Ancient 2nd Century Roman Shipyard Unearthed by UK Archaeologists

Friday, September 23, 2011

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A team of archaeologists led by the Britain-based University of Southampton has announced what they believe to have been the first major shipyard in Ancient Rome to ever be discovered at Portus, Rome’s main trading hub between the 1st and 6th centuries.

The structure, which BBC reports to be dated around year 117 AD, was a building five stories high and located about 20 miles from modern day Rome. The site measuring out at 150 meters by 60 meters (bigger than a football field) was excavated in close proximity to a hexagonal basin that links to the Tiber River, which archaeologists infer was used as the harbor of the port complex in ancient Rome.

PHOTO CAPTION: CG depiction of what the building may have looked like.

The shipyard would have been used for building and repairing ships, or perhaps even a base for galleys that transported emperors, if it had imperial connection as postulated by the archaeologists. The team also believes it is the largest Roman shipyard found in Italy, with the whole port complex covering 2 square miles. History reported that there have been inscriptions of shipbuilding activities found at the Portus site before in mosaics, but had failed to turn up any evidence of a shipyard until now.

At first, Professor Keay of the excavation team told BBC that they believed the building may have been a warehouse, but as the digging moved forward, the scale, position and unique nature of the structure clued to the team in that it most likely played an integral role in shipbuilding. The size could definitely support the theory, as it would be amply large to shelter ships from that time period, as well as featuring piers and bays. Archaeologists also dug up tacks that would have been used to nail lead into ship hulls. The area of excavation was also well known to be a crucial gateway of trade in the ancient Roman Empire, as it connected the city to the Mediterranean.

Keay added, however, that so far there is no evidence yet of ramps that would be a key tool to launching newly constructed vessels into the waters at the hexagonal basin or proposed “harbor”.

The team stated that they hope to uncover more evidence to support their hypothesis as they continue to unearth the ancient site.

The Roman dig is a joint effort between the University of Southampton, the British School at Rome, Cambridge University, and the Archaeological Superintendency of Rome. --MarEx