The portico (second half of the 1st century B.C.) of the forum at Grumentum comprises three wings which join the Capitolium to the north and the Augusteum to the south. The building has an opus reticulatum facing, finished with red-painted plaster. Several layers of collapse sealed a late antique (3rd to 4th century A.D.) occupation level with a beaten earth floor, a hearth and an infant burial. In the northern sector, evidence came to light which demonstrates that the Capitolium (first half of the 1st century A.D.) post-dates the portico itself. The ancient paving of the forum was in limestone basoli, very little of which is still in place, due to robbing. The Augustan basilica consistyed of a large rectangular hall (41 x 17m), bordered to the west and south by a wide wall. Its inner face, in opus reticulatum, incorporated 10 evenly spaced semi-columns. To the east was a portico with a double row of columns, to the north a closed room (the Curia?). All that remains of this structure are the archaeological levels which are in phase with several houses (3rd to 1st century B.C.), that were demolished when the basilica was built. The entrance to the portico, on the south side, must have been closed by a double wooden door. The decumanus, paved in large basoli during the course of the 2nd century A.D., crossed the city on a N-S axis, passing the forum on its western side, after passing beneath an arch. Between the basilica and the decumanus several rooms in association with a well (2nd to 1st century B.C.) came to light. These were perhaps workshops for the production of high quality metal artefacts. So far, only a part of the area seems to have continued in use during the late Imperial period (4th to 5th century A.D.): several walls were put in to close off the original portico, filling the spaces between the columns in order to create new rooms and a simple beaten earth floor covers the basalt paving of the decumanus, attesting its continued use. (Maria Luisa Nava)

Archaeological investigations were undertaken on the building situated on the north side of the forum and on the decumanus maximus. The porticus surrounds the forum on three sides: it was built in opus reticulatum during the second half of the 1st century B.C. and remained in use until the 4th-5th centuries A.D. Its columns are brick-built with a smooth plaster finish, with mouldings. They rest on limestone bases. The porticus was entered from the forum via a step, whilst three entrances opened from the building's external side. At the beginning of the 4th century A.D., the original Augustan pavement was substituted by a simple, beaten mortar floor which remained in use until the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century A.D. In the late antique period the porticus was destined for private use, whilst the areas adjacent to it were transformed into cemeteries. In the area between the porticus and temple C, several structures in opus incertum have come to light. Between the crepidoma, which flanks the road to the east, and the temple's podium were the remains of a monumental covered fountain, with enclosure. This dates to the 2nd century A.D. and continued in use until the 4th - 5th centuries A.D. The decumanus maximus has been excavated along a stretch between the theatre and the Imperial baths. The road bed (4m wide) has a "donkey back" section and was paved during the course of the first half of the 2nd century A.D. with large limestone basoli, with stepped edges. At a distance of 21m, south of the forum, the decumanus crossed a 3m. wide cardo paved with cobblestones at a right angle. (Maris Luisa Nava)

The first excavation campaign investigated the sector denominated “Area ad Est del Tempio C” which included rooms A and D abutting the temple and respectively situated outside and inside the southern curtain wall of the forum. Further, the surfaces of rooms B and C, partially excavated by Cesare Raho in 2004, were cleaned. In room A a staircase with two residual steps was found, whilst in room B a burial was excavated. This was of unsure date but no earlier than the 5th century A.D. Occupation levels were uncovered documenting the existence of hearths and probable craft-working activities, perhaps linked to metal working, given the presence of a small pit containing traces of waste material and green-coloured animal bones. During the research campaign a preliminary analysis of Temple D and its architectural characteristics was begun. The exterior of the structure underwent a first cleaning and, subsequently, the stratigraphic sequence within a number of the temple’s foundation cells was examined. The foundations were still accessible as they had having undergone structural modifications until the modern period. Cleaning of the floor surface, constituted by the original fill of Roman date, revealed a lime-kiln dating to the later occupation phases of the site. A team from CIRCE, Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, led by Prof. Francesco Guerra used GPS to make a topographical survey of the site, surveyed the monuments using a laser scanner and produced ortho-photographs from aerial photography. Prof. Luigi Sperti from the Centro Veneto di Ricerche sulle Civiltà Classiche e Orientali, dell’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia examined the architectural fragments from the area of Grumentum.

During this campaign work concentrated on the forum area. A round building (diam. c.9m) was uncovered in proximity to the forum and capitolium. Standing on a podium with a flight of four steps and built in opus reticulatum this was probably a temple. The area was also occupied during the medieval and modern periods as attested by pottery, coins, the remains of a hearth and a dry-stone wall. On the south-eastern side of the Caesarium investigation continued of the foundry, discovered in the previous campaign. The foundry was above a layer dating to the end of the 3rd century and below a late antique wall, probably dating just after the end of the 4th century. The revival of activity in this area during the course of the 4th century and the presence of the foundry attest a radical change of life style in the forum area. Up against the Ceasarium, on its south-eastern side, at the end of the porticus, three phases of the latter’s paving were revealed: a late antique one, partially covered with tile and other reused architectural material, the bedding for a pavement bonded to the foundations of the stylobate of the porticus and an earlier bedding abutting the back wall of the forum and perhaps of the same phase. Excavation of the spaces made in the forward sub-structures of the capitolium revealed a large and deep lime-kiln lined with stone. It is most likely that the lime-kiln’s activity lead to the destruction of statues, inscriptions and architectural elements from the city centre. Trenches dug on the north-western side of the Caesarium brought to light a very compact beaten earth floor which probably constituted the earliest paving of the forum, datable to the late Hellenistic period, just before the transfer of the new colonists, or during the colony’s first phase.

In spring 2007 prior to excavations a magnetometer survey was undertaken in the eastern area of the forum. During the summer a kiln, probably for terracottas, was uncovered just below the present ground level, along the eastern side of the back wall of the _porticus_. Further, a trench was dug up against the external wall of the forum in order to ascertain what remained of this structure. Excavation was undertaken in Temple C, in the north-western corner of room A, between the temple and the exterior wall of the _porticus_. This uncovered, on top of the layers of collapse from the last occupation phase dating to between the mid 4th-mid 5th century A.D., a multiple burial containing three overlying individuals, presumably two adults and a child, covered by large stone slabs. A coin dating to 347/348 A.D. was found by the right hand of one of the individuals. Three trenches were opened outside the podium of the round temple (structure H) which revealed diverse deposits and collapses. The pottery recovered, dating to between the 1st century B.C. and the 6th century A.D., was randomly distributed. Of particular interest the discovery _in situ_ of a decorative marble slab positioned on the external wall of the _podium_, of a stairway in the north-north-eastern section and of an early medieval dry-stone wall, in a position outside and opposite the structure. During the same campaign the fill in the foundation cells of Temple D was investigated and a small trench was dug outside the temple building. In all excavation areas natural was reached and thus the stratigraphic sequence was dated from the lime-kiln to the first occupation of the area.

Excavations inside the _Porticus_ (room D), on the southern side of the forum and east of Temple C, uncovered the temple’s foundation off-set which developed in a very uneven way, sloping from south to north and in some places was insubstantial. The foundation was covered by a layer of construction waste, rich in grey limestone chips deriving from the working of cubilia and mostly concentrated along the temple wall (as also seen in Trench 5 in room A). This level was cut by the foundation for the back wall of the _porticus_ which abutted the eastern wall of the temple. In room A excavation continued with the removal of 2nd century A.D. occupation layers and the documentation of a floor, probably of Flavian date, built over dumps of rubble and plaster collapse seemingly datable to the Claudian-Neronian period. Lastly, on the basis of the stratigraphic sequence identified in 2007 in the forum piazza and relating to the earliest phases of the area’s use as a public square, a further three separate trenches were opened with the aim of checking the already identified beaten surfaces and proposing a chronology for the paving of the forum.

The 2009 campaign continued research in the area adjacent to Temple C, uncovering in trench 5 (room A) and room D, inside the _porticus_, the levels relating to the construction of the temple building and of the forum’s back wall. In depth excavation in trench 5 brought to light layers datable to the 2nd century B.C. in which residual material from pits and holes was preserved suggesting occupation of the area dating back to the 4th century B.C. Moreover, in room A occupation levels and collapse relating to the Julio-Claudian structures were documented. One of the most notable finds was a goblet signed _Marcus Perennius Tigranus_. During this campaign a last trench was dug in the forum itself, close to a number of walls of uncertain date. The excavation again confirmed the sequence of beaten surfaces documented in 2007-2008 and uncovered two cement structures whose function , for the moment, is uncertain. Lastly, a new sector was opened in the area east of the _porticus_ which closed the long side of the forum. On the basis of the results from the geo-magnetic survey undertaken in 2008, the existence of a long wall in _opus incertum_ was confirmed. This ran parallel to that of the _porticus_ at a distance of 15 m and probably delimited an open area, perhaps with a loose surface, and therefore a road. East of the wall other walls emerged which require further investigation. Traces of an earlier construction phase were seen in the lower levels: at least two pilasters were resting directly on the remains of a column made of brick wedges which was on the same level as another wall whose courses were in _opus mixtum_.

The 2010 excavations uncovered the paving in the area adjacent to Temple C (room A). In room D, inside the Porticus, the floor in phase with the temple was identified, together with the remains of the building site which had cut the beaten surface situated in the underlying layer. Excavations continued on the round temple, east of the _Capitolium_. The altar with an external paving, of which the cement foundations remained, was found in front of the access stairway. It was observed that most of the paving in phase with the temple must have been removed, whilst an earlier beaten surface was uncovered, attesting the temple’s building site (post holes and stone chippings). A few fragments of pottery of Augustan date were found above this beaten surface and below the level in phase with the temple. A trench dug between the temple and the back wall of the forum showed that the forum surface was originally on the same level as the temple, but was then substantially raised when the stylobate of the portico was leveled to eliminate the north-west/south-east slope. Thus the back wall of the forum became a terracing wall. When the temple was built the latter was abutted by two orthogonal walls which framed the temple itself and supported the portico roof. The east wall was identified by magnetometer. Part of the trellis fresco decorating the portico was found on the external face of the back wall. Excavations continued in the area to the east of the _Porticus_ which closed the long side of the forum, investigating the 5th-6th century phase. This was mainly attested by walls whose collapse was followed by heavy robbing, probably in order to extract clay from the ground. Three main phases were identified for the imperial period: a late phase in which the walls reduced the width of the central room under excavation, one in which several columns were replaced with pillars and the earliest phase representing the creation of the residential area, with a staircase, of which the base was preserved. A trench in the basilica area revealed the occupation phases of the house which came to light below the Roman levels. It was built in the 2nd century after pits had been dug in the clayey terrain (perhaps to quarry clay); the fill in these pits contained Hellenistic materials, whilst one pit filled with 4th century A.D. materials showed that the paving of the Roman basilica had already been removed in this phase. Finally, a series of magnetometer-gradiometer surveys identified numerous domus and other structures in the area next to the forum.

The University of Verona’s excavations in the forum of _Grumentum_ continued in August 2011. The excavation of the room to the east of the Caesarium defined the relationships between the paving levels close to the temple itself. The construction site for the building of the monument overlay a paving containing Augustan material; the paving in phase with the temple was only identified at a distance of a few metres from the monument itself; the first paving abutting the temple was that of Julio-Claudian date. A trench was opened outside the above-mentioned room, with the aim of examining the structures that bordered it. This revealed a dump containing a large quantity of materials, datable from the late Republican period to the first two centuries of the empire, and burnt patches. The excavation of the round temple, east of the _Capitolium_, revealed elements suggesting that the temple was constructed between the end of the Augustan period and the Tiberian period. It is possible that it was also part of the same architectural project as the Caesarium, the forum portico and, probably, the basilica. The portico flanking the temple, already identified by survey, was exposed in the northern part of the monument. Here, two columns and part of the fresco emerged. The columns and the portico’s back wall were razed to the ground when the _Capitolium_ was constructed (towards the mid 1st century A.D.). The back wall behind the temple was frescoed with a trellis motif, in yellow and white on a dark blue background, while the northern part was painted red, with part of a painted panel preserved at the end of the surviving wall. Several patches of the paving preceding the building of the temple were uncovered by its steps. The investigations included a vast survey using a gradiometer in the forum, the area east of the forum and east of the church of S. Maria Assunta.

The University of Verona’s excavations in the forum of _Grumentum_ continued in August 2012. Investigations to the east of the _Caesarium_ showed that in late antiquity almost the entire area was used for metal working activities. The evidence comprised a series of hearths starting in a central zone, and also overlying earlier hearths, associated with slag and other waste materials from casting/smelting (in particular, a nozzle from a bellows), together with materials mainly dating to the 1st century A.D. An L-shaped pillar was uncovered, similar to one excavated in previous years, which delimited a vast open area to the west, perhaps a road. A late antique wall (c. 6th century A.D.) seemed to delimit a room occupying about two thirds of the available space. The excavations behind the round temple, east of the _Capitolium_, provided better dating for the floor in phase with the temple, which seemed to date to the Tiberian period, while the earlier floor level seemed to belong to the Augustan period. In the area north of the temple, towards the _Capitolium_, there was a low wall supporting two columns, of which the base and a wall at right angles to the latter survive. This wall abutted the curtain wall of the sacred enclosure. The latter ran on an east-west alignment, at a right angle to the forum, along the same line as what was to become the wall of the Capitolium. When this was built, towards the mid 1st century A.D., these walls were partially demolished. A trench dug in the square revealed that an anomaly picked up by the gradiometer was the fill of a ditch cut into the terrain, thus establishing that the square began to function as a true forum only from the late Augustan period or, better, from the Tiberian period onwards. New surveys undertaken at about fifty metres west of the “Republican baths” revealed a curved structure, which may be a large (c. 20 m) _exedra_, or one half of a small arena.

Gli scavi dell’Università di Verona presso il Foro di Grumentum sono proseguiti nell’agosto 2013. Un ampio saggio di scavo a S del tempio rotondo ha messo in luce due pavimenti distinti, entrambi di epoca augustea, che precedettero la costruzione del tempio stesso. Si è inoltre scavato l’ingresso N al portico del tempio. Esso, in una seconda fase, fu chiuso e fu realizzata una porta con soglia a un livello più alto. Venne allora realizzato, all’esterno della porta, un pavimento in cocciopesto con area centrale in mosaico. Poi si eresse, sopra il suddetto pavimento, un muro con andamento NNE-SSO e infine un muro, all’esterno della porta, a partire dallo stipite sinistro col medesimo andamento. Nel settore di scavo a Est del Cesareo si sono trovati resti di molti forni per metallo, fosse, buche di palo e riempimenti. La stratigrafia dovrebbe spettare al IV secolo d.C., ma i materiali rinvenuti si datano soprattutto nei decenni centrali del I secolo d.C. Nel settore di scavo a Est del Foro si è continuata l’indagine degli ambienti, già iniziata nel 2009. Si sono indagate, per lo più, le fasi tarde di occupazione. Ma sono venute alla luce anche alcune strutture murarie appartenenti a fasi di vita alto-imperiale. Dietro il muro Ovest della basilica si è aperto un saggio di scavo, con lo scopo di fornire una data per la costruzione di questo edificio. Sopra un terreno argilloso si trovava un pavimento in malta, in fase con un muro in ciottoli fluviali e malta con andamento NO-SE. Il pavimento è stato tagliato a ridosso del muro perimetrale della basilica, verosimilmente per la realizzazione delle fondazioni del medesimo. Sembra che il muro in ciottoli e quello della basilica delimitassero poi un corridoio. I materiali rinvenuti indicano che la basilica fu eretta circa in età augustea. Il muro in ciottoli poi fu rasato, probabilmente per ottenere un ambiente più ampio.

Gli scavi dell’Università di Verona presso il Foro di _Grumentum_ sono proseguiti nell’agosto 2014, soprattutto lavorando nell’area del portico Nord del tempio rotondo. Il complesso, il cui scavo è curato da Fiammetta Soriano, risulta essere stato rimaneggiato più volte: poco dopo l’inaugurazione del complesso, sotto Tiberio, si innalzarono dei pilastri, poi si chiusero gli intercolumnii e anche la porta Nord del muro dell’area sacra, per creare, al posto del portico, due ambienti rettangolari. Inoltre, l’accesso anteriore all’area sacra, da Est, fu chiuso e dotato di una porta. Tutto questo avvenne in età giulio-claudia. Verso la metà del I secolo d.C., quando fu costruito il Capitolio, questi edifici furono rasati al suolo. Davanti alla porta d’accesso da Est fu realizzato un ambiente affrescato e pavimentato in cocciopesto con mosaico al centro. Adiacente a questo ambiente che fungeva da ingresso, c’era una base quadrata, dotata di un gradino. In età tardo-imperiale avvennero radicali rinnovamenti. Fu realizzato un pavimento con pietre piatte nella parte Sud-Est del settore indagato, poi fu innalzato un muro in pietra e malta, con forte inclinazione verso Sud, forse un muro di contenimento. Ma il rinnovamento più notevole fu poi costituito dalla costruzione di una chiesa cristiana dotata di abside volto a Est. Di essa si vede, per ora, solo parte della pianta. Si è pure portato a termine un saggio a Ovest del Cesareo, a cura di L. Pozzan, che ha chiarito come la piazza, prima della sua monumentalizzazione in epoca augustea, era di dimensioni maggiori, anche se apparentemente priva di templi. Nella fase che precedette la costruzione del Cesareo fu realizzato un taglio lineare, orientato in senso Est-Ovest, profondo 55 cm. Il taglio prosegue a Sud-Est e Nord-Ovest, oltre i limiti del saggio. La sua parete Nord è verticale, il fondo è piano. Quando poi fu innalzato il Cesareo e si concepì il nuovo piano architettonico del Foro, si spianò la zona, eliminando la pendenza Sud-Nord.

In July and August 2014, a team from the University of Edinburgh conducted excavations in an area to the southeast of the forum at Grumentum, expanding upon a provisional trench established by V. Scalfari in conjunction with the Università degli studi di Verona in 2009. Geophysical surveys and test excavations conducted to the east of the forum between 2010 and 2013 suggested that a street lined by a portico and tabernae was located in this area. The long-term goal of the University of Edinburgh’s project is to confirm the presence of this commercial quarter and document its chronological development. During the 2014 season, four soundings of varying size were placed within a 15x15m area located to the north Scalfari’s trench. Three 1x1.5m soundings were situated to the east of the road, in an effort to analyse a series of rectilinear structures identified in 2013. To the west of the road, a 1x2m sounding was established to examine the hitherto unexplored remains in this area. Initial interpretations of the geophysical survey results had suggested that relationship between the portico and the road was unusual, with the former measuring nearly twice the width of the latter. Excavations in 2014 indicate, however, that the linear feature previously interpreted as the portico is the road itself. In its initial phase (possibly as early as the 1st c. BC), the road was probably surrounded by porticos on both sides. At some point (likely in the 3rd c. AD), the façades of the tabernae situated to the east of the road were extended to the line of the portico colonnade, incorporating the colonnade’s column bases into their construction. In the 4th or 5th c. AD, part of the road surface was roughly paved with a variety of recycled construction materials, including bricks, roof tiles, and fragments of mosaic. Excavations conducted in the west sounding did not reveal the presence of similar commercial structures on the opposite side of the road, but two of the column bases associated with the western portico have been identified. In 2015, we hope to refine the dates of these phases and reveal the initial layout of the eastern tabernae. Further excavation to the west of the road will provide the opportunity to confirm the presence (or indeed absence) of structural remains in this area.

Initiated in 2015, the British Archaeological Project at Grumentum oversees the excavation of a large trench in Settore S at Grumentum, a Lucano-Roman town in western Basilicata. The aims of the project are twofold: (1) to explore the growth of Grumentum’s economy between the late Republic and the early Dominate through the excavation of commercial and industrial structures (e.g. shops, bakeries, workshops, etc.), and (2) to examine the town’s pre-Roman layout by analysing material evidence from the period prior to installation of the Roman colony in the mid-1st century BC. Previous excavation campaigns in Settore S revealed the presence of a large building positioned to the east of the forum. The building consisted of a long row of single rooms and was constructed in the 2nd century AD; in its initial phase, it was flanked by a broad portico (c. 5 m wide) immediately to the west. Though canonical shop doorways (broad openings accompanied by long thresholds) have not been identified at the entrances to the rooms, the scale of these spaces (each approximately 33m²) and their positioning (situated one after another, opening onto the portico) suggests that they were probably shops or workshops. In 2017, we began digging inside one of the rooms, but as yet have not identified evidence to confirm that they were indeed tabernae. However, a test trench located beyond the building’s back wall revealed a compact tile and mortar surface probably associated with another room (or series of rooms) further to the east. If this interpretation is correct, the entire structure is likely much larger than originally thought. Excavations on the western side of Settore S in 2015 and 2016 revealed a colonnade that supported the roof of the portico. It is now clear that the colonnade was rebuilt on multiple occasions during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD; the earliest of these events was probably the result of a fire. By the end of the 4th century, the portico was completely destroyed and the building’s rooms subdivided by a series of interior partition walls. The space occupied by the interior of the portico was converted to a street, roughly paved with tile, brick and small stones. A trench positioned next to the building’s western façade (that is, the wall linking the building and the portico) revealed the remains of an earlier structure underneath, set on roughly the same alignment. Though we cannot yet provide a definitive date for the earlier remains, the ceramic assemblages recovered from surfaces removed by its construction cut indicate a terminus post quem in the mid-1st century BC. Many of the buildings in and around the forum were erected during the early Augustan period and thus it would not be too surprising if the earlier structure in Settore S also hails from this time. Further excavation in this area during the 2018 season will hopefully clarify the situation.