The increasing use of geophysical investigations for archaeological purposes is now provided also by Italian reforms about preventive archaeology. They allow not only the discovery or the spatial definition of possible buried archaeological evidence, but they are also able to define the state of preservation of ancient structures. The Bocca delle Menate archaeological site is in Comacchio village territory, situated in Ferrara provence (Emilia Romagna region, Italy). The archeological site provides important evidence of the Roman presence in the Po Delta (Italy). The Roman villa was excavated between 1958 and 1959, during the reclaiming works in the Mezzano Valley (Comacchio, Ferrara). An archaeological preliminary survey and a geophysical field trip using Geomagnetic and Frequency Domain Electromagnetic Methods were carried out, following the aim to identify the planimetry of the villa previously excavated and eventually newly discovered archaeological remains. The geomagnetic results detected the archaeological buried structures, even if the original disposition of them is not completely highlighted. The electromagnetic method was able to depict the geological and geomorphological background surrounding the Roman villa. The obtained results highlighted that the applied geophysical methods are excellent tools for the preservation, protection, and monitoring of archaeological heritage previously excavated, adding to their already known importance as best tools for new archaeological buried remains detections.

On May 27, 1970, during construction of the Caffarella sewer system which was to serve new districts in the sprawling suburbs of Rome, the Municipality of Rome alerted the Soprintendenza to the discovery of some ancient structures near the via Appia.The area affected by the passage of the sewer system lies just beyond the Almo river, between the Appia's first and second mile, in a place where, at the end of the 19th c., P. Cartoni built a rather large barn for his estate (vigna). On the W side of the road, excavators discovered a concrete pedestal reveted with tuff blocks that was interpreted as the foundation of a sepulchral monument, the ruderatio of the via Appia, and a secondary paved road leading southeast, as published by L. Spera (see fig. 1, trench A). However, the excavations on the E side of the via Appia have never been published. The aim of this paper is to describe and interpret the remarkable discovery. My examination of documentation stored in the archives of the Soprintendenza identified photographs and sketches of the 1970 excavation, providing evidence for the existence of a Republican-era monumental architectural complex situated behind the barn of Vigna Cartoni. Since it was impossible unfortunately to locate any written reports, the research was based mostly on illustrations and administrative documents, but a fairly accurate history of the excavation could be reconstructed based on the latter.

This paper presents the integrated study of the funerary ara of Ofilius Ianuarius, discovered within the burial complex of Via Appia Antica 39, and explores its digital stratigraphic recontextualisation through two 3D semantic workflows. The research aims to evaluate the potential of stratigraphic 3D modelling as a tool for post-excavation analysis and transparent archaeological interpretation. Starting from a set of georeferenced photogrammetric models acquired between 2023 and 2025, the study tests two workflows: (1) an EMF-based approach using the Extended Matrix, Blender, and EMviq for stratigraphic relationship modelling and online visualisation; (2) a semantic integration method using the .gltf format and the CRMArcheo Annotation Tool developed in Blender, exported to the ATON platform. While both workflows enable accurate 3D documentation, they differ in their capacity for structured semantic enrichment and interoperability. The results highlight the value of combining reality-based models with semantically linked stratigraphic proxies and suggest future directions for linking archaeological datasets, ontologies, and interactive digital platforms. This work contributes to the ongoing effort to foster transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility in virtual archaeological reconstruction.

In July 2017 opened in Jesi (Ancona, Italy) an “experience museum” dedicated to the figure of the imperator Frederick II. According to tradition, indeed, Frederick II was born in the city center of Jesi: here his mother decided to give birth to the royal son, in a tent placed in the middle of the public square. This expedient was necessary to prove the royal lineage of the new born. Based on this famous tale, the city of Jesi has seen in Frederick II an icon of the local cultural identity since the Middle Age. Yet the collective memory seemed not strong enough to remember to the inhabitants so as to the tourists, who crowd into the region during summer, the importance of such historical figure. For this reason, a local entrepreneur decided to invest in the creation of a museum on Frederick II, which could properly present life and deeds of the imperator, even if in Jesi there was no material traces of his passage, but only the memory of the royal tent. The museum has an innovative approach, especially as concerns the communication of the historical value of the imperator, having been designed as an “immersive and multisensorial trip” across the life of Frederick II. Moreover, it is also a pioneering undertaking - in comparison to most Italian museums - since it has been conceived as a “cultural enterprise”, having as one of its main aim the social and economic development of the local territory. The massive presence of private investors has probably influenced such a choice and the result is an interesting experiment that does live up to the visitors’ expectations.