Recent Research on the Republican Phases of the Roman Sanctuary at Sant'Omobono

<p>The ancient cult place under the church of Sant'Omobono in Rome's Forum Boarium has been the focus of archaeological investigation since its chance rediscovery during demolitions in the 1930s. The bulk of scholarly attention since then has focused on the remains of the deeply buried archaic temple and its associated material culture. Most of the remains visible today, however, are dated broadly between the early fifth century B.C.E. and the second century C.E., and yet many basic questions about these "later" periods of the sanctuary lack satisfying answers. For instance, which elements on-site can be assigned to discrete architectural phases? What materials were used in these phases, and how can these phases be dated? The ongoing work of the Sant'Omobono Project, which aims at a definitive publication of the site, has included a total station survey of all visible remains in conjunction with chemical analysis of the types of tufo used and archival research on the past 80 years of archaeological exploration; I present preliminary results of this work and identify prospects for future research.