UBC Excavations of the Roman Villa at Gerace, Sicily: Results of the 2015 Season

Abstract

A second season of excavation was conducted in 2015 at Gerace (Enna province, Sicily). In the small late Roman villa of ca. 370/375 ad identified by earlier work, the largest room, in the west wing, was found to have a floor of opus signinum, but the west corridor, in contrast to the mosaic-paved south corridor, had a floor of beaten earth throughout its life. The villa may never have been completely finished, even though occupation debris suggests it was frequented for much of the fifth century. Of the small freestanding bath-house at a higher level alongside it, only a single heated pool had survived later demolition. In its place two storerooms were inserted deep into the earth for efficient insulation. In the fire that destroyed the villa ca. 450/530 ad, a date supported by C14 analysis, the contents of these stores were carbonized: a huge cache of thousands of seeds, principally barley but also including wheat, grapes, and legumes, was uncovered there. The much larger, earlier store-building to the east, provisionally dated to ca. 325/350 and destroyed ca. 360, is now shown to have been a basilican structure. Three earlier phases of building have been detected below it; there is also a sherd of Attic Black Figure pottery, attesting activity at Gerace ca. 500 bc. A further 37 examples of stamps on roof tiles were discovered, including a single example from a hitherto unrecorded die; they were all part of the production, probably on site, of Philippianus, the likely owner of the Gerace estate in the late fourth century. After the fire of 450/530 ad, early Byzantine structures (seventh century?), much disturbed by the plough, occupied part of the site of the late Roman villa.