This season picks up where 2025 left off, continuing the excavation of the large, monumental building uncovered last year, a structure that saw successive phases of reuse after its construction in the 3rd century BCE into the imperial period before its eventual abandonment in late antiquity. Last year’s excavation revealed that the building extended further west, so this season the team, led by Stephen Kay (BSR Archaeology Manager) and Emlyn Dodd (Adelaide University / Institute of Classical Studies), opened a new trench alongside that of the previous season.
This year’s trench has revealed the continuation of the large building: a series of regular rooms have been discovered, but with clear evidence though of different construction phases. The main building is defined by several well-built walls built using carefully cut locally quarried tufo blocks, some measuring 1.5m in length. In its earliest phase the building appears to face to the west, as several doorways have been found in the North-South walls, some of which were subsequently blocked.
In the centre of the building lie two vaulted spaces, one of which had collapsed. The rooms appear to have been at least partly below ground, semi-basement spaces, with what may be a small window opening for light into one of them from the road alongside. The function of these vaulted rooms is still not entirely clear, perhaps cool storage spaces or rooms to escape the heat in the summer, these are the questions the team will work to answer during the next phase of the research.
A Roman road and traces of metalworking
At the northern limit of the excavation a stretch of road has come to light, but not the one the team expected. What first appeared was a carefully constructed surface, made reusing broken tiles and pottery, on which was scattered a large amount of animal bone. The pottery indicated a medieval date, not the paved road the geophysics had suggested. However, in continuing the excavation, the original Roman road came to light at a depth of almost 2m.
Finding the original road level outside the building was important to the team, as it helps establish the floor levels and access to the building and clarify how each space was accessed.
In a separate part of the site, the team has found clear evidence of metalworking. Whilst the furnace appears not to have survived, the surrounding layers are rich in the tell-tale by-products of metal production: heavily burnt, blackened soil and fragments of the fired clay structure, simple in construction rather than built of brick or stone, which is consistent with the light, makeshift furnaces used for smithing rather than smelting. Notably, this metalworking evidence appears in the same phase as similar production traces recorded in other areas of the projects excavations, suggesting significant amounts of forging in this northern part of the city.
What’s Next: Moving from Excavation to Publication
This year marks the end of this first phase of the project, as work now focuses on the publication of these important excavations. Over the past five years the team has investigated five different areas within the city, allowing it to build up a fascinating picture of the city, from its foundation in the 3rd century BCE through to its later flourishing as an important town in late antiquity.
However, research on site won’t stop entirely. With the permission of the Soprintendenza and landowner, the team plans to continue with other activity: small, targeted excavations, further non-invasive survey and further geological work to better understand the formation of the site.
The real focus now turns to publication. Several articles have already been published by the project as well as regular reports in the Papers of the British School at Rome. The proceedings of a conference held at the BSR in 2024, presenting the results of the first 3 seasons alongside Rome La Sapienza’s excavations at Falerii Veteres is now in preparation with Archaeopress, publishers of the BSR’s new archaeology series.
The project directors, supervisors and many specialists will now dedicate their time to bringing this incredible site to publication. The discoveries promise to both shed light on the history of Falerii Novi as well as its connectivity and trade with Rome and the broader Mediterranean.
