I DATI ARCHEOLOGICI

Abstract

Archaeological data regarding the municipal territories of Vitulazio and Pastorano, which fall within the ager Calenus, are
provided in this paper. Of the 74 sites in question, 60 of them have never been studied previously, concern evidence that can be
dated back from between the Proto-Historic period to the Middle Ages.
The Proto-Historic phase has been identified both from archive sources and from recent excavations carried out in the Torre
Lupara area. Later evidence, dating back to the Middle and Late Roman Republican period, consists of numerous small to medium-
sized farms, in some cases connected to limitatio, mainly recorded through the discovery of clay artefacts. A burial site featuring
a wealth of grave goods (black-glazed and red-figure pottery) has been dated to the period spanning the end of the 4th and the
beginning of the 3rd century B.C., which has been re-examined and re-contextualised. In the foothills and along the southern belt,
several country villas have been unearthed, dating as far back as the 2nd century B.C. The most significant sites include the villa
built on sloping terraces close to the Capece Galeota hunting lodge, on the slopes of Mount Tutuli, equipped with a monumental
cistern, as well as the one located in the Masseria Tuoro area. Excavations conducted in the Masseria San Vito area have brought to
light a structure characterised by the canonical division into pars urbana and pars rustica. Further data has been collected thanks
to the photointerpretation of historical aerial photographs and satellite images.
Following the end of the Roman Republican period, life appears to have continued until the Early Roman Imperial period,
although there is little evidence of the construction of any new dwellings. Recent excavations carried out in the Torre Lupara area
have provided greater insight into the Early Roman Imperial period: an incineration necropolis was discovered close to a road,
containing clay pots, and which is a unicum in the ager Calenus area.
Sporadic ceramic shards and archival sources confirm that the area was inhabited, even back in the Late Antiquity period and
the Early Middle Ages, as can be seen in the sites located in the Cappellucce, Limata, Masseria Tuoro and Masseria San Vito areas.

Keywords: ager Calenus, limitatio, farms, villas, photointerpretation.