2,000-Year-Old Roman House In Malta Discovered By American University Students
A house dating back to Roman times, estimated to be 2,000 years old, has been discovered in Malta by a team of researchers and students from the University of South Florida (USF).
The excavation was lead by Professor Davide Tanasi, director of USF’s Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx).
The students joined a multinational team of scientists on the Melite Civitas Romana Project, aimed at revealing Malta’s Roman-era history, when the island served as a strategic point for military and maritime activities.
“Not only do we have the chance to uncover amazing Roman structures, but Malta is critically understudied despite being a wealth of fantastic archaeology and history from antiquity,” Noted Angela Costello, a USF doctoral student studying public history and digital humanities.
The excavated house, or Roman Domus, richly adorned with mosaic floors, wall frescoes, and marble decorations, once resided in the ancient city of Melite.
“During the Roman Empire, it was certainly used as a residence by a representative of the emperor or some very wealthy individual very close to the imperial court.”
After months of excavation work, the team discovered an adjoining, yet unknown house with an extraordinary feature for Roman residences – nearly 10-foot-tall walls.
According to Tanasi, this finding deepens our understanding of ancient Melite’s urban fabric and its spatial configuration.
In a bid to excavate more about the neighboring house’s owner and their life, the team has been studying the household waste discovered in an ancient disposal system.
Among the findings are fragmented pottery, glass vessels, animal bones, and charcoal, offering priceless insights into everyday life in Roman times.
Besides the physical excavation, the IDEx team is also preserving cultural heritage digitally. Costello explained, “We perform digital photogrammetry where we capture data using a series of photographs that are then composited to create a 3D model and terrestrial laser scanning to provide more in-depth information on the site that we can process and re-visit during the year when we aren’t present in the trenches.”
With the excavation permit in the Roman Domus district extended to 2025, the IDEx team is set to continue the exploration of the newly discovered house next summer.
All Image Credits: USF (INSTITUTE FOR DIGITAL EXPLORATION COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES IDEX IN MALTA)
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