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The Past in Pieces: Lego and Lost Civilisations

Matthew Tyler-Jones:A great post and the second time this week that the Antikythera Mechanism has been brought to my attention Originally posted on res gerendae: As I think I may have mentioned once or twice, I was a Lego-mad child. Of all the things under the tree on Christmas morning, Lego was always the most prized. Like many, I ‘grew out of’ Lego in my teens, only to come back to it as I’ve got older and had more disposable income. Continue reading →

Visualising an Uncertain Past: Procedural Modelling at Portus

Positioned between the two harbours of Portus, Rome’s Imperial port, once stood an enormous building built on massive concrete piers. The vestiges of this structure (“building five”) were visible above ground when I visited the site for the first time in 2011, my first season working on the Portus Project. Remains were dotted across the site, often masked by overgrowth, some incorporated into the standing remains of the Late Antique city wall. Continue reading →

Roman Mediterranean Shipping

Roman Ship at Anchor (c) Julian Whitewright Some of the learners on the course have requested more information about the types of ships in the Roman Mediterranean. The diverse ships and boats at Portus itself would have ranged from giant long-distance merchant ships, through vessels engaged in coastal trade, to small fishing boats capable of travelling only a few miles. In addition, there would have been many different types of vessel present, dedicated to the service of the port itself. Continue reading →

Roman ships at Portus

In response to queries from learners I thought I would provide some additional information about evidence for the Roman ships at Portus. We can expect the basins and canals at Portus to have been crowded with hundreds of commercial ships and boats; one recent estimate, for example, suggests that c. 1800 sea-going ships may have anchored in the Trajanic basin each year. Continue reading →

Research data and MOOCosystems

GPR data from Portus – Jessica Ogden I’ve spoken at a number of events recently about what I see as the potential for joining up MOOCs in order to create shared curricula. I have for example cross-referenced material in the Archaeology of Portus course to Coursera and Brown’s Archaeology’s Dirty Little Secrets course, and to the Coursera and Yale Roman Architecture course. Continue reading →

Week one – imagining the Claudian port

Rose surveying on site; an experienced archaeologist who uses art as another means to explore archaeological process and data. Photo: Hembo Pagi It has been a fantastic first week for us all involved in the course. Above all, we have been so grateful for the depth and breadth of comments, and for your enthusiasm for the course. If you are reading this and haven’t yet signed up then please do – there is still time to join in the conversations from week one and move on to week two. Continue reading →

Pelagios: a Sea of Connections

I’m Leif Isaksen, one of Graeme, Simon and Dragana’s colleagues in the University of Southampton Archaeology Department. This week the MOOC has been thinking about the Mediterranean as a sea of connections between ancient harbours and settlements, and the importance of Portus as a hub within it. This level of interconnectivity had an enormous impact on the lives and culture of the people who lived within and beyond the borders of the Empire. Continue reading →