In the Hinterland of the Amber Road: the Villa Maritima of San Simone, Izola (Slovenia)

Within the framework of a new cooperative research venture between the Institute of Mediterranean Heritage of the University of Koper (Univ. Prof. Ddr. M. Guštin and Ass. Prof. Dr. I. Lazar) and the Austrian Archaeological Institute, the Roman Villa Maritima of San Simone/Simonov zaliv near Isola/Izola on the Slovenian Adriatic coast has been investigated since 2008. The aim of this cooperative research is – in addition to a processing of the excavation results up until 2000 and the creation of a concept for touristic usage developed by the university – to obtain new information regarding the topography, building structures, chronology of finds, and economic foundations of the Villa.
In order to reach these goals, between 2008-2012 the following work will be carried out: the establishment of a geoinformation system, geodetic measurement of the visible remains, geophysical measurements, surveys, and small-scale excavations including an analysis of the associations of finds.

In 2008, in addition to a new mapping of the visible building remains and geophysical measurements in the surrounding region of the Villa, a small-scale excavation (24 m²) also took place. The results of the stratigraphic excavation and the analysis of the find-complexes provided important new insights into the chronology and the building concept of the Villa. After considerable levelling activity, the construction of the main building took place in the final third of the 1st c. B.C. Sections of a room with a white mosaic floor, and parts of an interior court with a latrine, were investigated. Based on the orientation of the foundation walls, two differing building complexes in the north and the south of the Villa could be differentiated. The use of the areas of the Villa which were investigated came to an end in the third quarter of the 1st c. A.D. The floors and walls were systematically torn down at the time of the abandonment.

Publications:
St. Groh – H. Sedlmayer, Die Grabungen in der römischen Villa Maritima von San Simone/Simonov zaliv bei Isola/Izola, Slowenien, Annales for Istran and Mediterranean Studies, Series historia sociologia 18, 2008, 2, 385–396.
St. Groh – M. Guštin – I. Lazar – H. Sedlmayer, Neue Forschungen in der römischen Villa Maritima von San Simone/Simonov zaliv bei Isola/Izola, Slowenien, AÖ 20/1, 2009, 53–57.