Published 2018 | Version v1
Journal article

Geoarchaeology of the Roman port-city of Ostia: Fluvio-coastal mobility, urban development and resilience

Others:
University of Southampton
Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement (LIVE) ; Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien (Archéorient) ; Université Lumière - Lyon 2 (UL2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Université de Liège
Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria (IGAG) ; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR)
UMR 5805 Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC) ; Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU) ; Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE) ; Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Institut National du Patrimoine (INP)
Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM) ; Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS) ; COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Udayana University [Bali]
Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma

Description

Ostia is one of the most extensively excavated cities of the Roman period. The port-city of Rome, which today lies 4 km from the coastline, was established in a very constrained environment at the mouth of the River Tiber. Based on a review of the geoarchaeological and archaeological research at Ostia, 4 new cores analysed through palaeoenvionmental methods, and 21 new radiocarbon dates, we propose a new model of the fluvio-coastal landscape of Ostia from its origin: (1) the coastline shifted rapidly westward between the 8th and the 6th c. BCE followed by a slow progradation and possible erosion phases until the end of the 1st c. CE; (2) the castrum of Ostia (c. late 4th–early 3rd c. BCE) was founded away from the river mouth but close to the River Tiber; (3) between the 4th and the 1st c. BCE, the River Tiber shifted from a position next to the castrum, below the northern Imperial cardo of Ostia, to 150 m to the north; (4) a possible harbour was established to the north of the castrum during the Republican period; (5) the city expanded and a district was built over the harbour and the palaeochannel between the Republican period and the beginning of the 2nd c. CE, showing that Ostia was a dynamic and resilient city during that time. Finally, we suggest the possibility to combine urban fabric analysis (the orientation of the structures) and palaeoenvironmental analysis for reconstructing the evolution of the city in relation to the fluvio-coastal mobility.

Abstract

International audience

Additional details

Created:
February 28, 2023
Modified:
November 28, 2023