The fortifications of Velia

Research project P 13791 Archeological research at Velia 1999 Fritz KRINZINGER 28.06.1999 The aim of the archaeological fieldwork in Velia in 1999 is focussed again on questions concerning the urbanistic development of the city. Of main interest is especially the quarter within the fortifications defined by wall-section B. The relevance of this area is closely connected with the antique terrain conditions, because here the mouth of the small creek to the sea, giving water supply to the hole city of Velia, is supposed. The creek must not only have had influence on the first dwellings in the lower town area by 500 B.C. but also on the planning and conception of building the fortification in the following centuries. By planning and building the city, the displacement of the coastal line as well as the ernomous increase of erosion material coming down the hill causing level raise had to be seriously, considered. After the archaeological fieldwork investigating the city-walls in this area in the last two years, in this year, 1999, the chronological relation of the fortifications in their different `phases to the close habitats should be cleared. Beside the partially discovered hellenistic houses huge foundations of pilasters give a clue to, a public building or area. These works are of urgent interest, since 1999 the archaeolgical park of Velia and concrete forming actions are to be started, after their conclusion archaeological fieldwork is hardly possible. A further small. investigation is dedicated to the examination of the 1998 discovered late archaic city-wall. Further in 1999, the work on a series of publications should be continued. Besides of the 1997 started architectural analysis of the fortification walls in the lower town of Velia this matter especially concerns the investigation of Roman ceramic products, through which the importance and cultural orientation of Velia in that time can be cleared. Besides, information about changes in life-style in a Greek polis to life-style in a Roman municipium can be given. Finally the Roman thermes located in the Vignale are to be finished in a PhD thesis. This bathing complex is of special interest because of a series of small rooms and single bathing spots, which let point to individual curing practices.

During the last years the study of the fortification-system of Velia, situated in Magna Grecia (South Italy) has been one of the priorities of research at the Institute of Classical Archeology at the University of Vienna. Our project focussed on wall-section B in the lower town of Velia. Its aim was to clear the development of the walls and to study their relationsship to the areas bordering on the west to make better intelligible their importance in the urbanistic plan of the site. In the years 1999 and 2000 we found part of the late-archaic fortifications unknown until then and gained new insights into the very complex building history of the city-walls from archaic to hellenistic times. Of special interest were the results obtained for the 4th century BC. For that period hardly any remains have been known until now so that it was generally assumed the the town suffered badly under the difficult political situation of the 4th century and its development had been influenced in a negative way. Our research of the last years demonstrated, however, that in this period there was a very lively building acitvity that resulted in the main change of the urbanistic planning of the town. This can be seen best by the fortifications where the wall-section B, which divided the territory of the town in an eastern and a western part was newly built. This wall may have been constructed as a fortification measure made for a better protection of the western part of the town with the religious and political center, or it may have been built as a result of changes in the social or ethnical composition of its inhabitants. Since the Italian Soprintendenza started creating an archeological park in the lower town of Velia in the year 2000 the excavations of the year 1999 were the last occasion to dig into greater depths in this area, at least for some time. The investigation done by the Austrian team bring new insights into the development of the town of Velia and important impetus for the conservation and presentation of a valuable piece of the European heritage.