2 - Behind the Block: Results from a Geophysical Study of the Unexcavated Area in the Southwest of Ostia

Summary

This article presents an interpretation of results of a geophysical survey campaign conducted in Ostia Antica, the principal port-town of the Roman Empire, in May 2015, which focused on the unexcavated area in the south-west part of the city. The surveys formed part of the “Neighbourhoods of Roman Ostia” study conducted by Hanna Stöger (Stöger 2011; 2014). The project was committed to non-invasive methods in archaeology and aimed to reconstruct urban neighbourhoods from a long-term perspective. The investigated area runs parallel to the southern extent of Ostia's cardo maximus, lies directly behind the city blocks, IV, i-iv, and offers an important insight into the previously unknown extent of the city's urban fabric. An additional targeted study was carried out in the Terme del Faro (IV, ii, 1).

INTRODUCTION

Numerous studies at Ostia Antica have revealed the many faces of the once important port city of the Roman Empire. Scholarly publications range from the city's early beginnings as Rome's gateway to the Mediterranean to its role as an economic powerhouse (Belotti et al. 2011; Vittori et al. 2015). More recent work has brought to light evidence of the dynamically changing environment around Ostia, especially in terms of the silting of the Tiber River (Goiran et al. 2014), which was one factor leading to the city's loss of significance to the neighbouring city of Portus (Ogden et al. 2009; Keay et al. 2014). Despite the continuity, albeit on a smaller scale, of an urban community into the fifth century, Ostia was slowly abandoned around the sixth – seventh centuries (Gering 2018).

The majority of Ostia's urban area was excavated between 1938 and 1941, when it was set to become the centrepiece of Mussolini's Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR). As a result, excavation mostly focused on the buildings along the main and secondary streets to allow visitors to see the mixed commercial and residential nature of this town.2 This included the area along the southern Cardo Maximus, which exited the city to the south, towards the Pianabella plain. Beyond these excavated streets and buildings the remainder of the city's intramural area was left unexcavated, with the basalt stones of the city's streets gradually giving way to grass. Today this unexcavated area is largely used for agricultural purposes.