This study explores how cultural landscapes serve as dynamic interfaces between human societies and their environments, reflecting intricate interactions shaped by historical and societal changes. ...Cultural landscapes, embodying both tangible heritage (e.g., architecture, gardens, and urban spaces) and intangible heritage (e.g., traditions and practices), act as living archives that document the evolution of cultural identities and environmental care. Through the lens of historical analysis and case studies, including that of the legacy of the Roman Empire, this research examines the transformative impacts of political, economic, social, and cultural shifts on these landscapes. Methods include a comparative analysis of historical data and contemporary landscape assessments, used to understand how these spaces adapt to and reflect societal changes. The findings highlight the importance of preserving cultural landscapes for their educational and aesthetic value, ecological sustainability, and their role in maintaining historical continuity. The study underscores the need for integrating historical insights into contemporary landscape preservation and urban design to keep these spaces relevant for future generations. This research contributes to our understanding of the deep-seated connection between past civilizations and modern cultural identities through the stewardship of cultural landscapes.
At the end of the first century BC, Ephesus became the Roman capital of Asia Minor and the most important commercial, religious, and cultural center of the region. In order to evaluate the status of ...anthropogenic fluxes in the port of Ephesus, a 12 m long sediment core drilled in the Roman basin was investigated to shed light on the paleo-environmental evolution of the harbor using grain size distribution analysis, 14C ages, major and trace element geochemistry, and Pb isotope compositions. With the help of complementary sedimentological data and Principal Component Analysis, five distinct units were identified which, together, reflect the different stages of water history in the harbor. Among the major disruptive events affecting the port were earthquakes and military events, both of which were particularly effective at destroying the water distribution system.
Seasonal floods of the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes) were the major source of the silt that progressively infilled the harbor. Silting in was further enhanced by the westward migration of the river mouth. A single major disruptive event located at 550 cm core depth and heralding the development of anoxia in the harbor marks the end of the dynamic regime that otherwise controlled the harbor water throughout the Roman Empire period. This remarkable event may correspond to a major disruption of the aqueduct system or to a brutal avulsion of the Cayster River bed. It clearly represents a major disturbance in the history of life at Ephesus. It is poorly dated, but probably occurred during the reign of Augustus or shortly after. Lead isotope and trace metal evidence suggest that in the four bottom units pollution was subdued with respect to other Pb metal inputs, presumably those from aqueducts and natural karstic springs. Near the top of the core, which coincides with harbor abandonment and the more recent period, anthropogenic Pb contamination is clearly visible in both Pb abundances and isotopic compositions.
•New data shed light on silting up of the Roman port of Ephesus by the Küçük Menderes.•Statistical tools in geochemistry advance paleo-environmental reconstructions.•Isolation of the Roman harbor may have been triggered by Cayster's avulsions.•Pb excesses likely from aqueducts and karstic springs rather than anthropogenic sources.•Stratigraphic sequences of the Roman harbor of Ephesus dated for the first time.
This research concerns a stylistic and archaeometric study of an ancient marble female bust recently discovered by the Trapani Lombardo family of Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy) and delivered to the ...Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria and Vibo Valentia (SABAP). Based on the first technical, stylistic, and iconographic observations made by the competent bodies, it is a half-length portrait bust from the Roman era, which precisely had the function of faithfully reproducing the physiognomy of the depicted subject. The research aimed to establish the authenticity of the artwork and the origin of the raw material, providing indications about the textural and compositional features and of the alteration products as well as identifying traces of any previous restoration interventions. For these purposes, after a preliminary assessment of the state of conservation of the bust using visual inspections supported by a handheld digital microscope, different analytical techniques, including polarized optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDX), carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratio determinations (δ13C and δ18O), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), were used. The results highlighted the originality of the artifact, thus remarking on the importance of the precious archaeological find to be included in the cataloging of tangible assets in the panorama of Italian cultural heritage.
La paleotopografía de la ciudad de Gadir-Gades es un elemento fundamental para la comprensión del proceso histórico acontecido en este ámbito tan singular del entorno atlántico-mediterráneo. ...Recientes actividades arqueológicas y geoarqueológicas en la parte central del antiguo canal “Bahía-Caleta” (Edificio Valcárcel, 2018) han demostrado la existencia de un activo fondeadero ubicado entre 20 y 40 m circa de profundidad bajo el actual nivel del mar, muy fértil desde un punto de vista arqueológico, de cuya interpretación se infiere que este canal natural estuvo abierto entre época fenicia arcaica y al menos el Alto Imperio. Este singular hallazgo afecta a la reinterpretación de la paleotopografía de las islas gaditanas y al urbanismo de la ciudad, que se desarrolló en un entorno insular, frente a lo que se pensaba hasta la fecha. En este trabajo se presentan estos nuevos hallazgos y se reflexiona sobre las implicaciones histórico-arqueológicas que se derivan del mismo, abriendo sugerentes líneas inéditas de investigación para el futuro.
El yacimiento arqueológico de Currás (Tomiño), descubierto en el año 1972, ha sido objeto de nuevos estudios 40 años después. Gracias al proyecto de investigación llevado a cabo entre los años 2013 y ...2015, se ha recuperado material gráfico y arqueológico inédito de la primera intervención, y se han documentado en detalle las principales características de este yacimiento, lo que ha permitido obtener una percepción más completa de este asentamiento romano y de su necrópolis tardorromana y altomedieval. En este artículo presentamos los principales resultados de esta investigación que aporta nuevos datos sobre los asentamientos rurales en el territorio del Baixo Miño y consecuentemente en el Noroeste de la Península Ibérica. gl O xacemento arqueolóxico de Currás (Tomiño), descuberto no ano 1972, voltou a ser obxecto de estudio 40 anos despois. Grazas a un proxecto de investigación levado a cabo entre os anos 2013 e 2015 recuperouse material gráfico e arqueolóxico inédito do momento da descuberta, así como se documentaron en detalle as principais características deste xacemento romano e da súa necrópole tardorromana e altomedieval. Neste artigo presentamos os principais resultados deste estudo que aporta novas consideracións sobre este tipo de asentamentos rurais no territorio do Baixo Miño e consecuentemente no Noroeste da Península Ibérica.
We present here the typological and archaeometric characterisation of the pottery workshops of Thelepte, located in Central West Tunisia, next to the Sidi Aïch workshop. The petrographic analysis ...confirmed the local production of cooking ware, saggars and African Red Slip ware, made with the same raw materials and techniques in one main workshop. It also seems likely that there was a second production of African Red Slip ware, in a workshop/furnace not far from that of the main group, characterized by a slightly different paste from that of the latter.
Roman-age pepper pots are among the rarer archaeological finds and, on occasion, have been tentatively identified as such. This paper presents a gilded bronze container found during excavations in ...Histria, on the western coast of the Black Sea. In our opinion, its physical characteristics (intentional perforation of its bottom, the presence of legs that allow for display on a table/support, and its particular, aquatic plant shape) strongly encourage its identification as a piperatorium. The container was subjected to physicochemical analyses, whose results are also presented here. Finally, we extended our perspective to the cultural aspects of the consumption of spices at the edges of the Roman Empire and their corresponding apparel, focusing on pepper as the most popular, accesible, but still luxurious spice available.
This study reports the acoustic history of the Benevento Roman theatre, from its origins in the Roman period to today. The theatre, built in the second century A.D., was abandoned following ...historical affairs – e.g. barbaric invasions – and natural events (earthquakes, floods, etc.). The building materials were used during the Langobardic Age for the construction of defensive walls and for the adornment of churches and buildings. During the following centuries some houses were built in the theatre. At the beginning of the 1900s, the dominating houses were demolished in order to bring to the light the buried parts of the theatre and to consolidate the structures. The recovery work ended only in 1950. The theatre is nowadays not only an ancient monument, but also the centre of important social activities with national and international festivals of music, dancing and drama. Using a software for architectural acoustic, and with a 3D theatre virtual model, we predicted the acoustic properties during the Imperial Age. With acoustic measurements carried out in situ, we evaluated the acoustic properties in the current state.
Three Roman shipwrecks (
Napoli A and
Napoli C – 1st cent. AD;
Napoli B – 2nd century AD) were recovered in the sandy-silt sediments representing the infilling of a protected inlet of
Neapolis ...harbour (Naples, southern Italy). Extensive wood analysis suggests that a very attentive selection of species was made in shipbuilding, the choice of timber being related to wood technological properties and to the structural uses of the construction elements. Pollen data obtained from the coeval sedimentary layers revealed that all the timber
taxa (apart from
Picea/Larix) were present in the surroundings of the study area. The identified forest
taxa are very common in the Mediterranean basin and thus the pollen-wood comparison was not able to define the location of the shipyards. Broad comparison with western Mediterranean wrecks evidenced the peculiarity of the
Neapolis ships where the systematic use of both
Juglans regia and
Cupressus sempervirens was highlighted. Archaeological, biogeographical and archaeobotanical considerations suggest the local provenance of the ship C and constrain the possible origin area of both the ship Napoli A and Napoli B to central-southern Tyrrhenian coasts.
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