Ferréol Salomon

Palynology and ostracodology at the Roman port of ancient Ostia (Rome, Italy)

New detailed palynological and ostracodological analyses together with texture data from a sediment core drilled in Ostia Antica confirm the existence of the ancient Ostia harbour and its location by the Tiber River. Using the different proxies analysed in this work and chronologically framing the sediment record with three AMS radiocarbon dates, four phases have been singled out: pre-harbour, harbour bay under fluvial influence, more protected harbour basin and post-harbour phase. Ostracodology is used to reconstruct the marine versus freshwater influence in the basin. Palynology is used to reconstruct the plant landscape and the surrounding environment. Phases with low pollen concentration and expansions of NPPs suggest soil erosion and are alternated with quieter ones, where human impact was very clear. Deciduous oaks typical of coastal plain forests are the main taxon during the harbour phases. The occurrence of riparian trees increases in periods with low pollen concentration, high NPPs and very high pine percentages. These should be the periods in which important sediment inputs inside the harbour basin arrived and could be the expression of intense flooding phases. The comparison between the ostracod assemblages recovered in the two cores and has led to speculate a complex harbour structure. A separation could explain the micropalaeontological differences between the cores. Thus, we suggest that a pier must have been built in order to protect the inner harbour from the marine influence and to unload the goods transported by the big ships.

The development and characteristics of ancient harbours. Applying the PADM chart to the case studies of Ostia and Portus

Over the last 20 years, the geoarchaeology of ancient harbours has been a very active area of research around the Mediterranean basin, generating much palaeoenvironmental data from many sites, including estimations of sedimentation rates, the height of the ancient sea-level at different dates and palaeo-geographical reconstructions. Combining this information has proved a major challenge. This article proposes a new chart called the Palaeoenvironmental Age-Depth Model (PADM chart), that allows the researchers to combine all relevant indicators in order to estimate harbour potential of a given ancient port, and to generate comparable data between harbours in terms of degree of closure and water depth available against a synchronised chronology. This new approach, developed in the context of the ERC-funded RoMP Portuslimen project, takes into account estimations of water depths relating to differing Roman ship draughts at different periods. It is tested against the palaeoenvironmental evidence published over 10 years from two Roman harbours located at the mouth of the river Tiber: Ostia and Portus. This reveals that: (1) there has been an underestimate of the real sedimentation rates due to the margins of error of the radiocarbon dates; (2) there was effective control of the water column by dredging; (3) there were different periods of control of the sedimentation. We suggest that the navigability of the Ostia harbour by ships with shallower draughts was maintained until sometime between the 2nd c. BC and 1st c. AD, while at Portus it was retained until the 6th—7th c. AD.

Introduction to the special issue: Roman canals studies—main research aims

This special issue of Water History is the first of a set of two volumes dedicated to canals and their evolution through time. These two publications derive from a workshop organised at the Maison de l’Orient et de la Mediterranee in Lyon (France) under the sponsorship of the University of Lyon 2 and the CNRS, on the 23rd and 24th of May 2012, entitled ‘‘Diverting water... Canals through time: a technological answer to socio-environmental variability’’. The themes of the workshop focused on ‘‘canals’’ and addressed the question of long-term interactions between nature and society, as well as the organisation and regulation of hydrologic and anthropic systems through time. This first volume focuses on a socio-cultural context: the ancient Roman world, i.e. an archetypical hydraulic society. The case studies developed are related to canals in environments characterized by complex interactions at different spatial and temporal scales (deltaic area, alluvial plain or mountains). They do not include urban water systems as the latter are too specific (water supply of the cities by aqueducts or the drain of waste water by sewers). The second volume will be structured around the issue of water management in

Un « modèle âge-profondeur paléoenvironnemental » pour interpréter les séquences sédimentaires en milieu portuaire (Portus, Italie)

The geoarchaeology of ancient harbours is based on palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeomorphological analysis and considers data issued from archaeological and historical sources. Many different kinds of evidence need to be taken into account concerning the organisation of the harbour, its chronology, and its dynamics. The “Palaeoenvironmental Age-Depth Model” (PADM) was developed in the context of a European Union (ERC Adanced Grant) funded project studying Roman ports across the Mediterranean Sea. It allows researchers to integrate all the data relevant to reconstructions of the development of harbour potential through time. The PADM is based on the analysis of one or several stratigraphic sequences with dates integrated within a classic “age-depth” model. To these is added evidence for the evolution of the water level, together with archaeological and historical data for calibrating the age-depth model (the draught of ships of specific periods, chronological data, level of quays etc.). In this paper, this diagram is tested against the case of Portus. It shows the evolution of the depositional context, and reconstructs the evolution of the water column of the harbour through time.

Un « modèle âge-profondeur paléoenvironnemental » pour interpréter les séquences sédimentaires en milieu portuaire (Portus, Italie)@@@A “palaeoenvironmental age-depth model” to interpret sedimentary sequences in harbour context (Portus, Italy)

The geoarchaeology of ancient harbours is based on palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeomorphological analysis and considers data issued from archaeological and historical sources. Many different kinds of evidence need to be taken into account concerning the organisation of the harbour, its chronology, and its dynamics. The “Palaeoenvironmental Age-Depth Model” (PADM) was developed in the context of a European Union (ERC Adanced Grant) funded project studying Roman ports across the Mediterranean Sea. It allows researchers to integrate all the data relevant to reconstructions of the development of harbour potential through time. The PADM is based on the analysis of one or several stratigraphic sequences with dates integrated within a classic “age-depth” model. To these is added evidence for the evolution of the water level, together with archaeological and historical data for calibrating the age-depth model (the draught of ships of specific periods, chronological data, level of quays etc.). In this paper, this diagram is tested against the case of Portus. It shows the evolution of the depositional context, and reconstructs the evolution of the water column of the harbour through time.

A “palaeoenvironmental age-depth model” to interpret sedimentary sequences in harbour context (Portus, Italy)

The geoarchaeology of ancient harbours is based on palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeomorphological analysis and considers data issued from archaeological and historical sources. Many different kinds of evidence need to be taken into account concerning the organisation of the harbour, its chronology, and its dynamics. The “Palaeoenvironmental Age-Depth Model” (PADM) was developed in the context of a European Union (ERC Adanced Grant) funded project studying Roman ports across the Mediterranean Sea. It allows researchers to integrate all the data relevant to reconstructions of the development of harbour potential through time. The PADM is based on the analysis of one or several stratigraphic sequences with dates integrated within a classic “age-depth” model. To these is added evidence for the evolution of the water level, together with archaeological and historical data for calibrating the age-depth model (the draught of ships of specific periods, chronological data, level of quays etc.). In this paper, this diagram is tested against the case of Portus. It shows the evolution of the depositional context, and reconstructs the evolution of the water column of the harbour through time.

Canal through time: towards a multidisciplinary and holistic study of water systems?

This special issue of Water History is the second of a set of two volumes dedicated to thetheme: ‘‘Canal through time: a technological answer to socio-environmental variability?’’.These two publications derive from a workshop entitled «Diverting waters» which wasorganised on the 23rd and 24th of May 2012 at the Maison de l’Orient et de laMe´diterranne´e in Lyon, France. This workshop was sponsored by the CNRS, theUniversity Lyon 2 and its Social Science Doctoral School, as well as the ANR researchfunding organisation.The workshop addressed the question of the organisation and regulation of water sys-tems in space and time. In order to provide for their food, energetic/industrial and com-mercial needs, societies have devoted major financial and human means to water diversionand channelling. Among the hydraulic structures built by communities, canals, at theinterface between nature and culture, are a rich but still weakly-explored research object.