"The Discovery of a Sanctuary underneath the Northeastern Quarter of the Ostian Forum: 10 Years of Survey and Excavations conducted by the Ostia Forum Projekt (OFP)"

The Ostia Forum Projekt (OFP) has been conducting excavations, surveys, and archive studies in the northeastern quarter of Ostia's Forum since 2011. Since 2016, the project's focus lies on the area TFR (Taberna Forum Rooms) east of the northeastern Forum portico. In 2017, the first traces of a previously unknown sanctuary were discovered in the area TFR 2, leading to further excavations in 2019 and 2023 in the areas TFR 1 and 2.

The building phases of the TFR-Sanctuary span over 300 years, the earliest excavated contexts dating to the 3rd century BC. The sanctuary was abandoned around 120–130 AD, when the Hadrianic building programme changed the entire layout of the Forum. The area of the sanctuary was from then on occupied by the northeastern Forum portico and shops.

This talk will present the key structures, contexts, and finds of the TFR-Sanctuary. The excavated structures are comprised by the main altar (a ground altar with a fire pit, a ramp, and a drain), a libation altar, tufa walls, sewers, a well, and further tufa structures. The contexts and finds to be focused on in this talk involve mainly ritual deposits related to new building phases in the area of the main altar (TFR 2). This includes among others the fill of the well (with a Hellenistic eastern-mediterranean brazier), the fill of the libation area (with a strainer, black gloss lamps and half-cut bowls), a deposit defined by upside-down turned black gloss bowls, multiple dedication inscriptions on pottery, several lamp deposits, and, as remains of a closing ritual (piaculum), three deposits of complete sow skulls.

The 2023-excavations in the area TFR 1 brought to light several new structures in tufa, surrounded by thick layers of charcoal. These contexts are possibly in relation to a second altar and will be further excavated in 2024.

Through archive studies and georadar surveys, the location of the sanctuary's temple is hypothesised to be underneath the Hadrianic Forum portico. The remains of three possible temple podia from subsequent building phases have partially been excavated by Raffaele Finelli and Dante Vaglieri in 1913. Apparently, the podia were built on top of each other, integrating parts of the predecessor structures: The earliest phase were built in in tufa, the subsequent phases in opus incertum, and brick. In order to verify the hypothetical interpretation of these podia and other structures nearby, further OFP-excavations are planned for the coming years.