Monumental Republican tombs found in Rome suburb

"An monumental early Republican-era funerary complex has been discovered in a suburb of Rome. The excavation of the Via di Pietralata east of Rome also uncovered a stretch of an ancient road, a small cult building and two monumental basins dating back to the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. Remains from this early in the Republican era are scarce in the Eternal City, which make these finds very archaeologically significant."

"The Pietralata area was first excavated in 1997. Evidence of settlement was found dating back to the Archaic period (8th-6th century B.C.), rare in Roman archaeology. Around that time, a series of tunnels were dug into the hill connected to circular wells believed to have been water collection cisterns. Those excavations also unearthed the remains of a luxury home built there in late Republican era and early imperial water management infrastructure."

"The funerary complex was discovered on the tufa bank sloping down from the Via di Pietralata. Two corridors lead to two chamber tombs dating to the 4th or early 3rd centuries B.C. The first, designated Tomb A, features a monumental entrance to the inner chamber carved into the rock. The portal, made of stone with jambs and lintel, was closed internally by a large monolithic slab. A large sarcophagus and three urns, all made of peperino stone, were found inside the burial."

A monumental early Republican-era funerary complex lies on a tufa bank sloping from the Via di Pietralata east of Rome, including two chamber tombs dated to the 4th–3rd centuries B.C. Excavations also revealed an ancient road, a small cult building, and two monumental basins from the 3rd–2nd centuries B.C. Earlier work in 1997 uncovered Archaic-period settlement evidence, tunnels linked to circular cistern wells, a late Republican luxury house, and early imperial water infrastructure. Current excavations beginning in 2022 show continuous occupation from the 5th–4th centuries B.C. through the 1st century A.D. Tomb A contains a stone portal, monolithic slab, sarcophagus, urns, and grave goods; Tomb B is enclosed by tuff blocks and contains depositional benches and human remains.

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