Paolo Visonà, George M. Crothers, Justin N. Carlson, Donald L. Handshoe, Silvana Lora, Piera Allegra Rasia, Luana Toniolo (2014): "A Forgotten Roman Settlement in the Veneto. University of Kentucky Geoarchaeological Investigations at Tezze di Arzignano (Vicenza, Italy) in 2012" (original) (raw)
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The results of a geophysical survey at località Valbruna near Tezze di Arzignano (VI), in Italy’s western Veneto, cast new light on a Roman site that has never been systematically investigated. Conspicuous remains of houses possibly belonging to a large Roman settlement were uncovered in this area in 1795 and 1882 after major river floods. Among a series of buried anomalies revealed by gradiometer and GPR data, a rectangular wall-like feature (corresponding on the surface with a cluster of roof tiles and mosaic tesserae) has been interpreted as a portion of a Roman building. Another significant anomaly has been tentatively identified as an ancient roadway. Several small, pit-like anomalies found at a lower depth than these installations have affinities with prehistoric features but cannot be conclusively explained without further testing. There are indications that this building, whose size and functions could not be determined, may have been located near a burial ground outside the main settlement. The dating of the pottery recovered from the survey area suggests that the site was continuously occupied from the final phase of the late Iron age until the 3rd century A.D.
2014
The results of a geophysical survey at localita Valbruna near Tezze di Arzignano (VI), in Italy’s western Veneto, cast new light on a Roman site that has never been systematically investigated. Conspicuous remains of houses possibly belonging to a large Roman settlement were uncovered in this area in 1795 and 1882 after major river floods. Among a series of buried anomalies revealed by gradiometer and GPR data, a rectangular wall-like feature (corresponding on the surface with a cluster of roof tiles and mosaic tesserae) has been interpreted as a portion of a Roman building. Another significant anomaly has been tentatively identified as an ancient roadway. Several small, pit-like anomalies found at a lower depth than these installations have affinities with prehistoric features but cannot be conclusively explained without further testing. There are indications that this building, whose size and functions could not be determined, may have been located near a burial ground outside the...
Buried architecture of the Quaternary Vittorio Veneto basin (NE Italy)
Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata
A geological survey and analysis of the borehole stratigraphies enabled us to characterise the buried architecture of the Quaternary basin of Vittorio Veneto (NE Italy). The study area belongs to the Neogene-Quaternary front of the eastern Southern Alps: the Montello and the Cansiglio thrusts show much evidence of Quaternary activity and are considered seismic sources capable of destructive earthquakes. As a result of the 1936 earthquake, strong site effects became manifest in Ceneda and Serravalle, located respectively to the south and north of Vittorio Veneto. A geological and geomorphological survey enabled us to point out the surficial characteristics of the Vittorio Veneto basin, carved in the Tertiary Molasse. In order to characterize lithology and geometry of the Quaternary sediments and reconstruct the geometry of the bedrock-surface, about sixty borehole stratigraphies were analyzed. Bedrocksurface dips gently northwards: an effect of the tectonic activity of the Montello thrust. Maximum thickness of Quaternary sediments (more than 80 m) is located south of the Serravalle gorge. Three Quaternary sedimentary units have been recognised in the subsurface of the Vittorio Veneto basin: 1) a sandy-gravelly body (with maximum thickness of about 70 m) of alluvial and glacial origin that almost completely fills the Vittorio Veneto basin and contains an important aquifer; 2) thinner sedimentary bodies (with medium thickness about 10-15 m) that form the alluvial fans at the base of the reliefs and are composed of a close sequence of silts, muds and clays interbedded with thin gravelly levels; 3) finally in the Lapisina valley, north of Serravalle gorge, prevailing sands with lenses of lacustrine silts and peat deposits form a sedimentary body that locally reaches 20-30 m in thickness.
In 2016 a new excavation of the Roman villa and the infant cemetery of Poggio Gramignano (Lugnano in Teverina, Italy) began. This contribution is a preliminary report of the first excavation season. In 2016, between June and July, new excavations at la Villa Romana di Poggio Gramignano (VRPG) began. This was the first season in a multi-year research project - a partnership between the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio dell’Umbria, the University of Arizona, Yale University, Stanford University, and the Commune di Lugnano in Teverina. This project aims to better understand the villa and its surrounding area, with particular focus on the late Roman infant cemetery discovered within the villa’s storage magazines. The project continues work begun over three decades ago. Initial excavations of the villa were conducted by Daniela Monacchi of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio dell’Umbria, from 1982 to 1984. David Soren (University of Arizona) directed subsequent excavations, from 1987 to 1994, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio dell’Umbria (Soren and Soren 1999).
Tectonophysics, 1999
A Roman building of the 1st century AD has been discovered during archaeological excavations in the village of Egna (Adige Valley, NE Italy) on the distal portion of a large Holocene alluvial fan. The remnants of the walls appear to have been displaced by shear planes having oblique movement with a minor dextral component. Subsequent palaeoseismological analyses have been performed through the excavation of seven trenches inside the ancient building; all of the trenches showed that the sedimentary units have also been displaced. The deepest trench (>6 m) also showed a sudden increase of the vertical offset in the lower portion of the sedimentary succession, therefore suggesting a displacement event which preceded the Roman age event. Archaeological dating of the numerous remains and radiocarbon dating of organic silt, bone and wood fragments permitted the reconstruction of the site history. The most recent event occurred around the middle of the 3rd century AD and was responsible for the displacement, destruction and consequent abandonment of the site, whereas the older event occurred not much after 2581-2197 BC. The alluvial fan deposition occurred after the 3rd century AD (0.60-1.5 m of historical deposits) and the intense urbanisation of the site hid all surficial traces of the 3rd century AD displacement. Geomorphological surveys and drilling data (four boreholes up to 20 m deep) exclude the possibility that the observed displacements were caused by gravity-driven phenomena. It is much more likely that they are the expression of fault activity, possibly related to the Giudicarie fault system. While moderate seismic activity and evidence of recent tectonics have been reported for the southern sector of this structural system, the present palaeoseismological analysis indicates that the northern sector may have also caused earthquakes which resulted in significant surficial deformation. : S 0 0 4 0 -1 9 5 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 8 0 -3