Skip to content
1882
Volume 24, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1250-7334
  • E-ISSN: 2295-9718

Abstract

Abstract

What happened to the Mediterranean harbour installations after the Imperial period? How can we interpret that qualitative and, at least in part, quantitative, collapse which appears from a superficial analysis of the archaeological remains? Does the problem of the lack of visibility of the evidence for late antique harbour contexts – caused by both natural and anthropic phenomenona effecting their disappearance whether due to their lesser monumentaly, hence less striking construction techniques – exist? Is it possible, in the end, that the knowledge of harbour engineering, developed after the Augustan period, due especially to the use of concrete with , was lost or no longer used? Having provided an overview of the results of recent investigations that have focused on a number of Mediterranean harbours built in the Late Antique period and the Late Antique phases of harbour contexts founded in the imperial period, this article wishes to go beyond the traditional approach, founded on the concept of the "decline" of the functionality and of the monumentality of the harbours, based often only on traditional sources. Taking into consideration obviously the deep technological and topographical differences of harbours in the two halves of the Mediterranean, and using, for comparison the insediative logic of harbours of the North European coastal landscape, we analyse the processes that occurred in the in a phenomenon marked by the physical remodeling of the harbours for reduced necessities, both of functional type and especially of ideological type. We intend thus to consider this shift as a sort of return to "normality" and the late antique period, here under special scrutiny, appears once again as a crucial moment where such landscapes are evident. In this period, indeed, we record opposite signs of behaviour, which range from the extreme of new harbour models closer to those of the ancient world to the return to a widespread, and almost total, use of the wood. However this recovery of the "normality" uses at least part of the now unnecessarily imperial installations and, in case of the foundation of new harbours, uses techniques and materials that are less monumental but no less functional than those of earlier times, at least with regard to their reduced needs. []

© Brepols Publishers NV
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1484/J.AT.5.112616
2017-01-01
2025-12-05

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Arnaud P. 2005 Les routes de la navigation antique. Itinéraires en Méditerranée, Paris.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Augenti A. 2006 “Ravenna e Classe: archeologia di due città tra la Tarda Antichità e l’alto Medioevo”, in A. Augenti (dir.), Le città italiane tra la Tarda Antichità e l’Alto Medioevo (Atti del Convegno, Ravenna 26-28 febbraio 2004), Firenze, pp. 185–217.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Beltrame C. 2012 “New evidence for the submerged ancient harbour structures at Tolmetha and Leptis Magna, Libya”, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 41, pp. 315–326.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Beltrame C., Costa E. in st. “A 5th-century-AD sewn plank river barge at St Maria in Padovetere (Comacchio-FE), Italy, an interim report”, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bermond Montanari G. (dir.) 1983 Ravenna e il porto di Classe, Bologna.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Blackman D., Rankov B. 2014 Shipsheds of the Ancient Mediterranean, Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Brandon R. L. 2014 “Roman formwork used for underwater concrete construction”, in Brandon et al.. 2014, pp. 189–222.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Brandon C. J., Hohlfelder R. L., Jackson D. M., Oleson J. P. 2014 Building for Eternity. The History and Technology of Roman Concrete Engineering in the Sea, Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Bruni S. 2000 Le navi antiche di Pisa ad un anno dall’inizio delle ricerche, Firenze.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bruni S. (dir.) 2003 Il porto urbano di Pisa antica. La fase etrusca, il contesto e il relitto ellenistico, Milano.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Calaon D., Sainati C., Granzo A. 2014 “La sequenza e le fasi archeologiche dello scavo”, in D. Calaon, E. Zendri e G. Biscontin (dir.), Torcello scavato. Patrimonio condiviso. Lo scavo 2012-2013, Venezia, pp. 51–104.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Camilli A. 2004 “Le strutture ‘portuali’ dello scavo di Pisa – San Rossore”, in A. Gallina Zevi, R. Turchetti (dir.), Le strutture dei porti e degli approdi antichi (II seminario, Roma /Ostia Antica 16-17 aprile 2004), Soveria Mannelli, pp. 67–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Carré M. B., Maselli Scotti F. 2001 “Il porto di Aquileia. Dati antichi e ritrovamenti recenti”, in C. Zaccaria (dir.), Strutture portuali e rotte marittime nell’Adriatico di età romana (Antichità Alto Adriatiche XLVI e EFR 280), Aquileia / Roma, pp. 211–243.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Carré M. B., Zaccaria C. 1999 “Magazzini a nord del porto fluviale. Scavo 1999”, Aquileia Nostra 70, coll. 251–260
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Cirelli E. 2008 Ravenna archeologia di una città, Firenze.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Du Plat Taylor J. (dir.) 1965 Marine Archaeology. Developments during sixty years in the Mediterranean, London.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. De Maria S. 1997 “Arco e porto nel mondo romano”, in XLIII Corso di Cultura sull’Arte Ravennate e Bizantina (Seminario internazionale di studi sul tema “Ricerche di Archeologia e Topografia” in memoria del prof. Nereo Alfieri), Ravenna, pp. 295–322.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. D’Oriano R., Riccardi E. 2004 “A lost fleet of ships in the port of Olbia”, in Kingsley 2004, pp. 89–95.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Erol O., Pirazzoli P.A. 1992 “Seleucia Pieria: an ancient harbor submitted to two successive uplift”, The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 21.4, pp. 317–327.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Flemming N. 1971 Cities in the Sea. An Exploration of Ancient Cities beneath the Mediterranean, Broadway.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Gelichi S. 2000 “Ravenna, ascesa e declino di una capitale”, in G. Ripoll, J.M. Gurt (dir.), Sedes regiae (ann. 400-800), Barcelona, pp. 109–134.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Gelichi S. 2008 “Infrastrutture marittime nell’alto medioevo: una prospettiva archeologica”, in L’Acqua nei secoli altomedievali (LV Settimana di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, Spoleto 2007), Spoleto, pp. 283–317.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Gelichi S. 2010 “Venice, Comacchio and the Adriatic Emporia between the Lombard and Carolingian ages”, in A. Willemsen, H. Kik (dir.), Dorestad in an International Framework. New Research on Centres of Trade and Coinage in Carolingian Times, Turnhout, pp. 149–157.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Gelichi S. 2012 “Local and interregional exchanges in the lower Po Valley (eight-ninth century)”, in C. Morrisson (dir.), Trade and Markets in Byzantium (Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine symposia and colloquia), Washington, pp. 217–231.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Gelichi S. (dir.) 2009 L’isola del vescovo. Gli scavi intorno alla Cattedrale di Comacchio, Firenze.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Gelichi S., D. Calaon, E. Grandi, C. Negrelli 2102 “The history of a forgotten town: Comacchio and its archaeology”, in S. Gelichi, R. Hodges (dir.), From one Sea to another. Trading Places in the European and Mediterranean Early Middle Ages (Proceedings of the International Conference March 2009), Leiden, pp. 169–205.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Grossmann E. 2001 Maritime Tel Michal and Apollonia: Results of the Underwater Survey 1989-1996 (BAR, Int. Ser. 915). Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Hesnard A. 2004 “Terre submergée, mer enterrée: une ‘géoarchéologie’ du port antique de Marseille”, in L. De Maria, R. Turchetti (dir.), Evolución paleoambiental de los puertos y fondeados antiguos en el Mediterráneo Occidental. El patrimonio arqueológico submarino y los puertos antiguos (I Seminario, Alicante, 14-15 noviembre 2003), Soveria Mannelli, pp. 3–29.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Holum K. G., Hohlfelder R.L., Bull R.J., Raban A. 1988 King Herod’s Dream: Cesarea on the Sea, New York.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Keay S. 2012 “The port system of imperial Rome”, in S. Keay (dir.), Portus and the Mediterranean, Roma, pp. 33–67.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Keay S., Millett M., Paroli L., Strutt K. 2005 Portus. An Archaeological Survey of the Port of Imperial Rome (Archaeological Monographs of the British School at Rome 15), London / Roma.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Kingsley S. 2004 Barbarian Seas. Late Rome to Islam, London.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Kingsley S., Decker M. (dir.) 2001 Economy and Exchange in the East Mediterranean during Late Antiquity (Oxford 1999), Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Kiziltan Z., Baran Celik G. (dir.) 2013 Stories of the Hidden Harbour: The Shipwreks of Yenikapi, Istanbul.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Kokabas U., Ozsait Kokabas I. 2013 “A new milestone in ship archaeology. The Yenikapi shipwreck project”, in Kiziltan, Baran (dir.) 2013, pp. 35–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Laronde Sintés C. 1998 “Recherches récentes dans le port d’Apollonia”, in E. Cateni, S. M. Marenco (dir.), La Ceramica in età antica (Atti del Convegno di Studi, Macerata 1995), Pisa, pp. 301–310.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Magdalino P. 2013 “The harbors of Byzantine Constantinople”, in Kiziltan, Baran Celik (dir.) 2013, pp. 11–15.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Maioli M. G. 1991 “Strutture economico-commerciali e impianti produttivi nella Ravenna bizantina”, in A. Carile (dir.), Storia di Ravenna. II, I. Dall’età bizantina all’età ottoniana. Territorio, economia e società, Venezia, pp. 223–247.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Maioli M. G., Stoppioni M. L. 1987 Classe e Ravenna tra terra e mare, Ravenna.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Millett M., Keay S., Strutt K. 2004 “Portus Romae: recent suvery work at the ports of Claudius and Trajan”, in A. Gallina Zevi, R. Turchetti (dir.), Le strutture dei porti e degli approdi antichi (II Seminario, Roma /Ostia Antica, 16-17 aprile 2004), Soveria Mannelli, pp. 221–231.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Mansuelli G. A. 1965 “Due monumenti romani nelle Marche: la porta d’Augusto di Fano e l’arco di Traiano di Ancona”, in Atti dell’XI Congresso di Storia dell’Architettura, Roma, pp. 104–109.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Milne G. 2005 The Port Medieval London, London.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Oleson J. P. 2014 “Ancient literary sources concerned with Roman concrete technology”, in Brandon et al.. 2014, pp. 11–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Panella C. 1993 “Merci e scambi nel Mediterraneo tardo antico”, in Storia di Roma. 3. L’età tardoantica. II. I luoghi e le culture, Torino, pp. 613–697.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Parker A. J. 1992 Ancient Shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and the Roman Provinces (BAR, Int. Ser. 589), Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Paroli L. 2004 “Il porto di Roma nella Tarda Antichità”, in A. Gallina Zevi, R. Turchetti (dir.), Le strutture dei porti e degli approdi antichi (II Seminario, Roma-Ostia Antica 16-17 aprile 2004), Soveria Mannelli, pp. 247–266.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Patitucci Uggeri S. 1989 “Il delta padano nell’età dei Goti”, XXXVI Corso di Cultura sull’Arte Ravennate e Bizantina (Ravenna 1989), Ravenna, pp. 269–322.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Raban A. 1996 “Sebastos, the Royal Harbour of Herod at Cesarea Marittima: 20 years of underwater archaeology”, in G. Volpe (dir.), Archeologia subacquea. Come opera l’archeologo sott’acqua. Storie dalle acque (VIII Ciclo di lezioni sulla ricerca applicata in archeologia, Certosa di Pontignano, Siena, 9-15 dicembre 1996), Firenze, pp. 217–273.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Raban A., Holum H. (dir.) 1996 Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective after two Millennia, Leiden.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Serra G. D. 1954 Lineamenti di una storia linguistica dell’Italia medievale I, Napoli.
  51. Sotinel C. 2005 Identité civique et christianisme. Aquilée du iiie au vie siècle, Roma.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Schläger H., Blackman D. J., Schäfer J. 1968 “Der Hafen von Anthedon mit Beiträgen zur Topographie und Geschichte der Stadt”, Archäologisher Anzeiger, pp. 21–98.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Uggeri G. 1968 “La terminologia portuale romana e la documentazione dell’Itinerarium Antonini”, Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica XL, 1-2, pp. 225–254.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Uggeri G. 1988 “Il porto di Brindisi in età repubblicana”, in Atti del I Congresso di studi sulla Puglia romana, Galatina, pp. 47–64.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Veikou M. 2015 “Mediterranean Byzantine ports and harbours in the complex interplay between environment and society. Spatial, socio-economical and cultural considerations based on archaeological evidence from Greece, Cyprus and Asia Minor”, in J. Preiser-Kapeller, F. Daim (dir.), Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems (International Workshop, Mainz 2013), Mainz, pp. 39–60.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Ward Perkins B. 1984 From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Urban Public Building in the Northern and Central Italy, AD 300-850, Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Wickham C. 1998 “Overview: production, distribution and demand”, in R. Hodges, W. Bowden (dir.), The Sixth Century, Distribution and Demands, Leiden / Boston / Köln, pp. 279–292.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Wickham C. 2005 Framing the Early Middle Ages, Oxford.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Wilson A. 2011 “Developments in Mediterranean shipping and maritime trade from the Hellenistic period to AD 1000”, in D. Robinson, S. Wilson (dir.), Maritime Archaeology and Ancient Trade in the Mediterranean, Oxford, pp. 33–59.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Zevi F. 2004 “Inquadramento storico relativo ai porti di Roma”, in A. Gallina Zevi, R. Turchetti (dir.), Le strutture dei porti e degli approdi antichi (II Seminario, Roma-Ostia Antica 16-17 aprile 2004), Soveria Mannelli, pp. 211–219.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1484/J.AT.5.112616
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field.
Please enter a valid email address.
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An error occurred.
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error:
Please enter a valid_number test
aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnJlcG9sc29ubGluZS5uZXQv