“Archeologia urbana a Senigallia” IV. I riti del costruire di Sena Gallica

Sena Gallica is a roman colony founded at the mouth of Misa river (Marche region). Preventive archeology in Senigallia allows us to reconstruct its history, in particular its early stages, referred to the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. The application of an exact project and a precise urban plan is preceded by land reclamations and water drainages. These operations are necessary to prepare the site, before setting the new urban fabric and building new structures. The discovery of several closed deposits, linked to works of urban planning or when buildings are still in construction, allows us to recognize a clear evidence of ritual activity. Ritual deposits in Sena Gallica can be related to private or public contexts: these could be interpreted as foundation deposits, if the evidence denounces the desire to propitiate human action or to give strength and solidity to new buildings; these could also be piacula, if the sacrifice was officiated to repair men’s offences against natural order, or natura loci; in one case it can be assumed that the foundation of the city was accompanied by a public ritual of foundation, such as other Roman and Latin colonies of republican period. The paper presents some cases of ritual deposits which will be analyzed with particular attention to archaeological evidence, urban context and literary sources. Principal aim is to specify the way of application of roman religious heritage in Sena Gallica, which seems to take on specific traits depending on the context and the investigated period. At the same time, it is possible to define common traits of ritual activity, that in every case is closely linked to human action in planning, building and management of urban structures