Fourth Century BC Architecture from Roccagloriosa

257 FOURTH CENTURY BC ARCHITECTURE FROM ROCCAGLORI05A An important result of the 1982-83 excavation at this Italic fortified site in Western Lucania has been the discovery of a well preserved group of structures dated to the 4th c. BC and centred around a large paved court on the central plateau inside the fortification wall (Fig.1. 5ee EMC n.s.28 [1984] 187-202 for an earlier report and general description of the site). In view of the scarcity of documents pertaining to the architecture of Italic fortified settlements (excluding the study of the fortifications themselves), we consider this discovery a major aspect of the project undertaken by a team of the University of Alberta. In the 1984 season different parts of the complex were explored in order to clarify the layout, function and chronology of the buildings. A. Area immediately to the north of the paved court (separated from the latter by a tile wall): The excavation here helped to clarify the function and extent of a wall (F12) made entirely of flat tiles laid with the edges along the face of the wall and partially bonded with c1ay,l which runs along the N edge of the paved court (EMC 28 [1984] Plate 1). The E end of the tile wall was covered by a thick 1A similar type of structure, although built with imbrices and in a rather irregular fashion, was found at Cozza Presepe, in the hinterland of Metaponto: J.P. Morel, MelRome 82 (1970) 81 Figs.7-8. More specific comments on the use ~ in wall construction, during the 4th/3rd c. BC are in A. McWhirr (ed.) Roman brick and tiles, BAR 5.68 (1979) 13. The use of clay as a bonding element for waTrs is first mentioned by Thucydides in the building of the Athenian fortification at 5phacteria (Thuc. IV, 4, 5). 258 M. GUALTIERI layer of collapsed material from the destruction of the long back wall of the portico. The back wall continues toward the N on a more massive scale, which may indicate its use also as a terracing wall (F47-F48). The destruction of the latter had damaged some parts of F12 to such an extent that its continuation beyond the NE corner of the paved court was uncertain. Its full length (7m), however, was ascertained by the end of the 1984 season and it was found to abut against the continuation of wall B (i. e. the back wall of the portico opening onto the paved court: Plate 1). The function of the tile wall was to separate the "ceremonial" area of the complex with the shrine (F11) and portico from the large unroofed area to the N which was used as an ergasterion or "industrial area". The latter was characterized by the presence of a long stone built-drainage canal (F28) and minor drains made of imbrices plus a number of hearths or furnaces made entirely of tile and a settling basin for clay (F40). Whilst the extent of the ergasterion and the specific function of some of the features found in it are yet to be clarified, its find in association with a large paved complex is not without parallel in urban contexts. 2 B. Area E of the paved court: The most important elements for the reconstruction of the central part of the complex and the history of the structures in this part of the site came from the excavation of wall B (identified as such in 1983), i. e. the back wall of the portico bordering the E and 5 side of the paved court (Plates 2 and 4). The E face of wall B was exposed for its whole length (10m) and up to a height of over one metre in the N area, abutting onto F46, F47, and F48, thus providing evidence for a major division between the area opening onto the court and the area to the E of the portico, to which two doors found in wall B (F55 and F56) gave access. 2A similar association of a paved areal portico complex with an ergasterion is found at Metaponto: F. D'Andria Au; Taror.to 17 (1977) 411. ~\ FIGURE...