An Iron Age Settlement at Gabii: An Interim Report of the Gabii Project Excavations in Area D, 2012–2015

Abstract

Since 2007, the Gabii Project (hereafter GPR) has been investigating the site of ancient Gabii, a Latin city some 18 km east of Rome along the Via Prenestina (fig. 1). The project, begun by the University of Michigan and the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma (SS-ABAP-RM), has operated with the main goal of examining the urban development of a major city in ancient central Italy. The GPR excavation area occupies a one-hectare tract of land on the downslope of the now extinct volcanic crater of Castiglione, in a sector of the ancient city (fig. 2). It is subdivided into ten main areas of excavation, Areas A through J, which correspond roughly to city blocks in an orthogonal layout (fig. 3). Ongoing excavations since 2009 have brought to light several phases in the development of the city from the Iron Age through the Late Antique period.