From Daunii Archaeological Park to the Faragola Domus Romana: the New Treasures of the Old Ausculum

The present study deals with a very important but not very well-known cultura! heritage area, which is located in Southern ltaly, in the municipality of Ascoli Satriano (in the Foggia province). The area represents the vestige of one of the principal settlements of the Daunian peoples (VI-IV century B.C.). In this area, the Carapelle Valley represented an ancient communication route between the Campania Region and the Apulia "Tavoliere", ever since a very fertile territory, where many flourishing rural communities established themselves. On the "Collina del Serpente" (the Snake hill) systematic research of the University of lnnsbruck allowed to locate the remains of the ancient town of Ausculum as well as a large Necropolis (IV century B.C.) with very rich funeral furnishings. Not far away, in the Carapelle valley, at the Faragola site, the archaeological excavations unearthed a beautiful luxurious " domus romana" of late ancient times (IV-VI century A.D.). Based on the principle that preservation of cultural /archaeological heritage starts from recognition and measuring of the opus, the work presented here treats the first phase of the study of the whole archaeological area. This research proposes the establishment of a GIS (Geographic lnformation System) which classifies all information already collected by various study groups, in order to be able to realize a "virtual museum" useful for utilization by more extensive audience.