From Daunii Archaeological Park to The Faragola Domus Romana: The New Treasures of The OldAusculum

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1 From Daunii Archaeological Park to The Faragola Domus Romana: The New Treasures of The OldAusculum Mauro CAPRIOLI, 1 Francesco MAZZONE 1, Mario SCARANO 1, Rosamaria TRIZZINO 2 (1) Dicatech, Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy mauro.caprioli@poliba.it (2) IRPI, CNR, Bari, Italy r.trizzino@ba.irpi.cnr.it Abstract The present study deals with a very important but not very well-known cultural heritage area, which is located in Southern Italy, in the municipality of Ascoli Satriano (in the Foggia province). The area represents the vestige of one of the principal settlements of the Daunian peoples (VI-IV century B.C.). In this area, the Carapelle Valley represented an ancient communication route between the Campania Region and the Apulia Tavoliere, ever since a very fertile territory, where many flourishing rural communities established themselves. On the Collina del Serpente (the Snake hill) systematic research of the University of Innsbruck allowed to locate the remains of the ancient town of Ausculum as well as a large Necropolis (IV century B.C.) with very rich funeral furnishings. Not far away, in the Carapelle valley, at the Faragola site, the archaeological excavations unearthed a beautiful luxurious domus romana of late ancient times (IV-VI century A.D.). Based on the principle that preservation of cultural/archaeological heritage starts from recognition and measuring of the opus, the work presented here treats the first phase of the study of the whole archaeological area. This research proposes the establishment of a GIS (Geographic Information System) which classifies all the information already collected by various study groups, in order to be able to present a "virtual museum" useful for utilization by more extensive audience. Keywords: GIS (Geographic Information System), archaeological survey. 1. Introduction The area of Ascoli Satriano (in the Foggia province, Southern Italy) is located in the North of the Apulia region bordered by the Sub-Apennine hilly area and the Tavoliere delle Puglie plain (Fig. 1). The site has been home to human settlements and burial from the sixth to the fourth century BC, organized according to a criterion of "occupation spread " over a wide area (about 80 hectares). The burial areas were adjacent to those living with spaces left free for agriculture and livestock. Most likely the Collina del Serpente (the Snake Hill), corresponding to the maximum altitude ( 456 m asl ) was the reference of local communities between the fifth and fourth centuries before Christ and was the seat of the houses of the aristocracy of that time. On the " Collina del Serpente " is located the Daunii Archaelogical Park, where systematic research conducted by the Universities of Innsbruck, Foggia and Potenza and the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Puglia allowed to locate the remains of the ancient town of Ausculum as well as a large Necropolis (IV century BC) with very rich funeral furnishings. Since the end of the 19th century, the hill of " Collina del Serpente " is a privileged field for archaeological research on Daunia pre-roman times, but a little more than a decade, the territory is returning finds that also belong to the age of the Roman republic and empire. The sanctuary, a place to gather and ceremonies pertaining to the cult of the dead, lies within the sacred and dates back to the sixth and fifth centuries BC. The most luxurious funerary objects found in 1242

2 Fig. 1: geographic area (IGM 1:50000). the tombs are now exhibited in the Diocesan Museums Polo Museale. Of great interest is also the wide pavement with beautiful mosaics of river pebbles, considered a unique by scholars. Some of the most important archaeological sites of the area of Ascoli Satriano were placed in a first draft of GIS as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2: screen shoot of GIS: archeological sites. 2. Collina del Serpente (the Snake Hill) The hill of the Serpent was a landmark for the community Daune, used as a necropolis between the sixth and fourth centuries BC was affected by the construction of a large building for public meetings and religious services. It was affected also by burials of local aristocrats as evidenced by the tombs of the "Princess", of the "Warrior", et alii, rich in finds and funeral ornaments, now exhibited in the Museum Centre. One of these tombs, with its access corridor (Dromos) is displayed in next Fig

3 Fig. 3: dromos of askos canosino: grave. 3. Polo Museale Diocesan Museums The extraordinary collection of polychrome marbles, exhibited in the Museo Civico - Diocesan of Ascoli Satriano, consists of a support table ( trapezophoros ) with two griffins attacking a deer, a ritual basin (podanipter), in which is depicted the scene of transport weapons that Hephaestus forged for Achilles at the request of his mother Thetis, a couple of shelves, a large crater marble that not only retains traces of polychrome, but also the negative footprint of a gold decoration that has been recognized as a vegetal decoration with ivy leaves. The uniqueness of these products is due to the vibrant polychrome decoration, high quality marble, the crystalline and transparent tunnel dug in the island of Paros the Greeks reserving to the masterpieces of sculpture, the presence of the paintings, so rare in marbles come down to us, and especially the history of the discovery of these pieces. To these objects of daunian age is added a valuable statue of Apollo from the Roman period (second century AD), also stolen from a Roman villa of the territory of Ascoli Satriano. The "TRAPEZOPHOROS" with GRIFONI and CERVA ( BC) (Fig. 4) is an integral part funeral objects of a Macedonian tomb and is the only example of a marble group, whose quality and pictorial decoration which were spared by time and odysseys sustained during all these centuries. The unique sculpture, which is the support of a ritual table is 95 cm high. and 148 cm long., consists of a pair of "Griffins" in the body of a lion and the dragon's head crest on the head of a purple-red color and blue wings unfurled upward, and are in action while hunting stuck in the ground with a hind claws that emerges with his nose, lying on the ground with their front legs bent and the rear completely stretched out. 1244

4 Fig. 4: trapezophoros wiht grifons and cerva. In the '70s (perhaps between 1976 and 1977) were carried out illegal excavations by grave robbers in the local area of Ascoli Satriano. The findings were immediately dismembered. Some of them, fragmented, were seized by the Guardia di Finanza and stored in boxes in warehouses of the Superintendence in Foggia, where they sank into oblivion, waiting for the trial. Other pieces, the most valuable, the trapezophoros and podanipter, were sold by grave robbers to a famous art dealer living in Switzerland. The invaluable pieces finished, then, through a well-known international drug trafficker, in the collection of M. Tempelsman, a Belgian-American mining magnate and diamond merchant. Afterwards, the two extraordinary objects of the IV century BC, paid respectively 5.5 and $ 2.2 million, were sold together with the statue of Apollo (paid U.S. $ 2.5 million) to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California. Meanwhile, one of the grave robbers, Savino Berardi, seriously ill, shortly before his death, in 2002, pointed to the Police of Ascoli Satriano the site of origin of the furniture in the municipal territory and asking the military to bring the Griffins back to Italy, informed them of the existence of other material that was confiscated at the time. The police then began a complex investigation in the archives of the former Magistrate's Court of Orta Nova, until, in May 2006, the two events once again intertwined: as part of a process for illegal trade of archaeological finds dr. Angelo Bottini (then Superintendent Archaeologist of Rome) recognizes the high quality of the artifacts found by the Police and establishes a connection with the items purchased by the Getty Museum. After protracted negotiations conducted by the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Culture, 22 years after the purchase made in 1985, the artefacts were returned to Italy on August 1, In June 2010, the Ministry has authorized the ' homecoming ' of these extraordinary objects that can be admired today in the Museo Civico - Diocesan of Ascoli Satriano. 4. Domus Imperiale Pavement works in the Piazza del Plebiscito in the historic center of the town have uncovered an old "Roman Domus dated to the first century AD. Mosaics identify three different rooms with characteristics nobiliary residence, as evidenced by the one visible in Fig

5 Fig. 5: imperial domus mosaic. 5. Faragola The Faragola site is located approximately three kilometers south-west of Ascoli Satriano in the fertile valley of the Carapelle river. The building complex was built up in a strategic location, midway between the two major villages of Ausculum and Herdonia, in an area rich in water, thanks to the presence of the Carapelle river and of numerous springs. Long known, it had already been reported in the course of archaeological surveys conducted in the early 90s by the University of Bologna. Later, preliminary investigations were conducted by dr.francesco Paolo Maulucci on behalf of the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Puglia, which led to the constraint area, then partly acquired by the Municipality of Ascoli Satriano. In July 2003 started a campaign of excavations, preceded by geophysical surveys, under the scientific direction of Professor Giuliano Volpe, University of Foggia, in collaboration with the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Puglia and the City of Ascoli Satriano. The results achieved so far are of great interest in the locality Faragola was, in fact, investigated an extended and articulated rural settlement from the Roman period and Late Antique, which is notable for the significant exhibitions of luxury (Fig. 6). Fig. 6: Faragola cenazio room. 1246

6 Some residential environments of a rich villa have been partially brought to light, of which has so far been documented especially the Late Antique period (IV-VI century AC). In particular, it has been uncovered a large room, probably identifiable with a summer dining room, the cenatio, with a fountain decorated with a relief dated to the early imperial age with the depiction of a female dancing and a snake and a floor of marble slabs, all of reuse, enriched by the insertion of luxurious carpets in opus sectile made with plates of various marbles and colored glass paste (Fig. 7). A few meters away from this luxurious dining room were identified other rooms in the residential sector, paved with fine polychrome mosaics with geometric decoration. The villa is also equipped with a handicraft sector: it was, in fact, also investigated a kiln for firing bricks, part of a larger group of manufacturing facilities. It is a discovery of great importance for the understanding of the organization of the countryside not only in the territory of Ausculum but in the whole Puglia: in fact, although several other Roman and Late Antique Villa were known in the territory of the Daunia, that of Faragola that like one of the most luxurious manifestations of this type of building so far known in rural southern Italy. It is obvious that the villa belonged to a person of high rank, owner of large estates in land area, further proof of the vitality of the agrarian economy dell'apulia in Late Antiquity. Furthermore, the presence of numerous materials reused (figurative relief, marble slabs, funerary inscription of the Augustan age inserted into the floor of cenatio, etc..) also raises the issue of both a pre-existing settlement in the same site and the detection of other settlements and monuments in the territory from which the materials were recovered. The area surveyed so far, covering a surface of over 3000 m 2, is only part of a much larger, extremely articulate rural complex: it is assumed a total area of about three hectares. The site of Faragola was occupied for many centuries, with different ways of life. Archaeological research has so far allowed us to reconstruct the following steps: Daunian Village (VI/V IV/III B.C.) Roman Farm (I B.C. - II A.C. ) Late Antique villa1 (III metà IV A.C.) Late Antique villa 2 (late IV late VI A.C.) Early Medieval village (VII IX A.C.) Agricultural use (IX XXI A.C.) Fig. 7: Faragola cenazio room render. 1247

7 6. Ponte Romano The construction of such a structure refers to the roads in the territory dauno, can be placed between the first and second centuries AD, relative to the nearby city of "Erdonia" and "Aecae" fig. 8 Fig. 8: roman bridge. 7. Giarnera piccola In the valley of Carapelle the excavations conducted by the University of Innsbruck have uncovered a large village of daunia age, with houses, buildings and extensive pebble mosaics as road surface, and religious buildings with architectural decorations (Fig. 9) Fig. 9: mosaics of river pebbles. 1248

8 8 Conclusion Many authors show that the presence of a "Virtual Museum" encourages the curiosity of the web users, who will be induced to visit the "real" places entered into the system. The present paper in this perspective provides some information on the possibility of establishing a GIS regarding the various archaeological sites of which is particularly rich the Municipality of Ascoli Satriano. In this regard we would like to thank the Mayor of Ascoli Satriano and especially the Head of Culture dr. Biagio Gallo, for its exquisite competence and availability during the site investigation. Bibliographical References [1] G. De Felice, N. Mangialardi, M. G. Sibilano, G. Volpe, Late Roman villa at Faragola (Foggia, Italy). Laser scanning for a global documentation methodology during field research, in CAA 2007 proceedings. [2]. G. Volpe, Per una archeologia globale dei paesaggi della Daunia. Tra archeologia, metodologia e politica dei beni culturali, in Storia e archeologia della Daunia, in ricordo di Marina Mazzei, Atti delle giornate di studio (Foggia 2005), a cura di G. Volpe, M.J. Strazzulla, D. Leone, Bari 2008, pp [3] G. Volpe, R. Martines, A. Vella, T. Caroppo, R. Cassano, L. Ficarelli, G. Semeraro, La Carta dei Beni Culturali della Puglia, in Atti della 13a Conferenza Nazionale ASITA (Bari 1-4 dicembre 2009), pp [4] Volpe, G., A Late Roman Villa at Faragola, Italy, in Minerva. The International review of Ancient Art & Archaeology, 17,1, january-february 2006, pp [5] G. Volpe, G. De Venuto, R. Goffredo, M. Turchiano, L abitato altomedievale di Faragola (Ascoli Satriano), in G. Volpe, P. Favia (a cura di), V Congresso Nazionale di Archeologia Medievale (Foggia- Manfredonia 30/09-3/ ), Firenze 2009, pp [6]