Infrastructures that connect territories, but also allow us to discover new pieces of history and our past. The construction of the Naples -Bari high-speed rail line has confirmed how rich and still unexplored the territory they traverse is from an archaeological perspective.
Among the main finds are the remains of a Copper Age village, a stretch of paving from the ancient Appian Way and a sanctuary from the Hellenistic-Roman era, rich in votive material.
The finds and archaeological contexts discovered during the works carried out, in particular, along the Naples-Cancello, Cancello-Frasso and Telese-Vitulano routes, were presented inside the Afragola station.
The Ferrovie dello Stato group thus returns to the citizens an unpublished cultural heritage, where infrastructural development and archaeology coexist in harmony. This is the first stage of a journey that will continue throughout the country, with the aim of showing how the construction sites of large railway infrastructure works can be transformed into a window onto the past, uniting progress and historical roots.
Among the other finds brought to light and presented today, in the presence of representatives of the Fs group and the Superintendencies of the metropolitan area of Naples and the provinces of Caserta and Benevento, there is also a Roman villa exposed in its entirety, re-emerged in the municipality of Solopaca, but also numerous burials of the Campanian culture, with rich funerary objects, as well as coins, terracotta objects and bronze statuettes. An example of preventive archaeology that allows the construction of new railway lines without compromising the historical richness of the territories crossed.
“It is an important day,” emphasizes Mariano Di Maio, head of Authorizations, Environment and Territory for RFI, “because it makes us understand the great cultural heritage that was discovered during the construction of the Naples-Bari line. It is knowledge that, without these excavations, we would not have been able to know.”
Among the finds there is also a figurine of a warrior, datable to the 4th-3rd century BC, a female figurine from a funerary outfit from the 4th century BC, ceramic vases from the Hellenistic period and an arrowhead from the Copper Age. In addition to the objects, the Copper Age village found in Gaudello (Acerra), one of the most significant prehistoric settlements in the Campanian plain, as well as the stretch of paved road of the ancient Via Appia in the municipality of Maddaloni, 'Regina Viarum' and a strategic infrastructure in the time of ancient Rome, assume great historical and research value.
In the municipality of Solopaca (Benevento) a Roman villa has been uncovered and exposed in its entirety, while in the municipality of Ponte (Benevento) a sanctuary from the Hellenistic-Roman era has been found, rich in votive material of notable value.
“This morning,” notes Mariano Nuzzo, superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the metropolitan area of Naples, “demonstrates how the construction of a large infrastructure can represent a great opportunity to learn about and enrich our cultural heritage.” At this time, only a small part of the finds discovered have been exhibited at the Afragola station.
We are working with Italferr and Ferrovie dello Stato – explains Nuzzo – also on a protocol that can allow the return of this heritage. With the ministry and with Ferrovie in the coming months we will evaluate the possibility of this opportunity, arriving at a much broader exhibition path. We are talking about itinerant exhibitions, to be set up in the same railway stations. It is an enormous heritage, which could effectively gather a large park, an itinerary that follows the high-speed line”.
