Archaeological research of a Roman villa in Soline Bay on the island of St. Clement (Pakleni Islands, Hvar) in June 2017

Tijekom lipnja 2017. godine nastavljena su istraživanja rimske vile smještene u uvali Soline na otoku Sveti Klement (Pakleni otoci, Hvarski Škoji), koja se vode kontinuirano od 2007. godine. Cilj ovogodišnjih radova bio je nastavak iskopavanja te povezivanja i dokumentiranja već djelomično istraženih, višefaznih prostora i arhitekture u gospodarskom dijelu vile. Nova sonda 19 postavljena je u produžetku sonde 18 iz 2016. godine, u kojoj je nađena okrugla zidana struktura, vjerojatno baza preše, građena na ranijim zidovima i podnici. Na tu se strukturu u sondi 19 funkcionalno nadovezuju dobro sačuvani bazeni pokriveni finom vodonepropusnom žbukom, jedan vrlo plitak i drugi manji i dubok, koji su ranije izgradnje, a možebitno i druge namjene u ranijoj fazi. Suprotno dosadašnjoj evidenciji o perimetralnom zapadnom zidu proizvodnog dijela, dokumentirana je nova prostorija s podom od vodonepropusne žbuke u tehnici opus signinum, prizidana uz taj zid u smjeru prema zapadu. Dodatne proizvodne prostorije se razvidno prostiru zapadno i sjeverno. Zidane strukture, podnice, pokretni nalazi i stratigrafija u sondi 19 daju nam nove indikacije o prostiranju i kronologiji arhitekture te o kasnoantičkim preinakama u gospodarskom kompleksu.The eleventh season of the international and interdisciplinary investigations of the Roman villa in Soline Bay on Sv. Klement near Hvar took place in June 2017. The objective was to continue uncovering and connecting partially excavated, multi-phase spaces of the production area of the villa. A new probe 19 was excavated in the extension of probe 18 from 2016, which contained a round stone structure, most likely a base for a press, built on top of earlier walls and a floor. We documented in Probe 19 that this round structure functionally connected to two basins, covered with fine waterproof mortar. One basin was large and very shallow (0.10 m), the other was small and deep (0.75 m). The large basin continued northward, outside the edge of the probe. The two basins may belong to an earlier phase and might have had even a different function (production of fine salt?). Contrary to the previously postulated western perimeter wall of the production area, we documented a new room with a waterproof floor (opus signinum) abutting on the west side of that wall and continuing outside the probe. More production spaces are evidently expected to the west and north. The ceramic finds included a fragment of a mould-made Italian terra sigillata bowl, decorated with girlands and a fragment of a Hellenistic black glaze bowl, in addition to late Roman African and Phocaean sigillata, Aegean and African kitchen ware and amphorae, from early Lamboglia 2 type to late African and Aegean imports. There were also several fragments of ceramic beehives. The most significant find was that of an almost complete fibula of Aucissa type. There were no coins found this season. Probe 19 provided new evidence for the layout, chronology and architectural changes in late antiquity in the production complex of the villa. Overall, the fine and varied imports trough a significant time span speak about a successful and important estate and its economic and maritime role in the Mediterranean networks