In Rome, three small tombs from the same funerary complex have been uncovered at a construction site in the Via Luigi Tosti, which joins Via Latina, home to a number of large tombs. The new finds, dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, add to the picture of this wider ancient funerary area, which also contains the richly frescoed hypogeum of Via Dino Compagni.
The newly discovered tombs had previously been partially damaged by the construction of underground utilities, but the Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma has announced that archaeologists found an intact ceramic urn, still containing skeletal remains, and the burial of a young man, interred in the bare earth. In one tomb there are traces of burning, perhaps from a fire that led to the end of its use. Irregular cuts on the bank on which the structures stand suggest that they were built into a quarry.
A small terracotta dog was also uncovered at the site among fragments of plaster and probably predates the tombs. It resembles rooftop ornaments for drainage systems, but, as it has no holes, no water would have been able to pass through, so the dog was presumably purely decorative.
