Articles by Daniel P Diffendale
Geoarchaeology, 2018
Tufo Lionato is a volcanic tuff that was used extensively for construction in Rome, Italy, during... more Tufo Lionato is a volcanic tuff that was used extensively for construction in Rome, Italy, during antiquity and after; at least three varieties can be identified: Anio, Monteverde, and Portuense. The widespread introduction of Tufo Lionato in Roman construction is generally dated to the mid‐second century before the common era (B.C.E.). Another tuff, Lapis Albanus, is held to have been introduced during the third century B.C.E. Due to their similar macroscopic appearance, it is impossible to reliably
distinguish visually among varieties of Tufo Lionato, or between Lapis Albanus and other “peperino” tuffs, nor does geochemistry alone always allow definitive identifications. A combination of geochemical and petrographical analyses is presented here, to provenance building stone from the Roman temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta at Sant’Omobono in Rome. The combination of techniques allows for secure identification of Anio tuff and Lapis Albanus, and their use in structures of the fourth–third and fifth–third centuries B.C.E., respectively, one to two centuries
earlier than previously demonstrated. These findings show a diversification of tuffs used by the Roman construction industry earlier than henceforth acknowledged, and suggest the ability of archaeometric techniques to bring new perspectives even to such familiar archaeological contexts as the city of Rome.
(Only an extract has been uploaded; contact me if you don't have other access)
The church of Sant'Omobono sits above one of the highest human occupation sequences in the city o... more The church of Sant'Omobono sits above one of the highest human occupation sequences in the city of Rome. Some 3.5 m of sediment lie between the earliest known Bronze Age occupation lens and the base of the foundations of the early 6th c. B.C. temple, a further 13 m above which lies the floor of the present church, reconstructed in A.D. 1482. 1 The site was sacred to the goddesses Fortuna and Mater Matuta for more than a millennium, before one of their temples was converted into a church of San Salvatore, rebuilt many times and eventually rededicated to Saints Anthony and Omobono. The archaeological remains were discovered by chance in 1936, when the dense neighborhood surrounding the church was demolished to make way for new Fascist infrastructure. The site was spared from further construction, and excavations continued sporadically through the latter half of the 20th c. This work was carried out by a diverse cast of archaeologists employing an equally diverse range of methodologies and field practices, though none of this work has been fully published. Since 2009, the Sant'Omobono Project, a collaboration between the University of Michigan, the Università della Calabria, and the Sovrintendenza Capitolina of the Comune di Roma, has continued this research with the goal of understanding and publishing whatever possible from the earlier excavations and bringing updated methodologies to bear on the site. While preparations for comprehensive publication are ongoing, the present article summarizes the main occupation and construction phases at the site as understood after 6 years of work by the project. 2
Book Chapters by Daniel P Diffendale
P. Brocato, M. Ceci & N. Terrenato (Eds.) Ricerche nell'area dei templi di Fortuna e Mater Matuta. Vol. I. Università della Calabria, pp. 141–166
It has recently been argued that a group of five monuments at Sant'Omobono were part of a single b... more It has recently been argued that a group of five monuments at Sant'Omobono were part of a single building program, attributed to the Roman consul M. Fulvius Flaccus in 264 BCE, a program that also included a monument at Orvieto, loc. Campo della Fiera. The monuments in question include two altars, a circular ‘donarium’ and fragments of two bases carrying inscriptions of a M. Folvios, all at S. Omobono, and a trachyte donarium or altar at Campo della Fiera. Evaluating this suggestion provides an opportunity to re-examine the monuments at S. Omobono individually and on their own terms, before being brought into comparison with the Campo della Fiera monument. The evidence does not support the hypothesis of a single building program for the five Roman monuments as a group nor for the inclusion of the Orvietan monument in such a group
Papers by Daniel P Diffendale
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 2019
This study reports on the discovery that the podium of the archaic temple in the Forum Boarium of... more This study reports on the discovery that the podium of the archaic temple in the Forum Boarium of Rome was built with a previously unknown tuff, of non-local origin. On the basis of detailed comparative petrographic and geochemical tests, it has been established that the blocks employed to build the earliest temple so far discovered in Rome belonged to a distinctive facies of tufo lionato that had never been characterized before, in contrast to what was reported by previous excavators. The blocks must have come from a quarry in the Anio River Valley, several kilometers from the construction site, making the Sant'Omobono temple the earliest known Roman building that extensively employed imported materials. The metrology of the blocks is also unique. This particular volcanic stone was probably chosen for its much greater resistance to weathering compared to the local tuffs, a trait that was essential in the flood-prone location, not far from the Tiber riverbank, where the temple was situated. The labor-intensive sourcing may also explain the dainty size of the temple podium in comparison to other sixth-century bc temples in the region. The choice made by the builders indicates far greater sophistication and technical awareness than they have generally been credited with. The new discovery is placed in the context of the quickly accumulating archaeological record of sixth-century BC Rome, which suggests a dramatic increase in the number and scale of monumen-tal projects in the expanding city.
FOLD&R Fasti On Line Documents & Research, 535, 2022
As part of the new cycle of archaeological research promoted by the Archaeological Park of Pompei... more As part of the new cycle of archaeological research promoted by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii in the Sanctuary and Temple of Venus (VIII.1.3), a team from Mount Allison University and the University of Missouri undertook a second and third season of fieldwork in the summers of 2018 and 2019. This report presents the stratigraphic data collected from trenches excavated within the cella, in the open court E of the temple, and in the E wing of the triporticus that surrounded it. The results have allowed us to further define the spatial organization of the area prior to the construction of the monumental sanctuary, first uncovered in 2017, revealing more remains of Samniteera buildings that occupied elongated city blocks which were for-mally developed during the 2nd century BCE and repurposed in the early 1st century BCE, possibly for commercial functions. Based on finds from the obliteration sequence of these features and the surviving architectural decoration, the erection of the temple and triporticus can be securely dated to the late 1st century BCE, thus undermining previous reconstructions that vari-ously assigned the first building phase to the Late Samnite, Sullan or Caesarian periods.
Ricerche nell'area dei templi di Fortuna e Mater Matuta (Roma) II, P. BROCATO, M. CECI, N. TERRENATO (a cura di). ConSenso Publishing, Rossano 2018, pp. 191-216, 2018
FOLD&R 425, 2018
Under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Miss... more Under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Mount Allison University have resumed the study of the Temple and Sanctuary of Venus. The main objective of the newly launched Venus Pompeiana Project (https://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/pompeiiitaly/) is to elucidate the date, extent and internal organization of the original cult site, and the nature of the rituals that were conducted therein, detailing the main transformations that occurred in this sector of Pompeii with the transition into the Roman phase. We present the outcomes of the first season of photogrammetric survey and targeted excavation carried out at the site. These activities, which are part of a three-year program, complement previous research with new descriptive and spatial data, aiming to develop best practices for the integrated digital archiving and analysis of old finds and newly excavated data. By reopening a trench first excavated in 2006 by a team from the University of Basilicata in the open court E of the temple podium and expanding it to sample a section of the E portico, new features predating the standing complex have been exposed. Their architecture and stratigraphy demonstrate that in the 2nd c. BCE the area had a different spatial organization, featuring two distinct sectors separated by a narrow alley. Future work on site will further clarify the nature and function of the buildings occupying the two blocks. The finds also confirm the post-80 BCE date of the first triporticus and temple. The initial results have important implications for the broader understanding of the topography of a crucial quadrant of Pompeii facing onto the Via Marina and in direct relationship with the Basilica.
FOLD&R 425, 2018
Under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Miss... more Under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Mount Allison University have resumed the study of the Temple and Sanctuary of Venus. The main objective of the newly launched Venus Pompeiana Project (https://www.archaeological.org/interactivedigs/pompeiiitaly/) is to elucidate the date, extent and internal organization of the original cult site, and the nature of the rituals that were conducted therein, detailing the main transformations that occurred in this sector of Pompeii with the transition into the Roman phase. We present the outcomes of the first season of photogrammetric survey and targeted excavation carried out at the site. These activities, which are part of a three-year program, complement previous research with new descriptive and spatial data, aiming to develop best practices for the integrated digital archiving and analysis of old finds and newly excavated data. By reopening a trench first excavated in 2006 by a team from the University of Basilicata in the open court E of the temple podium and expanding it to sample a section of the E portico, new features predating the standing complex have been exposed. Their architecture and stratigraphy demonstrate that in the 2nd c. BCE the area had a different spatial organization, featuring two distinct sectors separated by a narrow alley. Future work on site will further clarify the nature and function of the buildings occupying the two blocks. The finds also confirm the post-80 BCE date of the first triporticus and temple. The initial results have important implications for the broader understanding of the topography of a crucial quadrant of Pompeii facing onto the Via Marina and in direct relationship with the Basilica.
Posters by Daniel P Diffendale
The temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta in Rome’s Forum Boarium underwent numerous modifications ... more The temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta in Rome’s Forum Boarium underwent numerous modifications during the Roman republic, from the initial construction of the twin temples on a large square podium in the years ca. 500 B.C.E. to the reconstruction of the sanctuary following a fire in 213 B.C.E., before a sitewide restructuring perhaps in the Late Republic or Early Imperial period. The Sant’Omobono Project, a collaboration between the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, the Università della Calabria, and the University of Michigan, aims at a full reconsideration of the archival, monumental and artifactual evidence from the site. Based on my work with the project since 2011, and especially on work undertaken during the summer of 2016, I present new conclusions and new questions about the architectural development of the site during the republic, including results of
further chemical analysis of tuff types used in the construction of the sanctuary structures and advances in understanding the Republican architectural terracottas.
A new international collaboration, also known as the Venus Pompeiana Project, has been forged bet... more A new international collaboration, also known as the Venus Pompeiana Project, has been forged between the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Mount Allison University, and the University of Missouri to resume the study of the imposing triporticus with axial temple dedicated to the patron goddess of the Roman colony. The main objective of the new endeavor is to bring the existing excavation archives to publication by integrating the reanalysis of legacy data with targeted excavations. Specifically, we aim to reach firmer conclusions on the chronology and nature of the occupation at the site, focusing particularly on the horizon that predates the construction of the first monumental sanctuary.
After a pilot season in 2017, a full-scale excavation was launched in 2018 thanks to generous funding provided by the AIA Cotsen Excavation Grant. Our research design called for the reopening of old trenches previously excavated in the temple court (Trenches IIS and IIN), which had already revealed a sample of the complete sequence of occupation of the open area east of the podium, including direct stratigraphic relationship between its various floors and the foundations of the east colonnade of the sanctuary, and for which part of the original archival data was also available. We resurveyed standing features and exposed stratigraphic sections employing both traditional total station and rich data capture in the form of photogrammetric (image based) modeling, while reanalyzing the existing descriptive record of each unit. Furthermore, we continued the investigations below the levels reached by the previous excavators. The relevant ceramic materials and coins were retrieved from the Soprintendenza storage in order to be restudied, thus complementing the old data with the new finds. In addition, new trenches (Trenches A and B), were opened under the east portico to better define the layout
and clarify the function of architectural features that had been exposed below the monumental phase. The construction sequence of the podium and ancillary structures was also documented, laying the groundwork for future conservation work.
The initial results contribute significantly to the broader debate about the urban development of the so-called Altstadt of Pompeii and the Samnite-to-Roman transition at the site. Most notably, we identified a N–S street running across the entire extent of the east court. The street, which most likely branched off from Via Marina, was certainly in use through the second century B.C.E., separating two distinct city blocks occupied by structures. This layout was completely obliterated in order to make room for the triporticus and temple, for which we confirm the post-80 B.C.E. date, thus demonstrating the impact of the Roman conquest on the religious landscape of Pompeii.
When the cat's away, the mice still pay? Land division and sharecropping in Mycenaean and later Greece (Poster)
The use of digital photogrammetric techniques to document archaeological layers and features has ... more The use of digital photogrammetric techniques to document archaeological layers and features has become increasingly common in recent years. Photomodeling software such as PhotoScan uses multiple photographs of an object to model its geometry. In addition to providing more detailed topographical data than those acquired using a total station alone, such photomodeling offers potential solutions to problems posed by complex urban excavations. A deep sounding at the site of Sant’Omobono in Rome’s Forum Boarium presented special challenges for topographical documentation. The depth of the sounding and the prospect of excavating below the water table necessitated the installation of steel sheeting to prevent slumping and collapse of the scarp. The initial height of the sheets above the sounding blocked sight lines and precluded the regular use of a total station to document excavation levels. At deeper levels within the sounding, the presence of sump holes, pumps, and occasionally small amounts of standing water presented additional challenges to the creation of photomodels. The creation of photogrammetric models that included fixed points around the excavation area permitted not only the calculation of real elevation data but also the recording of detailed topographic data for each stratigraphic unit thus modeled. The resulting photomodels can also be used in the creation of traditional transparency overlay plans.
Photogrammetric documentation in a single context recording system such as that used at Sant’Omobono has the further advantage of allowing the reconstruction of detailed vertical sections, not only along the limits of the excavated area, but also along any axis within it. Photomodeling also has a potential analytical value in allowing more accurate calculation of sediment-volume estimates than is possible using traditional techniques. The use of photomodeling at Sant’Omobono provides a model for dealing with the specific topographic challenges of urban excavations and for richer data collection in all excavation contexts.
Conference Presentations by Daniel P Diffendale
Ancient Roman architecture has a global legacy, but its early development was shaped by highly sp... more Ancient Roman architecture has a global legacy, but its early development was shaped by highly specific, local factors. One crucial feature in this development was the exploitation of the various volcanic stones ("tuffs") found within a 25 km radius of the center of Rome. Already in the Archaic period (sixth century B.C.E.), the tuff bedrock of Rome's seven hills was being quarried for architectural use; by the Late Republic (first century B.C.E.) at the latest, Roman architects were building with a variety of tuffs quarried well beyond the city's limits, some from the territories of bested former rivals. Roman architecture of the Archaic and Republican periods developed in dialogue with its Etruscan and Latin neighbors, many of whom similarly employed locally quarried tuffs. None of Rome's neighbors, however , came to employ such a wide variety of tuffs, nor did they generally import nonlocal materials. The differing physical properties of the various tuffs allowed Roman builders to experiment, and by the late third century B.C.E. at the latest, they were strategically employing different tuffs to meet specific constructional and decorative needs. Despite decades of archaeological and historiographic work in Rome and its tufaceous catchment area, however, contemporary understanding of tuff use still relies on century-old studies: Tenney Frank's groundbreaking "Notes on the Servian Wall," which established the basic tuff typology used by archaeologists today, was published in 1918 (AJA 22: 175-88). Frank's classification was based largely on macroscopic identification of tuffs; as the results of recent geochemical studies have proven, however, visual inspection alone is insufficient to provenance tuff reliably. Nor is extraction of mineral resources simply a material correlate of the expansion of Roman state power, contrary to Frank's hypotheses. Given recent advances in archaeological science and decades of historiographic reflection, the time is ripe for a comprehensive restudy of the Roman tuffs. Accordingly , we have undertaken a new project, "QUarry provenance and Archaeological Dating of the Roman-Area Tuffs in Antiquity." QUADRATA combines a campaign of trace-element analysis, in order to pinpoint provenience of various tuffs from known ancient quarries in the hinterland of Rome, with a consideration of the Republican architectural contexts employing tuff and a historiographic study of early Roman construction and resource extraction. A pilot study involving geo-chemical and petrographic analysis of tuffs from the temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta at Sant'Omobono has already been completed. We will discuss some of the implications of the results of this study, along with challenges and prospects for future work.
The archaeological site beneath the church of Sant'Omobono in Rome's Forum Boarium preserves evid... more The archaeological site beneath the church of Sant'Omobono in Rome's Forum Boarium preserves evidence of over two and a half millennia of religious practice in the Eternal City. Based on the results of recent fieldwork combined with archival research, I reconstruct the architectural development of the sacred precinct during the Roman Republic (fifth—first centuries B.C.E.) and explore the implications of the archaeological remains at Sant'Omobono for understanding the cults of Fortuna and Mater Matuta, especially during the Middle Republic (fourth— third centuries B.C.E.). The site offers the rare chance for a synchronic study of the layout of a third-century Roman urban sanctuary, including altars, votive pits, temple cellae, and water features, while the available artifactual material, though imperfect, fleshes out some of the ritual. The evidence of ancient literature can also be brought to bear—with caution—on these questions. Sant'Omobono also repays diachronic study. The plan of the precinct became more open with each successive Republican rebuilding, perhaps leading to greater visibility of the sacred goings-on. This provides a contrast with the modern scholarly interpretation of the Matralia (the festival of Mater Matuta) as highly restrictive, formed on the basis of ancient literature indicating that participation was restricted to matronae, while enslaved women were explicitly excluded. Other archaeological evidence indicates that, even if the rites of the Matralia were gender-restricted, the same was not true of the precinct more generally.
‘Mapping Augustan Alexandria – an Interdisciplinary Project at Penn’; Gold Medal Colloquium at the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Anaheim, California, 2009
The ancient cult place under the church of Sant’Omobono in Rome’s Forum Boarium has been the focu... more The ancient cult place under the church of Sant’Omobono in Rome’s Forum Boarium has been the focus of archaeological investigation since its chance rediscovery during demolitions in the 1930s. The bulk of scholarly attention since then has focused on the remains of the deeply buried archaic temple and its associated material culture. Most of the remains visible today, however, are dated broadly between the early fifth century B.C.E. and the second century C.E., and yet many basic questions about these “later” periods of the sanctuary lack satisfying answers. For instance, which elements on-site can be assigned to discrete architectural phases? What materials were used in these phases, and how can these phases be dated? The ongoing work of the Sant’Omobono Project, which aims at a definitive publication of the site, has included a total station survey of all visible remains in conjunction with chemical analysis of the types of tufo used and archival research on the past 80 years of archaeological exploration; I present preliminary results of this work and identify prospects for future research.
Investigating the Realia of Ancient Greek Sacrifice: "Arrange the Firewood and Everything That Goes on Top!"
Paper presented at the Uppsala University Conference, "BURN, BURN, BURN!: Workshop on Experimenta... more Paper presented at the Uppsala University Conference, "BURN, BURN, BURN!: Workshop on Experimental Cremations for the Understanding of Archaeological Contexts," 2014
Thoughts on wooden pots and other provocations
Pottering About the Positivist Fallacy. Missing the Greek Early Iron Age through Intensive Field Survey
Talks by Daniel P Diffendale
Burning Questions, Making Models: Contemporary Archaeological Approaches to Ancient Cult.
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Articles by Daniel P Diffendale
distinguish visually among varieties of Tufo Lionato, or between Lapis Albanus and other “peperino” tuffs, nor does geochemistry alone always allow definitive identifications. A combination of geochemical and petrographical analyses is presented here, to provenance building stone from the Roman temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta at Sant’Omobono in Rome. The combination of techniques allows for secure identification of Anio tuff and Lapis Albanus, and their use in structures of the fourth–third and fifth–third centuries B.C.E., respectively, one to two centuries
earlier than previously demonstrated. These findings show a diversification of tuffs used by the Roman construction industry earlier than henceforth acknowledged, and suggest the ability of archaeometric techniques to bring new perspectives even to such familiar archaeological contexts as the city of Rome.
(Only an extract has been uploaded; contact me if you don't have other access)
Book Chapters by Daniel P Diffendale
Papers by Daniel P Diffendale
Posters by Daniel P Diffendale
further chemical analysis of tuff types used in the construction of the sanctuary structures and advances in understanding the Republican architectural terracottas.
After a pilot season in 2017, a full-scale excavation was launched in 2018 thanks to generous funding provided by the AIA Cotsen Excavation Grant. Our research design called for the reopening of old trenches previously excavated in the temple court (Trenches IIS and IIN), which had already revealed a sample of the complete sequence of occupation of the open area east of the podium, including direct stratigraphic relationship between its various floors and the foundations of the east colonnade of the sanctuary, and for which part of the original archival data was also available. We resurveyed standing features and exposed stratigraphic sections employing both traditional total station and rich data capture in the form of photogrammetric (image based) modeling, while reanalyzing the existing descriptive record of each unit. Furthermore, we continued the investigations below the levels reached by the previous excavators. The relevant ceramic materials and coins were retrieved from the Soprintendenza storage in order to be restudied, thus complementing the old data with the new finds. In addition, new trenches (Trenches A and B), were opened under the east portico to better define the layout
and clarify the function of architectural features that had been exposed below the monumental phase. The construction sequence of the podium and ancillary structures was also documented, laying the groundwork for future conservation work.
The initial results contribute significantly to the broader debate about the urban development of the so-called Altstadt of Pompeii and the Samnite-to-Roman transition at the site. Most notably, we identified a N–S street running across the entire extent of the east court. The street, which most likely branched off from Via Marina, was certainly in use through the second century B.C.E., separating two distinct city blocks occupied by structures. This layout was completely obliterated in order to make room for the triporticus and temple, for which we confirm the post-80 B.C.E. date, thus demonstrating the impact of the Roman conquest on the religious landscape of Pompeii.
Photogrammetric documentation in a single context recording system such as that used at Sant’Omobono has the further advantage of allowing the reconstruction of detailed vertical sections, not only along the limits of the excavated area, but also along any axis within it. Photomodeling also has a potential analytical value in allowing more accurate calculation of sediment-volume estimates than is possible using traditional techniques. The use of photomodeling at Sant’Omobono provides a model for dealing with the specific topographic challenges of urban excavations and for richer data collection in all excavation contexts.
Conference Presentations by Daniel P Diffendale
Talks by Daniel P Diffendale