The Roman City of Altinum, Venice Lagoon, from Remote Sensing and Geophysical Prospection

Abstract

Geophysical prospection on 14 ha integrates the processing and interpretation of vertical multispectral and oblique\ud aerial images for uncovering the archaeology of the Roman city of Altinum. This Iron Age and Roman harbour city\ud was completely abandoned in the early Middle Ages, when people moved to nearby lagoon islands, and so the site\ud is particularly fit for the application of non-invasive techniques. Primary aims of the research were to test the interpretation\ud of archaeological structures in the city centre, estimate their degree of preservation in the subsoil, and update\ud previous knowledge on the urban landscape. Target areas were identified first through remote sensing with later\ud magnetic gradiometer mapping of the consular road (via Annia) and its adjoining streets, foundations of large buildings,\ud theatres, temple and forum, a main canal with possible boatyard/storing place and workshops. Multi-electrode\ud automatic resistivity profile produced a very detailed survey of the little theatre (odeon) and basilica. The groundpenetrating\ud radar traced the city walls, while frequency-domain electromagnetics mapped the street pattern.\ud Buried archaeological structures were located with an estimated error < 0.5 m. Floors and foundations of Roman\ud buildings and infrastructures appear to be preserved between 0.5 and 2 m depth. They probably relate to a reorganization\ud of the city, which occurred between the second half of the second century and the end of the first century\ud BC, having via Annia and the forum as the main city axis, and incorporating few elements of the Iron Age settlement,\ud such as the canal and city boundary. Eight city districts could be recognized, each one showing prevalent public,\ud residential and other productive functions. In the ancient past the monumental buildings of the city were potentially\ud visible from ships in the Adriatic Sea, and could act as nautical signals of the entrance to the lagoon along this low\ud and otherwise monotonous coast. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The modeling of archaeological and geomorphic surfaces in a multistratified urban site in Padua, Italy

“…This opens to the possibility that these surfaces act as reflectors/markers for geophysical prospection, for example, magnetic gradiometer, resistivity profile, frequency‐domain electromagnetics, or ground‐penetrating radar. Such methods provided good results in complex multistratified sites, such as Altinum in the Venice Lagoon (Mozzi et al., ), Classe (Boschi, ), and Sena Gallica (Silani et al., ) along the Adriatic Coast. Geophysical survey in an urban environment can be very complicated due to possible disturbance by present infrastructure, electricity lines, pipes, etc.…”

“…In the Iron Age, Padua was an urban settlement, that fully developed as a Roman Municipium, and, after an early Medieval collapse, as a prominent Medieval and Renaissance city. Other cities in the region with a similar history created archaeological mounds, such as Altinum (Mozzi et al., ; Ninfo, Fontana, Mozzi, & Ferrarese, ), Adria (Corrò, & Mozzi, ; Piovan, Mozzi, & Stefani, ), Concordia Sagittaria (Croce Da villa and Di Filippo Balestrazzi, ), and Aquileia (Ghedini et al., ; Maselli Scotti, Degrassi, Franchini, Montenegro, & Pugliese, ). Padua grew vertically as well as laterally from the Iron Age to modern times, resulting in a 1.55 km 2 archaeological mound that is perched several meters above the surrounding alluvial plain (Ferrarese, Mozzi, Veronese, & Cervo, ; Ninfo, Ferrarese, Mozzi, and Fontana, ; Ninfo, Mozzi, & Abbà, ).…”

Urban Geomorphological Heritage. An Overview

“…3) is one of the rare examples of geomorphological map of a metropolis. Similar methods have been used to map anthropogenic transformations of cities (Lucchesi, Giardino 2015, Mozzi et al 2016.…”

Contribution for an Urban Geomorphoheritage Assessment Method: Proposal from Three Geomorphosites in Rome (Italy)

“…Urban geomorphology analyses: (i) the impact of urban sprawling and human activities on natural geomorphology (Gierlinger et al 2013, Mohapatra et al 2014, Mozzi et al 2016 (ii) the geomorphic constraints on urban development (Cooke 1976);…”