In these brief contributions, Colini outlines the results of the unsystematic excavations conducted over the entire site in the late 1930s. This work uncovered important evidence for the Imperial and Republican levels of the sanctuary as well as some material from the Archaic phases. While not very detailed, these reports include an early plan of the complex and tentatively identify the twin temples as those of Fortuna and Mater Matuta mentioned in the literary sources. Some of the materials recovered during the pre-war salvage work were subsequently published by Colonna (1962 and 1966), Paribeni (1962), and Peroni (1962); select material was also studied by Gjerstad (1960, 437-56[=1962]). Many fragments of architectural terracottas from the Archaic temple excavated during this period have also been published (Mura Sommella 1977a, 1977b and Arata 1990). The extended discussion of the 1930s excavations in this article is based exclusively on these reports.
Gjerstad 1960, in English, and the Italian version (1962) offer a detailed account of the excavations conducted in 1959 in front of the apse of the modern church of S. Omobono, which provided the first tangible evidence for the position and some of the architectural details of the Archaic temple underneath the platform of the later twin temples. These contributions are by far the best excavation accounts pertaining to the site, in terms of both thoroughness and organisation, though the interpretations they present have been thoroughly criticised. They form the basis of the outline of the 1959 fieldwork presented here.
This report outlines the results of the three soundings (a, b, and c) conducted between the altars of the twin temples in 1961-1962. This campaign, which was the first and only designed specifically to investigate the republican phases of the temple complex, provided important evidence for the chronology of two of the pavements of the platform. In the same volume of the Bullettino, Ioppolo (1966) presents a detailed description of the fragments and a hypothetical reconstruction of the circular 'donario' and the square monument (or possibly monuments) uncovered during this work. Our discussion of the 1961-1962 excavation is based exclusively on this publication.
In this article, Ioppolo presents an analysis of the animal bones (conducted by Cardini, Cassoli, and Settepassi) from settori IIC and D and IVA, B, and C, excavated between 1962 and 1964. The report also includes an outline of the stratigraphic sequence uncovered and refers in a very cursory way to the materials. Despite its superficiality, this remains the only published account of this work. The evidence for settori II and IV presented here is drawn from this report and pertinent archival evidence. It should be noted that the picture that emerges from both sources is rather complex; as with most of the work carried out at the site, the excavation did not uniformly adhere to any explicit methodological conventions.
These reports describe the fieldwork within one of the imperial tabernae on the eastern edge of the platform of the twin temples (settore I) in 1974-1976 (note that there are some discrepancies concerning the chronology and other details of the excavations between the different reports). This campaign again reached the Archaic temple beneath the platform of the twin temples. Some of the materials recovered were also published. Our description of this research attempts to integrate these reports with archival evidence to provide a clearer account of the work carried out.
Pisani Sartorio and Virgili outline the results of the 1977-1978 excavations in settori VII and IX, which were subsequently unified as settore VII-IX. Like settore I, settore VII-IX is located within one of the Imperial tabernae on the eastern edge of the podium of the twin temples. Unlike the earlier sounding, however, it is outside the limits of the temple platform, and its excavation thus provided a different perspective on the development of the complex. Archaic levels were again reached. The description of settore VII-IX in this article is based both on this report and on archival evidence.
These contributions provide summary outlines of the excavations conducted intermittently between 1985 and 1999 within the modern church of S. Omobono, which documented the Imperial restoration of the cella of the eastern temple (temple B) and also provided important evidence for the installation of an early Christian cult within it. Our discussion of this work is based exclusively on these reports.
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