A harbour–canal at Portus: a geoarchaeological approach to the Canale Romano: Tiber delta, Italy

Salomon, Ferréol; Goiran, Jean‐Philippe; Bravard, Jean‐Paul; Arnaud, Pascal; Djerbi, Hatem; Kay, Stephen; Keay, Simon

doi:10.1007/s12685-014-0099-1

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…1), suggesting that the most likely cause is the diversion of the contaminated Tiber water away from Ostia's harbor. Manmade links between the Tiber and the sea upstream of Ostia were constructed in this period: the northern canal, the Canale Romano, and the Claudian basin at Portus (midfirst century AD) followed by the Trajanic basin and probably, the northeastern canal (early second century AD) (46). These reductions in Tiber outflow would have initially and mechanically (i) brought less anthropogenic Pb and (ii) allowed more uncontaminated seawater to enter the harbor of Ostia, diluting the reduced Tiberderived Pb.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rome’s urban history inferred from Pb-contaminated waters trapped in its ancient harbor basins

Delile

Keenan‐Jones

Blichert‐Toft

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Heavy metals from urban runoff preserved in sedimentary deposits record long-term economic and industrial development via the expansion and contraction of a city's infrastructure. Lead concentrations and isotopic compositions measured in the sediments of the harbor of Ostia-Rome's first harbor-show that lead pipes used in the water supply networks of Rome and Ostia were the only source of radiogenic Pb, which, in geologically young central Italy, is the hallmark of urban pollution. High-resolution geochemical, isotopic, and C analyses of a sedimentary core from Ostia harbor have allowed us to date the commissioning of Rome's lead pipe water distribution system to around the second century BC, considerably later than Rome's first aqueduct built in the late fourth century BC. Even more significantly, the isotopic record of Pb pollution proves to be an unparalleled proxy for tracking the urban development of ancient Rome over more than a millennium, providing a semiquantitative record of the water system's initial expansion, its later neglect, probably during the civil wars of the first century BC, and its peaking in extent during the relative stability of the early high Imperial period. This core record fills the gap in the system's history before the appearance of more detailed literary and inscriptional evidence from the late first century BC onward. It also preserves evidence of the changes in the dynamics of the Tiber River that accompanied the construction of Rome's artificial port,, during the first and second centuries AD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rome’s urban history inferred from Pb-contaminated waters trapped in its ancient harbor basins

Delile

Keenan‐Jones

Blichert‐Toft

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Today, one-fifth of the Tiber River discharge is flowing through Fiumicino. Other canals were excavated and in use after the construction of Portus (Testaguzza, 1970;Keay et al, 2005;Salomon et al, 2014) and could have led to the decrease of the energy of the Tiber river downstream in Ostia (Figure 1). …”

Section: Hypothesis Regarding the Compound Evolution Of The Ostia Palmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐Term Interactions between the Roman City of Ostia and Its Paleomeander, Tiber Delta, Italy

et al. 2016

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This study examines the long term interactions between the well-known Roman city of Ostia and a river meander. Located at the mouth of the Tiber River, Ostia was a major harbor city that connected Rome to the Mediterranean Sea. Based on aerial photography and boreholes analysis, the paleodynamics of the Fiume Morto's paleomeander are understood to be linked to the urban evolution of the city of Ostia. Four periods of evolution have been identified as a result of this interdisciplinary work: (1) the foundation of Ostia's urban center, in the 4 th -3 rd century BC, occurred when the meander already existed;(2) between the 4 th century BC and the 3 rd century AD, human/environmental interactions contributed to the compound growing of the meander which possibly eroded an important Roman road linking Ostia to Rome; (3) from the Imperial period until the meander was cut off in AD 1557-1562, the constricted meander channel at the apex led to the stability of the downstream river channel; (4) the cut off of the paleomeander was completed in 1562, leading to the filling of the paleochannel. These successive phases of channel evolution mark changing fluvial risks from the Roman period to today.

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“…Localisation des ports lagunaires de Mozia et de Cumes. l'environnement (Keay et al, 2005 ;Goiran et al, 2010 ;Salomon et al, 2014) ;…”

Section: Fig 5 : Extension Des Bassins Versants Des Fleuves Birgi (Aunclassified

Dynamiques géomorphologiques et typologie géoarcheologique des ports antiques en contextes lagunaires

Morhange¹,

Marriner²,

Blot³

et al. 2015

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A harbour–canal at Portus: a geoarchaeological approach to the Canale Romano: Tiber delta, Italy

Cited by 25 publications

References 27 publications

Rome’s urban history inferred from Pb-contaminated waters trapped in its ancient harbor basins

Rome’s urban history inferred from Pb-contaminated waters trapped in its ancient harbor basins

Long‐Term Interactions between the Roman City of Ostia and Its Paleomeander, Tiber Delta, Italy

Dynamiques géomorphologiques et typologie géoarcheologique des ports antiques en contextes lagunaires

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