Considerazioni sulla fase tardo antica; Ceramica invetriata e Pietra ollare; La fibula del cavaliere

Several archaeological campaigns were performed between 1987 and 1995 in the Schieppo hamlet of Ponte Lambro. The investigations identified the remains of the pars rustica/fructiaria of a Roman villa, firstly built and inhabited between 1st and mid-3rd century BC. The complex is laid out lengthwise, and includes buildings and facilities for storing and processing agricultural products: a granary, a drying kiln, a calcatorium and a probable winery. The site was abandoned by the second half of the 3rd century, as is testified by a small hoard of about 30 coins that was hidden between the pilae of the drying kiln, and never retrieved. In late antiquity, people settled again in the site and carried out a major reorganization. The old processing facilities were never brought back to use, whereas an elongated, pre-existing building was refurbished and seemingly assigned to new functions. Artefacts from threading layers and hearths of this building, as well as from other contexts of the same phase, testify that the villa was still occupied during the 6th century.