Lo scavo della casa delle Bestie ferite

The Department of Archaeology of the University of Padua is directing, since the 2007, the archaeological excavation of the Casa delle Bestie ferite at Aquileia. The building, set in the northern district of the Roman colony, along the urban part of the Annia road, has been object of previous investigations during the 60s, under the direction of the Soprintendenza. This first survey unearthed a portion of the house, including an apse-shaped room with a floor mosaic representing hunting scenes and wounded beasts. The program of the new archaeological investigation has been firstly based on the reports of the campaigns carried out during the 60s. Presently, an area of 700 square meters has been excavated and, in the next campaigns, will be extended to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the plan and phases of the building. The project of the Department of Archaeology is aimed at understanding the archeological findings and the building trends of urban district of Aquileia presently scarcely investigated. The life of this district spans from the pre-Roman age to the Late Antiquity. Moreover, the project aims at the future valorization of the building, through a musealization on the site of the house. The stratigraphic evidence reveals that the area has been in use at least since the time of Augustus. At this time, the settlement was structured as a high-level residential building, as shown by the refined geometric mosaics. The different phases of the floor decoration and the stratigraphic relations between the walls, characterized by different building techniques, testifies a long life of the building, until the Late Antiquity. This paper provides a synthesis of the data presently collected, with a major focus on two aspects: firstly the topographic relations between the house and the plan of the northern district of the colony and, secondly, on the reconstruction of the major building phases. Moreover, the analysis of the decorative system will be helpful to reach a better knowledge and interpretation of the identity and taste of the commissioners.