K. Palágyi Sylvia szerk.: Balácai Közlemények 2005/9. (Veszprém, 2005)

GIRARDI JURKIC, VESNA: Roman Villa rustica in Cervar Porat (Croatia) - Excavation and Presentation

The first foundations of Roman buildings found on the eastern coast of the bay of Cervar, the neighboring Loron, date back to the same period.

19 At that time, a kiln for baking ceramics was in function as a part of Cervar's villa rustica, and continued to be used until the end of the 1

st century. Argil extracted from sediments on the eastern side of the shallow bay was used for production. Ceramic products were almost certainly shipped by sea to distant and nearby local areas, since that whole area was well known as a ceramic production area. There are strong indications that there was another, even stronger ceramic center owned by Calvia Crispinilla, situated on the eastern side of the bay, in Loron, from the time of Nero onwards. The center was specialized in the production of ceramic containers (amphora, vessels)

20 and met the needs of the whole region of Porec, while a certain amount of products was exported to other regions until the end of the 2

nd century AD.

21 After the production of ceramics was abandoned in the workshop of the villa rustica in Cervar Porat, the inhabitants turned to fishing, olive growing and olive processing; the ceramic kiln was destroyed and the soil was flattened over the area were it used to be. A ceramic production center was established on the other side of the bay of Cervar, under the elevation of Loron, near the location where argil was extracted, due to the fact that the land around that place was not good for cultivation because of the type of soil. In the course of the 2

nd century AD and at the beginning of the 3

rd century AD there were no changes in the main ground-plan of the southern part of the villa rustica in Öervar Porat, with the exception of some internal alterations and the filling up of former units (ceramic kiln and the „cistern" space - possible storage room). In the 3

rd century AD, a new era of building and reconstructing of the Roman villa rustica took place. The ground-plan of the southern part was changed, as well as its function, as can be deducted from the new structures of the walls and the new spatial orientation of that part of the building. The purpose of the rooms was also changed. At that time a residential complex was built. It had a central heating system, a thermal area with a lavatory, a large hall of a maritime building of a possible administrator of the estate (dominus) situated in the former area of the villa rustica and the ceramic kiln. Earlier in the 2

nd century a new agricultural production center for olive processing of great capacity was built. It was built on the elevation nearby, on the northern part of the remains of the former villa rustica. This center also shows signs of two stages of building and reconstruction. At the end of the 4

th century AD, the inhabitants of the thus reconstructed maritime villa became Christians. While the agricultural production, as well as the processing industry, was gradually decreasing, the Roman Empire disintegrated. The inhabitants of Cervar's villa did not escape the arrival of the barbarians and the fall of the cultural and living standards. At that time, the inhabitants strove to preserve their customs and beliefs, their everyday way of life and agricultural production. It was at that period, in the first part of the 6

th century AD, that another reconstruction of the oil production facility took place. The mill stones for olive grinding were renewed and the old ones were built into the foundations of the partition walls of the storage area facing the sea, as Kasiodor noted. However, it is obvious that there was a sudden decline and impoverishment of