2019-07-15 Karina Richman
Room H-16 Analysis:
In the 2019 season, we uncovered what was exposed by the Soprintendenza and further excavation is required to understand the area. Based on what we uncovered, we concluded that the depth of the column (7370), which continues deeper past the layer reached, implied that it is most likely the earliest feature in the room. A concrete layer with tufo inclusions (7363), which appears to be floor prep, abuts the column suggesting a purposeful relationship. This layer of concrete and tile appears to have continued to the west, as there are remnants of it abutting the west wall (7367) (although there is no physical connection between leaving this as speculation only). As for the walls, 7367, 7366, and 7364 are most likely in phase due to their shared construction technique, opus reticulatum. 7368, on the other hand, was constructed with concrete and tufo bricks, suggesting a possibly different construction phase. Moreover, it has an original limit to the north, unlike 7367 (which might have at one point but is now lost), suggesting a purposeful division of space between the east and west sections of H-16. The eastern wall (7365) has an irregular construction, with large reuse basalt inclusions, suggesting that it had, at the least, modifications at a later phase. Lastly, 7369 is mostly likely the latest addition to the room for two possible reasons: to delineate the column (7370) or to separate a space for the grave (7389). 7369 covers a small patch of cocciopesto floor to the south end of the wall. This patch of cocciopesto might relate to the floor prep (7373) and the dolia (7371 and 7372), but it is impossible to tell because there is no physical relationship.