Though small in size and structure the "shrine" or "precinct" called Volcanale was dedicated to the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. The site of Vulcanal was traditionally believed to commemorate the spot where the legendary figures Romulus and Tatius concluded the peace treaty between the tribes known as the Latins — dwelling on the Palatine Hill — and the Sabines who dwelled on the Quirinal and Esquiline hills. This famous merger, circa 750 BCE, of the hill-villages is said to be the foundation of the Roman state.

circa 54 BCE- 100 CE

Kingdom Period
The origins of the "Vulcanal" shrine date back to the founding of Rome as a city-state circa mid-eighth century BCE. During the Roman Kingdom period (circa 753-509 BCE), in addition to its function as a place of worship, the Vulcanal shrine or precinct became the Assembly place before the Comitium and Old Rostra (Rostra Vetera) were ever constructed. According to a long standing Roman tradition, the Vulcanal served as the speaker's platform at this time.

Republican Period
The function of the Vulcanal as the "speakers' platform" continued well in to the republican period (510- 27 BCE) and was much later assumed by the immediately adjacent rostra. The first rostra was built circa 340 BCE (most likely after the Battle of Antium in 338 BCE).

Imperial Period
The archaic site had long been reverently preserved well in to the Imperial period (27 BCE- 476 CE). The Emperor Octavian Augustus refurbished it in 9 CE with a new marble altar (discovered in 1548 CE and now displayed at the Naples Museum).

The Emperor Domitian (reigned 81-96 CE) did likewise, presenting a new marble-faced altar and sacrificing a red calf and boar. Later in the Imperial period, the Vulcanal area lost its former significance and was reduced to a very much narrowed and partly done away with altogether by building operations associated with the enlargement of the Temple of Concord, the construction of the adjacent Arch of Severus, and other public works in the area.

circa 54 BCE- 100 CE

The original "shrine" of Vulcanal was an open-air altar on the foot of the eastern slope of the Capitoline Hill in Rome. It was situated in the area that would become the Comitium and Roman Forum in the later periods. It was located in the open here, between the hill-villages, in the days before Rome existed, because the fire god was considered to be too destructive to be located anywhere near an occupied house. In Roman mythology Vulcan was primarily worshiped in order to avert fires.

The shrine to Vulcan contained a lotus tree and cypress tree, at the time, long honored as being older than the city of Rome itself. According to literary sources, the site originally featured a sculpture of a four-horse chariot (quadriga) celebrating Romulus' victory over the Caeninenses (citizens of Caenina) — and said to have been dedicated by Romulus himself. This was later supplemented with a statue of that king, inscribed with Greek letters and celebrating his deeds. Other monuments erected here from the earliest times included a statue of Horatius Cocles and another standing on a column and representing an actor who had been struck by lightning during the games in the Circus Maximus. Behind the excavated foundation of the altar of Vulcan are traces of a flight of steps, cut into the tufa of the Capitoline Hill, which lead up to the vestibule of the Temple of Concord, just to the northwest.

circa 54 BCE- 100 CE

Although two sites have been proposed as the location of the Volcanale, the precise location of the shrine-precinct within what is now the western section of the Roman Forum is not completely settled.

Richardson's authoritative A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, published almost 10 years after Coarelli's work, has this to say: The Vulcanal was distinctly higher than the forum...and Comitium...[T]he kings and magistrates transacted public business there...public assemblies were regularly held there.... [It] was also big enough to include a bronze aedicula.... All this taken together indicates that originally the Vulcanal covered the lower slope of the Capitoline along the stair that extended the line of the Sacra Via up the hill, an area later covered by the Temple of Concordia.

circa 54 BCE- 100 CE

Comitium Altar as the Volcanale
In 1983, however, Filippo Coarelli associated the Vulcanal with the site (also uncovered by Boni decades before) that by Imperial times had become known as the Lapis Niger (pavement). This archaic (8th century BCE) sacred altar site (identify) may have been more or less contemporary with the Vulcanal. An altar (known as "Altar G-H" to archeologists) had also been found here and Coarelli suggested that the Vulcanal may not only have been associated with it but may have been identical with this shrine. According to him, the altar identified by Boni as the Vulcanal was actually the Ara Saturni (the Altar of Saturn). Coarelli's hypothesis has received a mixed reception. While a number of authorities believe he is correct, other experts continue to insist that Boni's site is the correct one.

circa 54 BCE- 100 CE

Western Tuffa Shrine (Altar of Saturn)
Giacomo Boni, who excavated extensively in this area in 1899–1905, established a site about 40 meters to the southwest of the Lapis Niger as the Vulcanal. This is just behind the Umbilicus Urbi and the (future) New Rostra (Rostra Augusti). Boni uncovered a small shrine here that had been cut directly out of the natural tufa and had tufa blocks defining a precinct area (identified from literary sources as the Area Volcani). This excavated site is about 13 by 9 feet, but the original Vulcanal is thought to have been somewhat larger. Boni's identification of this spot as the Vulcanal stood virtually unchallenged for over 80 years, now identified as the Altar of Saturn.