Narbonne/Narbo Martius, située au croisement de voies maritimes, fluviales et terrestres, a été un lieu d’échanges entre la Méditerranée et l’Atlantique dès le iie s. av. J.-C. Son système portuaire, ...qui s’est constamment adapté aux contraintes environnementales, inclut un port urbain ainsi que des avant-ports autour des étangs de Bages/Sigean, situés à 4 km au sud de la ville. L’Aude, l’Atax antique, est mentionnée par les auteurs anciens comme une voie commerciale majeure. Le projet collectif de recherche sur les ports antiques de Narbonne a permis de réaliser des fouilles de grande ampleur sur son embouchure ; celle-ci fut canalisée au cours du ier s. apr. J.-C. et abandonnée à partir du ve s. apr. J.-C. Elle était le lieu du transbordement des marchandises depuis les navires hauturiers vers des bateaux fluviaux comme l’illustre la découverte de l’épave Mandirac 1. Rarement observée en Méditerranée, l’utilisation du bois est ici bien attestée pour les nombreuses constructions réalisées en milieu humide. Les pieux, palées et caissons vont servir à aménager les berges et à construire des digues encadrant le passage du cours d’eau dans la lagune. Si les bois se retrouvent sur l’ensemble du tracé, leur implantation s’adapte aux variations du substrat et aux contraintes physiques micro-locales (houle, courant, vent). Le maintien des ouvrages sur la longue durée implique des phases de modifications et de reconstructions. L’objectif de cet article est de mieux comprendre les choix et la variété des techniques mises en œuvre dans le cadre de ces aménagements fluviaux et portuaires.
Narbonne/Narbo Martius is located at the crossroads of sea, river and land routes, has been a place of exchange between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic since the 2nd c. BC. Its port system, which has constantly adapted to environmental constraints, includes an urban port as well as outports around the Bages/Sigean ponds located 4 km south of the city. The Aude, the ancient Atax, is mentioned by ancient authors as a major trade route. The collective project on the ancient ports of Narbonne led to large-scale excavations at the river mouth: it was channelled during the 1st c. AD and abandoned from the 5th c. AD on. It was the place where goods were transhipped from deep-sea vessels to river boats, as illustrated by the discovery of the Mandirac 1 wreck. Rarely observed in the Mediterranean, the use of wood is well documented here for the numerous constructions built in wetlands. The piles, bents and caissons were used to develop the banks and to build dykes framing the passage of the watercourse in the lagoon. Although the wooden pieces are found along the entire route, their location is adapted to variations in the substrate and to micro-local physical constraints (swell, current, wind). The maintenance of the structures over the long term implies phases of modification and reconstruction. The aim of this article is to better understand the choices and the variety of techniques used in the context of these river and port developments.
Structural investigations of amyloid fibrils often rely on heterologous bacterial overexpression of the protein of interest. Due to their inherent hydrophobicity and tendency to aggregate as ...inclusion bodies, many amyloid proteins are challenging to express in bacterial systems. Cell-free protein expression is a promising alternative to classical bacterial expression to produce hydrophobic proteins and introduce NMR-active isotopes that can improve and speed up the NMR analysis. Here we implement the cell-free synthesis of the functional amyloid prion HET-s(218-289). We present an interesting case where HET-s(218-289) directly assembles into infectious fibril in the cell-free expression mixture without the requirement of denaturation procedures and purification. By introducing tailored
C and
N isotopes or CF
and
CH
F labels at strategic amino-acid positions, we demonstrate that cell-free synthesized amyloid fibrils are readily amenable to high-resolution magic-angle spinning NMR at sub-milligram quantity.
Excavations conducted since 2004 alongside the Marinesque, a small intermittent river, have uncovered a long stretch of the Via Domitia as well as a small bridge-like structure. Buildings uncovered ...on both banks of the river were part of a complex in operation in the 1st century BC. They were most likely relay stations given their proximity to the road and the existence of certain facilities such as cooking areas. This hypothesis is confirmed by the specific configuration of objects found, with a significant quantity of tableware (especially drinking vessels), and greater quantities of non-Mediterranean Gallic coinage than found in most regional sites. The construction of the site, in the second quarter of the 1st century BC, could be considered a local initiative on the outskirts of lands that had been cultivated since the Iron Age in order to take advantage of its proximity to a public road. The repeated flooding of the river and the development of new forms of land ownership – legal evidence of which was discovered in the form of a boundary marker – most likely led to the site being abandoned at the beginning of the Early Empire.
As part of the Topical Collection on the archaeometric study of ceramics, this paper focuses on
terra sigillata
ware. The main aims are to provide a review on the state of the art of the studies and ...to provide a guide to the most suitable analytical techniques. The text is divided into four main parts: (1) a brief archaeological introduction on the ancient production of
terra sigillata
; (2) a summary of the archaeometric studies carried out to date; (3) a reasoned list of the most suitable techniques for the investigation of the ceramic body and (4) an in-depth discussion on the most effective techniques for the study of the coating. The application of both destructive and non-destructive techniques is critically evaluated as well as the advantages and disadvantages provided by the different instrumentation, in terms of sample preparations and expected results.
Since prehistoric times, iron ore has been traded to be used for various purposes as in medicines, pigments, and cosmetics. This non-metallurgical iron ore trade, involving the transportation of ore ...from the mined deposits via trade hubs to consumption areas, must be viewed as part of a long-distance trading network, such as that for the trading of iron bars. This paper proposes an initial synthesis of (i) the circulation of iron ore fragments in the western Mediterranean and (ii) their multiple non-metallurgical uses in antiquity, as recorded in
Naturalis Historia
by Pliny the Elder. The basis of our discussion is a heterogeneous, concatenated chemical database, set up to assess the sourcing of iron ore fragments discovered in the Roman harbor of
Colonia Narbo Martius
(Narbonne, Aude, France). Lastly, we advance that in antiquity, iron ore was traded from Elba and possibly from southern Tuscany to Gaul, via the harbor of
Colonia Narbo Martius
, probably for use in medicine and as a coloring base. However, further development of this topic is required, since this trade is part of a larger, more complex network of distribution.
Le projet collectif de recherche sur les ports antiques de Narbonne réunit depuis 2010 une équipe interdisciplinaire. Il a fait l’objet d’un partenariat entre la Région Languedoc-Roussillon ...(Occitanie), le CNRS (UMR 5140, Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes), l’université Paul-Valéry de Montpellier, le ministère de la Culture (Drac et Drassm) et les villes de Gruissan et de Narbonne. Les résultats d’un premier projet de recherche (2010-2013), renouvelé durant 3 ans (2014-2016), ont perm...
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