UBC Excavations of the Roman Villa at Gerace, Sicily: Results of the 2017 Season

Abstract

A fourth season of excavation at the late Roman rural estate of Gerace (Enna province, Sicily) took place in 2017. Two areas of kilns were investigated. In one, fragmentary evidence for six kilns was found, of which the latest was constructed of bricks bearing the monogram of the estate owner, Philippianus. In its back-fill were wasters of two roof-tile types stamped Philippiani, confirming that these were an estate production. A substantial rectangular kiln was also found 40 m to the east, with exterior stone walls but internal structures which appear to have been built of mud brick, hardened only by successive firings. This kiln too produced roof tiles (unstamped), probably in the fifth century. A smaller kiln was inserted within it in a secondary period. Later still, vertical shafts were, extraordinarily, hacked through the thickness of parts of the mud-brick walls in order to make rudimentary furnaces for an unknown purpose; this occurred in the sixth century, as shown by radiocarbon analysis of a burnt sample. In the bath-house of ca. 380 ad up the slope, the rest of the tepidarium partly investigated in 2016 was excavated, as well as a second, smaller tepidarium adjacent. The geometric mosaics of both rooms had been smashed to retrieve the bricks from the hypocausts below when the baths were decommissioned, but enough survived for the floor patterns of both to be reconstructed. Fragmentary wall veneer included coloured marbles imported from Greece, Turkey and Tunisia. Part of the frigidarium was also identified and a cold pool, one of two, was completely excavated. It had a marble floor except for one slab of sandstone, possibly a non-slip device. A fissure in the pool’s back wall suggests that an earthquake was responsible for the building’s abandonment, sometime in the second half of the fifth century. One wall of the frigidarium used pisé, highly unusual in a bath-house. The room’s floor mosaic was partly uncovered; it appears to have an inscription on all four sides, possibly uniquely so in the Roman Empire. One roundel nearer the centre of the floor was also exposed; it bears the name of Philippianus in monogram form. Study of the animal bones revealed an unusually high number of horse bones; this together with the discovery of foal bones and an equine milk tooth suggests the possible presence of a stud at Gerace.