Due to our extraordinary findings in 2016, we decided to continue in the same room, TFR 2. During the campaigns in 2017 and 2019, we also extended to the neighbouring rooms, TFR 1 and 3. The continued work inside these three rooms revealed even more extraordinary findings. Due to the character and nature of the findings, we were forced to go forward very slowly and careful, which is why, we have not been able to update the website with Chapters since 2016. We have, however, been able to update our Campaign Photo-Gallery for both 2017 and 2019.
In 2018, we decided to revisit a room, TDV, which we had already excavated in 2014. This led to a broadened view of the late antique city-scape in and around the Forum in the 4th through 6th centuries CE.
In February 2020, we were happy to launch our initiative, The Ostia Graduiertenkolleg (The Ostia Graduate College). The Graduiertenkolleg has six different projects, which are based on our findings from 2008-2019. We have decided that the Chapters from 2017 and 2019-2020 are to be divided between the six doctoral students and their projects, since the discoveries done in those years are all vital parts of the different projects.
The campaign in 2020 was affected by the pandemic. We were therefore only in Ostia for three weeks, and we were only 9 participants. Needless to say, we did not conduct any excavation, but worked on the individual projects. Even though the campaign was affected by the pandemic, it was a very fruitful campaign, with a lot of conversations, photographical and 3D work, drawings and measurements.
You can check the different chapters here:
Chapter 1. The Capitolium and its Hadrianic Building Programme
Chapter 2. The Volcanus Precint in Ostia: Ceramic Finds and Stratigraphy
Chapter 3. First Data from the Coins in TDV
Chapter 4. The Cult of Vulcan – Sacrifice, Ritual Deposits and Dining with the God of Fire
Chapter 6. The Search for the First Forum of Ostia
The numbers of the chapters do also correspond to the numbers of the themes from the Ostia Graduiertenkolleg. If you are interested in knowing more about the projects and themes and follow their development, you can visit the website by clicking here. This website will also be uploaded regularly, so do not forget to follow up here as well.