ROMAN GARDENS IN TUNISIA - PRELIMINARY EXCAVATIONS IN THE HOUSE-OF-BACCHUS-AND-ARIADNE AND IN THE EAST-TEMPLE-AT-THUBURBO-MAIUS

Tunisia furnishes a most promising field for the study of Roman garden s. A survey of the major sites in 1988 and 1990 showed that the court in some houses was paved with mosaics, but in the great majority of ho uses there was soil in the courts. Some gardens had been replanted, bu t in no case had the soil been examined for evidence of ancient planti ngs. Our preliminary excavations in 1990 at Thuburbo Maius discovered well-preserved evidence of plantings in both the peristyle garden and the courtyard garden of the luxurious House of Bacchus and Ariadne and in the East Temple. It was possible at the last occupation level to d etect perfectly preserved outlines of the ancient roots. The soil form ed when the roots decayed was of an entirely different texture and col or from that of the surrounding soil, thus revealing the ancient plant ing pattern.