Gabii after the Romans: history of a settlement in Late Antiquity and Middle Ages. Year 2019

The project “Gabii after the Romans” considers the community of Gabii (12 km east of Rome) during the Late Antique and Medieval Periods (4th-13th c. CE), a time traditionally neglected by modern scholars despite the presence of visible standing remains on site. Since 2008, a new archaeological project by the University of Michigan has uncovered an increasingly large number of Late Antique and Medieval structures, which has revealed the presence of a flourishing settlement in this location. “Gabii after the Romans”, thus, aims to investigate further the remains detected in recent explorations as well as to consider its development through time. With the support of the Rust Foundation Project Grant, we hope to conduct a new series of targeted archaeological excavations, coring, as well as a full photographic documentation (via drone) of the structures identified so far on this period. These investigations will focus on the southeastern part of the city, where occupation seems to have been situated from the 4th c. CE onward. The results of this project will provide the first comprehensive study of the long-term development of a community in the hinterlands of Rome between 4th and 13th c. CE, and it will therefore provide unique information about these understudied periods. Grant n° RFF-2018-119.