Jesolo. Vivere la laguna nella Tarda Antichità: il caso di Equilo

The archaeological project of “Jesolo” began in 2011 through an archaeological survey in the countryside of the present day town of Jesolo by a team directed by Prof. Sauro Gelichi. The investigation focused on the archaeological site of the ancient Jesolo-Equilo, attested by the presence of the Romanesque Cathedral, built above other two older churches, and of the early medieval monastery of St. Mauro, founded probably during the 9th century (both sites were excavated in the mid-20th century). The archaeological survey was conducted by an interdisciplinary team composed by archaeologists and geologists because the objective of the research was not only to identify the Ancient and Medieval settlement, but also to recreate the ancient environment and its historical transformations. Nowadays the site is inland, but between Roman to the Middle Ages it was for sure a lagoon island and its importance is strictly related to the development of Venetian Lagoon during the Late Antiquity. During September 2013 we conducted the first campaign of excavation on the first cluster, that allowed us to collect a lot of data about the pattern of this settlement between the 4th and 7th century. In fact we found the remains of some structures well characterized by the type of building technique (bricks and clay) and of material culture (amphorae, coarse ware, sigillata, glass). The significant results of this first campaign allow us to compare this settlement to other important lagoon settlements like Torcello and Caorle, for example, that flourished during the same period. The part of the settlement that we explored seems abandoned in the second half of the 6th century , when the area was used as a cemetery. In fact we found 13 graves, dated for sure to the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century (we found an “enchytrismos grave”, inside an amphora from Gaza, dated to that period). Though just at its beginning, the project is giving a lot of interesting data to the historical comprehension of the development of the coastal settlement of this part of Adriatic Sea; the good preservation of archaeological deposit, besides the width of the area that could be explored, promise an excellent perspective of research.