La villa tardoantica di Aiano (2005-2011 / 2014-2018). Bilancio di dodici anni di attività dell’UCLOUVAIN in Val d’Elsa (San Gimignano, SI)

The late antique villa of Aiano is situated in the municipality of San Gimignano (Siena), in the territory of the ancient roman VII Regio. It has been excavated since 2005 by a team led by Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium). The site presents various phases of occupation from the end of the 3rd to the 7th centuries CE, and covers an area of about 10,000 m2 based on various geological surveys. About 3,000 m2 of the settlement have been excavated, thus giving a picture of considerable interest – although still partial – for understanding the phenomenon of late antique rural villas in Tuscany. The site is located on the border between the Roman municipal territory of Volterra, in the small Elsa Valley, on the axis that connects the region in and around Siena to the Arno Valley. This settlement consists of a villa longinqua with monumental architecture and decorative apparatus that was built during the 4th c. AD. A hexalobate hall, surrounded by a monumental pentalobate ambulatio that was accessed through a rectangular vestibule, belongs to this first phase. The hall, ambulatio and vestibule played an important role in connecting different parts of the building: this characteristic, highlighted by the coaxial openings at the ends of the hall, is found in other contemporary buildings, for example the Cazzanello villa near Tarquinia. In a later period – dating to the last quarter of the 4th century CE – the villa was heavily restored. In particular, the hexalobate hall was transformed, both architectonically and functionally: three exedras were substituted by three rectangular rooms. The new floor of the hall was paved with opus signinum with geometric mosaic decorations. Taken all together, the information from the excavations, though still incomplete, shows that the Aiano villa played an extremely prestigious role in the Tyrrhenian region, not least because of the materials used to build it: the lavish use of glass sectilia, luxury products, is proof of the vibrancy and the cultural and economic standards of this area of inland Tuscany between the 4th and the 5th centuries CE.

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