Annual Report 2008-9 - The British School at Rome

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A R C H A E O L O G Y results are encouraging, shedding light upon the depth of sediment at the bottom of the lake, and providing us with the information needed to plan future underwater investigations. We would like to express our gratitude to Duke Ascanio Sforza Cesarini for granting us access to his property to undertake the survey. The Portus Hinterland Survey This focuses upon the Isola Sacra, a key land-bridge lying between Portus and Ostia, that has considerable potential for enhancing our understanding of the relationship between both ports. The first two seasons of geophysical survey were undertaken in the northern sector in 2008 and 2009, and were directed by Martin Millett (Cambridge) Kris Strutt, Archaeological Prospection Services, Southampton (APSS), Paola Germoni (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia) and Simon Keay. The results are shedding important light upon the hinterland of the settlement and the adjacent cemetery lying on the south side of the Fossa Traiana. The second season of survey (March 2009) focused upon the western part of the isola, which lay between the area surveyed in 2008 and the excavated cemetery. The most notable discovery here was a large canal or body of water of uncertain function, circa 80 metres wide, lying to the west of the statio marmorum and to the south of the Fossa Traiana. This seems to have been integral to the replanning of Portus under Trajan, and is bound to shed important light upon the functioning of Portus and its relationship with Ostia. The survey also revealed traces of a section of the Via Flavia that ran between Portus and Ostia. Roman Port Networks This sub-project explores changing economic relationships between Portus and other mediterranean Roman ports. It is being funded by the University of Southampton and the Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica, and is supported by two PhD students. Following upon the success of the 2008 workshop, this year saw some twenty colleagues from 24 universities and research institutions throughout Europe and the Mediterranean meet at the BSR to develop a protocol and timetable for the sharing of amphora and marble data from port sites across the Mediterranean within a Semantic Web environment, with a view to a major international conference at the BSR (2011) and subsequent publication. West Mediterranean Port Hinterlands This sub-project aims to establish a mediterranean context for Portus by means of the geophysical analysis by BSR/APSS of the hinterlands of key provincial ports supplying Rome. Attention to date has been focused upon ports in Italy, Iberia and North Africa. The most exciting development this year was a first season of geophysical and topographical survey at Leptis Magna (Libya), focusing upon the coastline between the famous hunting baths to the west and the amphitheatre at the eastern extremity. It was undertaken on behalf of Marco Polo Storica in collaboration with the Università Roma Tre (Dott.ssa Luisa Musso), Thetis (Venice), the Libyan Department of Antiquities at Leptis Magna (Dr Mehemed Massaud) and with the support of the Society for Libyan Studies. GEOPHYSICS Over the course of the year a series of surveys was conducted at important sites throughout Italy, led by Sophie Hay (APSS) and Stephen Kay (BSR), and involving BSR staff Elizabeth DeGaetano, Jessica Ogden, Leonie Pett, Giles Richardson and Gregory Tucker. The team is applying the technique of groundpenetrating, specifically radar, on the site of the Temple of the Gens Flavia in the Piazza della Repubblica, within the later Baths of Diocletian on behalf of Professor Filippo Coarelli; on the site of the Basilica Noniana at Herculaneum on behalf of the Director’s Herculaneum Conservation Project; in the vicinity of the Porta Stabia at Pompeii on behalf of Dr Steven Ellis (Cincinnati), and at the site of Le
Salzare at Fosso dell’Incastro near Ardea. This small river port is currently being investigated by Dr Francesco Di Mario (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici per il Lazio), and the survey focused on investigating the possible earlier phases of a Roman temple. Other sites investigated over the course of the year include Gabii (Lazio), where a 25-hectare survey was undertaken on behalf of Dr Nicola Terrenato (Michigan). This completed a study that was begun in 2007 of the whole intramural area of the Latin town. It revealed, for the first time, the unique road network of the town, which had been heavily influenced by the natural topography of the site, which lies on the edge of the volcanic crater of Lake Castiglione. This year also saw further survey in northern Campania, where the BSR was invited once again by the Comune di Atella (Ing. Salvatore Di Costanzo) and the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Caserta e Benevento (Dott.ssa Elena Laforgia) to survey an area in the vicinity of the Roman town of Atella. The survey, applying both resistivity and Above: A pavement in opus sectile uncovered during the excavations at the site of the Roman villa at San Lorenzo (Falacrinae) Left: Sections by resistance tomography of the Basilica, Herculaneum. The red areas indicate possible buried structures, while the blue areas indicate Bourbon tunnels magnetometry, recorded the outbuildings of the medieval Casale di Teverolaccio. The BSR is also one of a number of collaborators across Europe involved in a programme of applied geophysics at Ammaia in Portugal, in the context of the RADIO-PAST project funded by the EU Framework 7 Marie Curie scheme, coordinated by the Universities of Ghent and Evora (Drs Frank Vermeulen and Cristina Corsi). COLLABORATION WITH THE SOCIETY FOR LIBYAN STUDIES As a further step in developing a closer relationship with the Society for Libyan Studies, the BSR hosted a workshop in Punic archaeology in November 2008. This was organised by 25
Page 1 and 2: T HE B RITISH S CHOOL AT R OME Patr
Page 3 and 4: C HAIRMAN’ S F OREWORD It is not
Page 5 and 6: Andrew and Jo Wallace-Hadrill and S
Page 7 and 8: lectures represent no diminution of
Page 9 and 10: in its social context. And needless
Page 11 and 12: H ERCULANEUM C ONSERVATION P ROJECT
Page 13 and 14: Left: Mimmo Camardo inspects marble
Page 15 and 16: H UMANITIES AWARDS Balsdon Fellow M
Page 17 and 18: BSR residents visiting the Meeting
Page 19 and 20: M ODERN S TUDIES Icompleted my last
Page 21 and 22: Trevelyan’s Garibaldi Trilogy: hi
Page 23: Above: White marble head from excav
Page 27 and 28: FACULTY OF A RCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY AN
Page 29 and 30: Above: Studio 7, Via Antonio Gramsc
Page 31 and 32: Pound, 2009, by Penelope Cain (Aust
Page 33 and 34: A RCHITECTURE P ROGRAMME This year
Page 35 and 36: L IBRARY AND A RCHIVE There has bee
Page 37 and 38: P UBLICATIONS AND E XHIBITIONS BY S
Page 39 and 40: Core Staff S TAFF Director Professo
Page 41 and 42: (f) To award scholarships, Exhibiti
Page 43 and 44: F INANCIAL S TATEMENTS for the year
Page 45 and 46: B ALANCE SHEET as at 31 March 2009
Page 47 and 48: 2. OTHER GRANTS, DONATIONS AND LEGA
Page 49 and 50: N OTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page 51 and 52: S UBCOMMITTEES AND H ONORARY F ELLO
Page 53 and 54: of Suburban Rome. Disegni dei Conto
Page 55 and 56: Hayes; Mr T.M. Hayes; Miss A.E. Hea

Annual Report 2008-9 - The British School at Rome

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