Diocletian’s palace with its cellars represents one of the most important cultural heritage sites of the ancient Roman civilisation on the present-day Croatian territory. The cellar complex has been rediscovered only recently and has been preserved remarkably well due to its centuries-long concealment beneath mediaeval urban matrices. An archaeoacoustic analysis was performed on a selected single-nave hall as a small part of this complex. A model of the hall was developed in room acoustics simulation software and calibrated based on the results of field measurements. Acoustic suitability of the hall for speech-based events and music performances was then evaluated according to contemporary objective criteria, and the findings were compared with the results of similar studies performed on other heritage sites. The hall was found to be very well suited for speech in terms of intelligibility and mid-frequency reverberation, thus showing potential for revitalisation, with excessive low-frequency reverberation in the hall and reduced audibility in the farthest part of the audience as potential issues. With a feasible audience size, the hall is not reverberant enough for music performances but provides high clarity. In terms of sound strength, the hall is suitable for solo performers or small ensembles. Excessive perceptive broadening of the sound source is expected due to strong early lateral energy. In terms of traditional Dalmatian a cappella singing, the acoustics of the hall are likely to support and enhance such performances.
Mešić et al. (Mon,) studied this question.