Tradition holds that St. Peter was jailed in Rome’s maximum security Mamertine Prison before he was crucified upside down and buried on the hill where St. Peter’s Basilica was later built.
And now after recent excavations in Rome’s oldest prison, archaeologists say they have uncovered evidence that, while not providing direct proof, does support that belief.
The prison, which lies beneath the Church of St. Joseph of the Carpenters facing the Roman Forum, was closed for the past year as experts dug up old floors and picked away plaster.
The second paragraph above seems to be yet another example of archeologists (or is it just the press?) reading far more into limited evidence than is actually there.
The debate on whether St Peter ever visited Rome and whether he was martyred there, is a long and involved one. It has raged since the 2nd century AD, with strong protagonists on either side.
In summary, the new evidence referred to in the article consists of (a) a 14th century fresco of Peter in the Mamertine prison and (b) unspecified evidence that “the site had been a place for venerating St Peter by the seventh century”. Since the earliest reliably dated accounts of Peter’s presence in Rome date from the late 2nd century AD, I think we can safely say that evidence of veneration of Peter five centuries later does not add anything to the evidence we already have.