Editing Roman Forum (section)

====Archaeological evidence====
[[File:Parte di fregio con minotauro e felini, 600-550 ac ca., da regia, foro romano (antiquarium del foro) 02.JPG|left|thumb|Fragment of a terracotta frieze plaque from the Regia at the east end of the Forum showing a minotaur and felines, c. 600–550 BC, Antiquarium Museo del Foro Romano]]
Originally a low-lying, grassy [[wetland]], the Forum was drained in the 7th century BC with the building of the first structures of [[Cloaca Maxima]], a large covered sewer system that emptied into the [[Tiber]], as more people began to settle between the two hills. Archaeological evidence shows that by the end of the 7th century BC, the ground level of the Forum was raised significantly in some places to overcome the problems of poor drainage and provide a foundation for a pebble-paved area.<ref>Ammerman, Albert J., 1990, “On the Origins of the Forum Romanum”,  ''American Journal of Archaeology'', Vol. 94, No. 4 (Oct., 1990), p. 627–645. </ref><ref name=":1">Lomas, 2018, pp. 90–95.</ref> In the middle of the 7th century BC thatch-and-timber huts were demolished on the route of the [[Via Sacra]] and rectangular stone buildings began to replace them.<ref>[[Timothy Peter Wiseman|Wiseman, Timothy Peter]], 2008, ''Unwritten Rome'', Exeter: University of Exeter Press, p. 2.</ref><ref name=":1" />

The earliest structures in the Forum were discovered in two separate locations: the site of the [[Comitium]] and the group of sanctuaries of [[Regia]] (House of the kings), [[House of the Vestals]] and [[Domus Publica]].<ref name=":1" /> Around 650–630 BC the area of the Comitium was excavated into a deep triangular depression. The area was paved with a beaten earth pavement and later replaced with a more substantial gravel one. Nearby was located an archaic sanctuary dedicated to [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]] known as [[Vulcanal]] (also ''Volcanal''): a small rectangular pit and elliptical basin carved out of an outcrop of [[tuff]].<ref>Filippi, Dunia, 2017 (edition in Italian in 2012), 'Region VIII. Forum Romanum Magnum', in [[Andrea Carandini]], Paola Carafa, ''The Atlas of Ancient Rome. Biography and Portraits of the City. Vol. 1. Text and Images'', Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, pp. 151–152.</ref><ref>Lomas, 2018, p. 91.</ref> It has been suggested that the earliest ancient materials collected in the area of the Vulcanal are from the second half of the 8th century BC.<ref>Carafa, Paolo, 2005, ‘Il Volcanal e il Comizio’, ''Workshop di Archeologia Classica'' 2, p. 135.</ref> It appears that the Romans were aware of the sites’ archaic origins: the foundation of the Comitium and Vulcanal were attributed to Romulus himself while the first [[Curia]] (senate house), which was located nearby, to [[Tullus Hostilius]].<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'', 2.50.2 (attributes the foundation of the Vulcanal to Romulus and Titus Tatius); Varro, ''On the Latin Language'', 5.74 (attributes the institution of the Vulcanal to Titus Tatius alone); Plutarch, ''Life of Romulus'', 19.27.6 (mentions that Romulus was supposedly killed by the senators next to the Vulcanal).</ref>

At the western end of the Forum, excavations near the House of the Vestals and the sanctuary of [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]] have revealed an important group of 7th-century-BC buildings. The archaeologists have identified them as the early phases of the Regia (House of the kings), House of the Vestals, and Domus Publica (official residence of the ''pontifex maximus'').<ref>Lomas, 2018, pp. 91–93.</ref> There seems to have been something of a surge in development of the Forum in the last quarter of the 7th century BC, as many of the changes date from 625 to 600 BC. Archaeologically, there is substantial evidence for development of the Forum in the 6th century BC: parts of the paving have been found and a large number of fragments of terracotta decorations from this area suggests that structures around the Forum were becoming more elaborate and highly decorated.<ref>Lomas, 2018, p. 145.</ref>