Geoarchaeological study of the river mouths of the Tiber river during the Roman period : the port-city of Ostia, the harbour-city of Portus and the Isola Sacra 

In the Roman Republic and the Early Imperial period, the only navigable access to Rome from the sea was through the mouth of the Tiber River at Ostia. However, mouth bars formed regularly at Ostia and constrained large maritime ships to access the Tiber River channel. In the middle of the 1^st c. AD, the Claudian harbour was excavated at Portus aside from the natural river mouth avoiding the mouth bars, but not disconnected from the Tiber. A series of canals were excavated taking part of the construction of Portus at first, and then these waterways were maintained between Portus to the Tiber. Half a century later, new canals were excavated with the reorganisation of Portus during the reign of emperor Trajan. In this presentation we will compare the port-city of Ostia to the harbour-city of Portus in a geoarchaeological perspective and explore their connections through the Tiber channel and canals (the Portus to Ostia canal in particular).

Responsable : Anca Dan