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Ostia-Portus, Italy

Investigations like the one we propose cannot be made without taking into account the warehouses of this site. They are the central core of the supply system of the ancient world’s largest city, therefore at the heart of an issue considering storage structures in connection with supply to non-rural populations. Moreover, in practice, they are both easily accessible, have been cleared for a long time (field seasons of the nineteenth and early twentieth century) and still very poorly known because they have never been the subject of specific studies. Unpublished documentation of previous excavations lies mainly in the archives and storehouses of the Superintendence of Ostia, on site.

This project can start from a work already carried out in 2006-2007 at the grandi horrea, the largest Ostia warehouses. A study of the grandi horrea was carried out by young researchers within the partner laboratories of the “projet blanc” under the scientific supervision of F. Zevi (University of Rome 1 - La Sapienza) and C. Virlouvet, as part of the European Programme (RAMSES 2). To investigate this complex, an agreement was signed between the French School of Rome and the Archaeological Superintendence of Ostia, who wished to take advantage of this programme to draw attention to the monument with a presentation and an educational trail, for the public visiting the site. A programme to restore the building, for which the Superintendence requested the team’s scientific support, must occur in the course of this year.

Under this agreement, the EfR and the Superintendence are willing to provide logistical support for the study of cases covered by the current project. The EfR expresses its interest in a programme that goes together (see below about the excavation at the Trajan storehouses) with the paleoenvironmental research at the ports of Claudius and Trajan that it is currently being carried out in partnership with geographers of the UMR 5133 Archéorient (J.-Ph. Goiran). Moreover, the reopening of the offices in Piazza Navona will allow for reception of archaeological missions in Ostia and participants in the "summer school" programme planned in the site (see below).

Indeed, the project will expand its investigation to other warehouses of Ostia and Portus. Without maintaining to study all the storage structures of the two sites, the results obtained for the grandi horrea will acquire their full meaning only when related to other buildings that had storage functions in these sites. There are many structures that can be revisited in light of the objectives mentioned above (republican storehouses, Piccolo Mercato, dolium warehouses, etc.) and the team cannot refrain from doing so to enlighten the special problems posed by case studies. But the two cases considered for the moment for an in-depth-study, similar to that which was conducted in the grandi horrea, are on the one hand the Trajan storehouses at Portus, on the other hand the complex formed by the horrea of Hortensius at Ostia. As the grandi horrea, the Trajan storehouses pose the problem of warehouses in connection with a harbour - river for the former, marine for the latter. The relationship between the building and the quays will be particularly studied by G. Boetto (CCJ). It is in this context that collaboration is planned with the EFR-UMR 5133 programme on the Claudius and Trajan ports, as well as with the English team managed by S. Keay (University of Southampton) working within the framework of the Roman Port Networks programme which involved the Centre Camille Jullian under an agreement signed with the British School at Rome. As for the horrea of Hortensius, more inserted into the urban plan of the city of Ostia, it is related to another type of storehouse more open to its immediate environment. Its study will expand research on the relationship between storage space and space devoted to marketing.

The team working in Ostia-Portus will be accompanied, in the study of the various buildings considered, by researchers from the Department of Technical Physics, Faculty of Engineering, of the University of Rome La Sapienza. These engineers want to test a new machine measuring light reflection of building materials. They have already worked on the theatre of Ostia and are interested in storage buildings because it is a class of edifices that use all the building techniques which are found in Ostia. Their objective is to attempt to demonstrate that Roman lime mortars have physical and environmental properties often superior to modern mortars.

Finally, a wider opening on the Tyrrhenian coast portion, of which the Ostia-Portus complex is a part, is planned. It will involve a survey of some sites (five in total) identified as storage sites between Formia and Centumcellae, conducted by X. Lafon. Emphasis will be put particularly on Centumcellae. The development of this port by Trajan, about fifty miles north of the Ostia-Portus complex, when works at Portus ultimately made it a deep-sea port, continues to ask the question about the Emperor’s motivations for building such a complex and its consequences on maritime traffic. The relationship with Trajan's villa (known mainly through Pliny’s text, but not yet located), will be at the heart of this investigation, which will be conducted parallel to the work carried on at Portus. We cannot rule out a storing of regional products intended for "export" at Centumcellae, complementary to the port of Rome’s one.

Work schedule

At Ostia and Portus

2009: 4 study weeks at the Trajan storehouses at Portus, in connection with the port context.
2010: 4 weeks of fieldwork at the Trajan storehouses at Portus. 3 weeks of documentation and survey of various storage buildings of Ostia (republican storehouses, Piccolo Mercato, etc.) to comparatively explain the results acquired about the buildings that are subject of monographic studies (grandi horrea, Trajan storehouses, horrea of Hortensius).
2011: 4 weeks at the horrea of Hortensius at Ostia. Organization of one-week-long "summer school" on building structures for PhD students. The EfR also provides its logistical support to the summer school.
2012: 5 study weeks on the horrea of Hortensius. All fieldwork planned between 2009 and 2012 is paired with missions in the archives of the Superintendence of Ostia. Total missions to plan: 6 for each actual season; 4 for the more general documentation season on storage buildings of Ostia. Total weeks of field attendance: 20. A ten-month-long temporary employment contract (CDD) for the person in charge of the building structures’ study and the preparation of "the summer school" on this topic. Management and support of a dozen students participating in the "summer school". A eight-month-long temporary employment contract (CDD) for an architect working on the two sites - the Trajan storehouses and the horrea of Hortensius.

On the Tyrrhenian coast

2 weeks of annual mission between 2009 and 2012 for 3 people to survey the structures still visible at Formia and especially at Civitavecchia.