Notes on Some Unpublished Fieldwork Reports Written by Giacomo Boni for Guido Baccelli in 1899

Abstract

This article transcribes and examines some unpublished excavation reports concerning the Roman Forum and the Passeggiata archeologica written by the archaeologist Giacomo Boni (1859–1925) for the Italian Minister of Education, Guido Baccelli (1830–1916) between August and September 1899, the year when the Lapis Niger was found. The original documents are kept in the Archivio Centrale dello Stato at Rome. They consist of a series of short informal reports relating to daily excavations and to the discovery of important findings, which included inscriptions, architectural marbles, sculptures, mosaic and opus sectile floors, frescoes, pottery, glass­ware, and walls belonging to re­discovered structures dating from the early Roman period to the Renaissance. The reports were first transcribed by Eva Tea (1886–1971), an archaeologist, art historian, and pupil of Boni. Her transcriptions are currently kept at the Museum of Castelvecchio in Verona.

Keywords

• history of archaeology
• Roman Forum
• Lapis Niger
• Giacomo Boni
• Guido Baccelli