Interamna Lirenas and Its Territory (Comune Di Pignataro Interamna, Provincia Di Frosinone, Regione Lazio)

Interamna Lirenas and Its Territory (Comune Di Pignataro Interamna, Provincia Di Frosinone, Regione Lazio)

“…The GPR images turned out to be extremely accurate, althoughas expectedthe antenna array failed to pick up any anomaly deeper than 1.5 m below the surface (hence missing any feature belonging to the lower cavea, orchestra and pulpitum). A survey of the visible structures (corresponding to about 90% of the entire plan of the building) reinforces our original hypothesis that the theatre originally had been roofed (Ballantyne et al, 2016): both the scaenae frons and the opposite long wall feature a series of aligned buttresses (originally eight per side) that could have provided suitable support for a cantilever system supporting a roof. (For a thorough discussion of the architecture of roofed theatres, see : Izenour, 1992;also: Sear, 2006: 39-43.)…”

“…With the 2016 season the archaeological project at Interamna Lirenas has entered its seventh year of fieldwork. Building on an integrated array of research activities carried out across town and countryside, our team has been gathering a rich and varied array of evidence attesting to the liveliness of this Roman town from its foundation (312 BC) until the late Imperial period (Bellini et al, 2012;Bellini et al, 2013;Ballantyne et al, 2015;Ballantyne et al, 2016). In 2016 we concentrated on two main activities: the excavation of the theatre and the full coverage ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the urban area, the latter being paired with systematic sample surface collections and test-pitting of the plough-soil.…”

“…As far as the excavation is concerned, the thorough and timely study of finds from the sub-trench laid across the cavea [A], the orchestra [B] and the pulpitum [C] left little doubt that the interior of the theatre had been used, over a rather extended period of time, as a 'dump' for (Roman) building debris, most likely the result of field-clearing from across the urban area in the medieval and post-medieval periods (Ballantyne et al, 2015;2016). This large and deep layer of debris was therefore (for the most part) excavated only to reveal more extensive and articulated traces of that late phase of use as a quarry which we identified in 2015 (Fig.…”

UBI SUNT MACELLA?THE CONTRIBUTION OF NON‐INVASIVE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY TO THE IDENTIFICATION AND STUDY OF ROMAN FOOD MARKETS

“…The survey confirmed the street network that was picked up by magnetometry and offered much more detail in the articulation of the city’s insulae (Ballantyne et al . 2016, 322–5). The combination of GPR and magnetometry has led to a complete reconstruction of the street network and most of its buildings (Fig.…”