Small-scale excavations

In the summer periods of  2007-2010  excavation campaigns were carried out by the Department of Archaeology of Ghent University, on the site of the Roman colony of Potentia, in the present-day municipality of Porto Recanati. Since 2000, the PVS team has conducted aerial photography, studied archive aerial photographs, carried out electro-magnetic surveys, geomorphologic auguring, micro-topographical measurements, in order to get a more detailed plan of the layout of the Roman colony. The positioning of the excavation area (some 500 m2  was determined by the interpretation of aerial photographs which located the western gate and wall of the city in this area. The dig was, in fact, motivated by the desire to verify the location of the city gate and to get a clearer picture of the surrounding area, where, on the basis of aerial photographs, there seems to be a link between the western section of the wall and a road, with funerary monuments flanking it,  leading into the town. Another aim was to establish the existence of architectural remains and the degree of conservation of the structures, already investigated, as part of this campaign, through geophysical survey. Finally, it procured the opportunity to check the validity of our earlier artefact surveys and the surveys with GPR, magnetometer and electric resistivity instruments, in that same area. The excavations were conducted with logistical support of the Municipality of Porto Recanati and under supervision of the Soprintendenza per i beni archeologici delle Marche.

In 2007-2008, a small rescue excavation was also organized on the site of an amphora production workshop, a few kilometers south of the colony, in the Municipality of Potenza Picena.

 

Excavations of an amphora workshop in Potenza Picena.

              

Excavations of the Roman west gate of Potentia.