CURIAE VETERES. NUOVI DATI SULLA FREQUENTAZIONE DEL SANTUARIO IN ETÀ TARDO-REPUBBLICANA

Abstract

The conclusion of the researches carried out on the north-eastern slopes of the Palatine from the Sapienza
Università di Roma, within some of the sectors investigated since 2001 (Areas II-III), has allowed to acquire
relevant information on the Curiae Veteres, the sanctuary that according to the literary tradition occupies
the corner of the hill since the middle of the 8th c. BCE. Eight centuries later, around the middle of the 1st c.
BCE, an Early Republican well inside the Curiae, is filled. The preliminary analysis of the stratigraphy and
of the artifacts indicate that its obliteration involved some ritual activities, which have significant comparisons
with other urban contexts (area of the Forum of Caesar, Largo Magnanapoli) similar for function and
chronology. Among the artifacts used during this closing ceremony a conspicuous number of cream ware
jugs seems to play a prominent role. These objects keep some painted inscriptions likely to refer to their
owners. The continuation of the study of stratigraphies and deposits will have significant repercussions on
our knowledge of the sanctuary in the 1st c. BCE and, from a more general point of view, on the history of
archeology of cult and on the dynamics of production and exchange known for the Late-Republican city.