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Classical and historical archaeology, Page 4

A new year at Portus

The New Year has begun auspiciously for all those of us involved with the Portus Project and related work. At one level, we are pushing ahead steadily with completion of the post-excavation work that will form the basis of the final reports on the project. In January, we held the first of three planned Workshops at the British School at Rome (BSR). This was organized by Christina Triantafillou and myself and was very well attended. Continue reading →

Reconstructing Portus – Rome’s Lost Empire

Why produce computer models? We have been producing computer graphic representations as part of our work at Portus since 2007. These are used for a number of purposes. Firstly, they help us to bring together all the many forms of digital data gathered on site, through survey, geophysics, photogrammetry, laser scanning and other tools. For example, we are combining three-dimensional geophysics with laser scans and excavated sections to understand the development of the Building 5. Continue reading →

Plans for resuming joint excavation

I have just been down to Portus today to discuss plans for resuming our joint excavation at the Palazzo Imperiale with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (Ostia Antica) in January. I hope that the results from this coupled with the screening of the BBC1 programme Rome’s Lost Empire on Sunday will remind people of the importance and richness of this unique site. Continue reading →

Rome’s Lost Empire

A documentary called Rome’s Lost Empire featuring our work at Portus funded by the AHRC and the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (Ostia Antica) was broadcast on BBC One in the UK at 8:40 pm on Sunday 9th December 2012. You can watch it now on BBC iPlayer from within the UK. If you are interested in behind the scenes information on the computer graphics on the programme and how it benefits our research read the Reconstructing Portus – Rome’s Lost Empire post. Continue reading →

Funding for multidisciplinary field school at Portus

We have been awarded funding from a Student Centredness fund grant to create a unique field school at Portus that will provide the context for novel learning experiences to students from across the University, including an on-line infrastructure to build a community around a period of archaeological fieldwork in Italy. It will also benefit from a related SC project aimed at providing virtual access to the Portus fieldwork experience. Continue reading →

Photographing Portus

Working underground presents a unique photographic challenge: Here we can see myself and James Miles laser scanning a subterranean corridor in the Imperial Palace. The long exposures required to capture a dimly lit scene mean that light and movement take on the form of blurs and shadows. Photography has been extremely important to the Portus Project. Continue reading →

Laser Scanning at Portus

In the past week myself and Gareth Beale have spent time capturing the subterranean areas of  the Imperial Palace at Portus. We have been trialing the use of the Leica Scan Station C10 for archaeological documentation and the results so far appear very impressive. All archaeological remains are subject to constant deterioration, this is especially true of substantial architectural remains such as the Imperial Palace. Continue reading →