La Befa Project</h2

La Befa, 1976-77, a Roman villa excavated by Prof. John Dobbins of the University of North Carolina, now of the University of Virginia. Located near the warm springs of Petriolo, the villa flourished between the mid first century A.D. and the early fifth century. It included a large apsidal room and two hypocaust systems. This structure yielded many fragments of colored marble revetments that testify to the elegance of its appointments. The site provides useful evidence for the romanization and repopulation of this region after a period of widespread abandonment during the first century B.C. The full excavation report has been published as a monograph: John Dobbins, The Excavation of the Roman Villa at La Befa, Italy (Oxford, British Archaeological Reports: 1983); a preliminary report by the same author is published as “The Roman Villa at La Befa, Italy” Archaeology XXXII,1 (1979) 58-60.