The main objective of the 2022 season of archaeological excavations at the Latin sanctuary site of Monte Rinaldo by the University of Bologna and the British School was to complete the excavation of a range of buildings discovered in 2018, and partially excavated in 2019, in the western part of the archaeological area of ‘La Cuma’ (Giorgi and Kay, Reference Giorgi and Kay2019; Giorgi, Demma and Belfiori, Reference Giorgi, Demma and Belfiori2020; Giorgi, Pizzimenti and Kay, Reference Giorgi, Pizzimenti, Kay, Boschi, Giorgi and Vermeulen2020). The excavation had previously identified a series of structures that formed part of the Republican sanctuary of Jupiter (second–first century BC) and a workshop (hypothesized as residential) built in the aftermath of the destruction and abandonment of the sacred area (mid-first century BC), which was used until the end of the first century AD (Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti, Reference Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti2020). The 2022 excavations, which covered an area of around 170 m2, continued the investigation of some known structures, but also brought to light a new section of the early Imperial complex and further Republican structures.
The early Imperial building consisted of a series of rooms facing east which were connected by a north–south wall. To the west of this wall, and in the southernmost part of the complex, the 2022 excavations revealed two further rooms. The first (H) is L-shaped with an entrance on the south side with access through to Room E to the east (Fig. 1); the second is a small square room (G) that was only accessed through Room H on its southern side (Fig. 1). To the north the rooms probably opened on to a courtyard.
Fig. 1. Monte Rinaldo, late-Republican sanctuary ‘La Cuma’. The 2022 excavation with the southern part of the Triumviral–Augustan building. Remains of previous Republican phase in red and yellow. (Image: F. Pizzimenti.)
The newly discovered rooms G and H seem part of an adjoining building perhaps constructed for practical purposes. In its southeast corner, Room H had a hearth (possibly used for food preparation and cooking, measuring 1.25 m × 1.80 m) with an adjacent platform in the southwest corner of the room (about 1.90 m × 1.90 m). This platform was built with manubriati, bricks laid flat in six rows over a bed of concrete and mortar, and may have been functional to the activities of the hearth. The excavation recorded two drains from the building, one to the north and the other to the south, which were constructed using stone slabs, tiles and architectural terracottas that had previously been used in the roofs of the sacred complex. These channels probably served to divert water southwards towards the valley, as the sanctuary was situated on a sharp slope. A further pipeline, consisting of tubuli made of juxtaposed tiles, crosses Rooms F, G and H in a north–south direction below the earth-beaten floors (Fig. 1).
As previously noted (Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti, Reference Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti2020), the later structures reused fragments of architectural terracottas originating from the roof decorations of the sanctuary, as well as other building materials (tiles, sandstone blocks) collected from the demolition of the previous buildings of the Republican phase. The construction and the ongoing study of the associated pottery suggests that the sacred complex was abandoned in the middle of the first century BC, with a later reoccupation towards the end of the century with a different use of the space. This chronology is compatible with the period in which the ager Firmanus was settled with veterans after the Battle of Philippi (42 BC) and the Civil War of 44–31 BC. Therefore, this building, coeval with one excavated 150 m to the south in 2021 (Giorgi, Kay and Pizzimenti, Reference Giorgi, Kay and Pizzimenti2022), may be testimony of the socio-economic transformation and the new settlement dynamics that occurred in the Picenian region between the Late Republic and the Augustan age.
The 2022 excavations also revealed some new evidence regarding the Republican sanctuary, as structures were found to the south of the Triumviral–Augustan building. In particular, the excavation brought to light the remains of a large foundation (approximately 1 m in width), oriented north–south and built with irregular blocks of sandstone. Although the full length could not be exposed due to a later construction above the wall, the structure may probably be interpreted as a retaining wall due to its size and position on the slope, as through its construction it was possible to gain space for further buildings on the western side of the sanctuary and to protect them from any landslides. This was confirmed through the excavation of the beaten-earth floors of Rooms D and E of the Augustan building, where Republican structures were revealed. These walls, mostly constructed from smoothed pebbles and some rare bricks, delimited at least three rooms that opened to the east (towards the front of the temple square), that were closed to the rear by a continuous wall. At least one of these rooms may have been a tank or pool, as the remains of hydraulic mortar (cocciopesto) were recorded on some sections of the walls. The hydraulic infrastructure at ‘La Cuma’ would have played an important role in the sanctuary, which was fed by several springs on the slope to the north. The collection and the distribution of water in this area of the sanctuary may have been principally for religious and ritual purposes; however, it would also have supported other requirements of the rural communities in the territory (Belfiori and Giorgi, Reference Belfiori and Giorgi2021). For example, activities such as sheep farming or the running of workshops and other productive economic activities would have required a steady supply of water. The walls were built into layers containing rich amounts of pottery (in particular black-gloss ware) which provides a terminus post quem for their construction in the middle of the second century BC. Therefore, these structures belonged to the main monumental phase of the religious complex and formed part of the sacred space on its western side.
The decommissioning of these structures in the mid-first century BC and their subsequent destruction and burial under the Augustan building precludes a full reconstruction of the structural features of the western building of the sanctuary. However, the recorded remains show an asymmetrical arrangement differing from that of the porticus with tabernae on the opposite side of the sanctuary (the eastern one) that was built in the same period (Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti, Reference Belfiori, Cossentino and Pizzimenti2020; Giorgi, Demma and Belfiori, Reference Giorgi, Demma and Belfiori2020).
Acknowledgements
The research at Monte Rinaldo benefits from its close collaboration with the Soprintendenza ABAP per le province di Ascoli Piceno, Fermo e Macerata. The excavations at Monte Rinaldo are part of a long-term research agreement between the University of Bologna (Department of History and Culture), the British School at Rome (BSR) and ARCADRIA. The field directors for the excavations are Francesco Belfiori and Francesco Pizzimenti, and the finds laboratory is coordinated by Paola Cossentino (University of Bologna). The project is grateful for the generous support of the Comune and the Mayor of Monte Rinaldo, Gianmario Borroni.
