well as the excavation and conservation of the remains of the plaster and molded stucco in shop C by Silvia Nerucci. By the end of this season, several floors had not been entirely uncovered, and it became apparent that the service wing extended back towards street N. Therefore, two additional seasons in 1996 and 1997 were required to complete the excavation of the house and its garden¹¹. In the penultimate season, a small bulldozer was used to remove the top 15cm. of topsoil, in order to speed the excavation. This may have led to some minor confusion in the uppermost stratigraphy of the garden area, but the blade remained well above the Roman destruction layers.

The discussion that follows will present the stratigraphy of the house from earliest to latest levels. It has been divided according to the general chronological phases we have established for the building. Within each contemporary group of actions, discussion will normally start with the front (forum side) of the house and move back; where actions take place at several different points in time over the course of a phase, the order of their mention will be determined by their relative chronology rather than their location in the house. Important structural elements and all contexts containing pottery will be mentioned by excavation number, in boldface. All structural features appear, with their excavation numbers, on the state plan of the house (fig. 4); it will be helpful to refer to the plan while reading this discussion. For further reference, a list describing all excavation numbers and noting the dating material and illustrations associated with each is appended to this section.

Dimensions

Within the forum plaza a trench of 7 x 10m. was opened, narrowing to an area of 5 x 5m. when it was realized that much of the area was contaminated by spoil heaps from earlier excavations. The dimensions of the larger area were those of the house and its garden, 17.5 x 33.5m.

Forum Stratigraphy

Within the forum, the stratigraphy resembled that of trench Forum I, without the cobbled paving of the road. The earliest surface reached, 6, was of hard-packed brownish-red soil with very few stones, and was certainly a Roman forum surface, although without excavation its date could not be established. Above this was a thick, brown layer, 4, with a smooth, well-compacted surface. It contained almost no material, and may represent a second Roman surface. The latest layer was composed of dark soil with small amounts of tile and was around 10-15cm. deep. In it was found a fragment of a rilled eastern amphora, Late Roman I.

8. Fentress and Rabinowitz 1996.

9. Cosa III, plan on p. 5 and fig. 34, p. 96.

10. Fentress and Rabinowitz 1996.

11. The small team remained constant throughout the excavation: it consisted of Ali Ait Kaci, Stefano Camaiani, Laura Cerri, Silvia Nerucci and Luca Passalacqua. In various seasons they were joined by Roberta Bergonzoni, Elizabetta Gliozzo, Elisa Gusberti, Francesca Lunghetti, Mirko Berloso, Gary and Amy Farney, Ben Lyons, and Madhavi Menon.