Maritime signalling in Antiquity: the Lanterna of the harbour of Onoba Aestuaria, a new lighthouse along the Atlantic (Huelva, Spain)

Abstract

Locating and identifying ancient lighthouses or signalling towers in maritime-terrestrial environments has over time been a topic of interest due to their scarcity. In this regard, the latest archaeological investigations carried out in Onoba Aestuaria (Huelva, Spain) within the framework of different research projects shed new light on the city's Roman features and harbour. The research has yielded a vast amount of data as to the city's urban topography, its peripheral industrial and funerary sectors, its intra-moenia and domestic areas, as well as its monumental public features. Particularly noteworthy is its harbour as the excavations identified for the first time both a fish-salting industrial sector and a zone dedicated to services and administration. Work in this second zone brought to light the foundation of a rectangular structure whose architectural and topographic characteristics appear to correspond to a lighthouse. Keywords Lighthouse Á Lanterna Á Harbour Á Onoba Aestuaria Á Hispania Baetica The Harbour of Onoba Aestuaria: A Geoarchaeological Reality A completely different archaeological reality of the ancient centre of Onoba Aestuaria (Huelva, Spain) (Fig. 1) has recently emerged as a result of more than five decades of excavations. The city of Huelva is located in southwestern Spain at the mouth of the Tinto and Odiel Rivers on the Atlantic coast, and investigations over the last decade have drawn attention to the city's vital role in the Roman period transcending the traditional view of Onoba as simply one more Baetic coastal enclave (Campos Carrasco 2001-2002, 2011). The recent reviews of the records and materials of the earlier excavations, complemented by GIS analyses, etc. have yielded new data on Onoba's urban topography, geomorphology and diachronic evolution (Delgado Aguilar 2016). It is essential when analysing the harbour of Onoba and its evolution since Protohistory to consider its topographic, geological and geomorphological characteristics, elements that