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Excavation Week One

Today work started on the main excavations. We have been joined by some additional staff and students from Italy and the UK. Leonie has already cleaned off a large section of Opus Spicatum floor to the west of the large cistern. This seems to be the floor of a complex building running westwards. On the west of the path in the area adjacent to the amphitheatre the walls are becoming clear, perfectly matching the geophysical results in this area. Continue reading →

Training

All of the undergraduates and some of the other students new to the project spent the day in training. Jess gave her GPR masterclass, Steve an introduction to surveying and Geoff, Belinda, Greg and Leonie explained our recording techniques and conventions used on site. Elsewhere we have managed to assemble and test all of the kit and the post-ex, recording and visualisation teams are all ready to go. Continue reading →

Arrival at Fiumicino

Today we all travelled. Some from Colombia, some from the UK, some from Italy and another from Taiwan. So, everyone had to be met and set up in their accommodation. It was a busy day but by the end of it, particularly once the pizza was served, everything settled down to normal. We are a large team this year - about 70 in total - so everything becomes that bit more complicated. Still, the team are great and we are all really excited about the coming couple of months. Continue reading →

First day on site

We arrived on site today and set up the dig house. Simon gave his traditional tour of the site and excavation area. The excavation area is already looking amazing, with Fabrizio and his team having been busy preparing the ground. The geophysics team will be busy, in particular looking at the Imperial Palace via Ground Penetrating Radar. Continue reading →

An Archaeological Survey of the Port of Imperial Rome

Portus: An Archaeological Survey of the Port of Imperial Rome book is published. By Simon Keay, Martin Millett, Lidia Paroli and Kristina Strutt. This volume presents the full results of the survey and uses them as the basis for a re-evaluation of the whole port complex. The geophysical survey results are interpreted in the context of earlier work at the site in order to offer new perspectives on the character and development of the site. Continue reading →

Visualising Portus

At a site as large and complex as Portus, it is often hard to work out the building phases of individual structures, or get a feel for the original landscape. The AHRC portus Project is therefore employing a range of visualisation tools to interpret and present the site as it is now and as we believe it was in the past. Computer graphics make the site easier to understand by presenting archaeological findings in an easily comprehensible, but historically accurate format. Continue reading →

Visit to Ostia

Whilst the students were acclimatizing to the Portus heat we took them on a tour of nearby Ostia. This port was directly connected to Portus, with the two operating under the same administration. See more content on our Flickr website. Continue reading →