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A team from the University of Verona – Department of Cultures and Civilizations, under the direction of Patrizia Basso in collaboration with Diana Dobreva, has recently concluded a new excavation campaign in the area of the former Pasqualis Fund, located at the southeast end of Aquileia. The work is carried out under ministerial concession, in agreement with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Friuli Venezia Giulia.
This campaign has been particularly significant. Based on the scientific and financial collaboration agreement with the Aquileia Foundation, which has generously supported the excavations since 2018, it was agreed to extend the excavation period and align the research with the future enhancement of the site. The investigations lasted for two months and involved more than twenty students, doctoral candidates, and young Ph.D. holders from the University of Verona, allowing exploration of three new extensive areas and opening pages of great interest to be further investigated in the ongoing research.
Firstly, during this year’s work, a fourth pavement was revealed, in addition to the three already known from excavations in the 1950s and recent research. This latest pavement is located to the east of the others and at a higher level, likely adapting to the natural slope of the terrain. This discovery suggests the presence of a large commercial complex, consisting of at least four parallel buildings, each characterized by an open area surrounded by arcades and shops. It could be an extraordinary market in terms of monumentality and size, possibly unique in the Empire, at least as far as current knowledge goes, providing clear evidence of Aquileia’s vitality as a center for trade and commerce in Late Antiquity.
The four buildings were likely modularly arranged (two by two), leaving an intermediate space between them. In this year’s excavation, a cobblestone road was identified in this space, leading from the north decumanus of the market and thus from the area of the basilica to the large commercial center. It allowed the passage of numerous visitors who populated these spaces daily and carts for transporting goods, as confirmed by traces on its pavement. As demonstrated in recent excavations, the market could also be accessed from the river through a series of entrances open on the outer of the two urban enclosing walls unearthed south of the same squares, accompanied by ramps for transporting goods.
Among the monetary discoveries, is a gold coin , a solidus of Leo I (457-474 AD) minted for the mint of Constantinople. “The find is of extreme interest – highlights Diana Dobreva of the Cultures and Civilizations department – both because in general single discoveries of gold coins are extremely rare , and because the specimen of Leo found by us is the first known to date for Aquileia. This coin attests to the local circulation of precious metal denominations in the 5th century AD and constitutes an extremely important reference for the last attendance of the Pasqualis markets (it is the latest coin recovered to date) and in general of the site of Aquileia.”
Finally, among this year’s discoveries, it is noteworthy to mention finding about ten amphorae along a perimeter wall of one of the buildings. They were positioned vertically, cut at shoulder height, missing the neck and rim. Their function will be clarified in the course of the ongoing work, but they already appear to be attributable to a phase preceding the construction of the market when there was a riverside platform in the area and other structures only partially identified, mostly covered by the squares. In the 2023 campaign, a water staircase composed of four sandstone steps was uncovered, which was functional for descending towards the river.
An integral part of the fieldwork was also the research conducted in the archives of the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia, with the opportunity to review the graphic, photographic, and handwritten documentation left by archaeologists who investigated the area before. Some of their insights were confirmed by our excavations, while careful archival data reading was necessary for others. The results of these studies will be presented in an upcoming volume that narrates the events of more than a century of archaeological discoveries in the area.
Throughout the months of work, the excavation remained open to the public, who were engaged daily in guided tours by students from Verona. Of particular interest among the communication and data reporting activities are the two open days organized on June 17th and September 23rd by the Aquileia Foundation, in collaboration with the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia, and other institutions working for the city’s enhancement.
