Tessellati e sectilia inediti dalla media valle del Basento: alla scoperta della villa rustica di Sant’Agata (Calciano, MT)

This paper is dedicated to a case study of great archaeological interest, although almost completely unknown: the villa rustica (only partially) discovered in the 1980s by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Basilicata at the site of Sant’Agata, near Calciano (Matera, Italy), in the middle Basento river valley. This large rural complex, built in the Late Republican Period, underwent a significant monumental phase in the 1st century AD, well documented by the rich floors decorating the pars dominica. Of particular importance is an almost completely preserved floor pavement in various techniques (opus sectile and opus tessellatum), which indicates a large rectangular room, probably used for banquets (room 1); in the adjacent living rooms (nn. 2-4), more or less substantial remains of three other mosaic floors with geometric decorations have also been found. Here we present a brief overview of these findings, which - also in the light of an unpublished graphic and photographic documentation - allow us to better define the chronological and architectural framework of a high-quality Roman building located in an important but still little known area of ancient Lucania.