La necropoli di età romana in contrada Pianotta di Calatabiano (Catania)

Abstract

The data presented in this contribution relate to the archaeological and topographical research conducted
in the Pianotta locality (Calatabiano), directed by the Catania Superintendency in collaboration with the University of
Catania. Despite the intense anthropization that occurred in the second half of the 20th century, numerous Roman
sites have been identified during the archaeological research conducted by the BB.CC.AA. Superintendence of Catania
in the territory between the municipalities of Fiumefreddo and Calatabiano. The territory is characterised by the
contrast between the low sandy coastline that runs from Riposto to Marina di Cottone (Calatabiano) and the rugged
heights overlooking the sea north of the mouth of the Alcantara river, over which Taormina dominates. Thanks to the
abundance of water and the fertile nature of the plain extending inland, this territory was ideal for intensive exploitation
for agricultural purposes: included in the chora of Naxos in the Greek period, the area between the mouths of the
Fiumefreddo and the Alcantara was probably an integral part of the territory of Tauromenion, whose rural landscape
was organised along the axis connecting Messina to Syracuse, the Via Pompeia. The route of the Roman road crossed
the Alcantara river by means of a bridge, of which only the remains of the arches survive in the territory of Calatabiano,
a short distance from the Pianotta site (km 2.69). Already during the excavations conducted by P. Pelagatti and later
in the 1990s in the area north of the mouth of the Fiumefreddo stream, structures related to the thermal nucleus of a
domus dating from the Imperial Roman period had emerged. Based on the conducted research, the villa was probably
built between the 2nd and 3rd century AD, as suggested by the pottery, glass and fragments of plaster decorated with
floral motifs; the stratigraphic data dated the final abandonment of the investigated area of the villa to the 5th century
AD. At the time of the resumption of investigations at the Pianotta site (2014-2015), the opening of surveys 1 and
2 revealed two strips of a Roman necropolis of monumental character, whose tombs are aligned and oriented along
a north-south axis. The palaeopathological analyses on the osteological remains found during the excavation of the
Pianotta di Calatabiano necropolis brought to light a number of significant elements for understanding the state of
health and diseases present in this provincial context of the Roman era. A section is devoted to the monetary findings
from the necropolis.

Keywords: Alcantara, Pianotta, Roman necropolis, anthropological analysis, Roman coins.