Reuse as Archaeology in Ostia: A Test Case for Late Antique Building Chronologies in Ostia
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Abstract
The study of spolia has been largely undertaken by art historians, and scholars interested in issues of ideology and appropriation. However, the reuse of all types of architectural materials, from carved marble to bricks, tufa and mortar, can play an important role in field archaeology. This study proposes a different approach to reused materials, whereby they are recorded systematically across an archaeological site in conjunction with traditional excavation, in order to help attain more accurate building chronologies. Applying this approach to the site of Ostia provides a test case for this idea, a methodology which delivers new insights into the construction and modification of the late antique city.
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Brilliant R. “I piedistalli del giardino di Boboli: spolia in se, spolia in re” Prospettiva 1982 31 2 17
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Bruun C. & Gallina A. Ostia e Portus nelle loro relazioni con Roma: atti del convegno all’Institutum Romanum Finlandiae, 3 e 4 dicembre 1999 2002 Rome
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Calza G., Becatti G., Gismondi I., De Angelis D’Ossat G. & Bloch H. Topografia Generale 1954 Rome Scavi di Ostia 1
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Clayton Fant J. “Bars with marble surfaces at Pompeii: evidence for sub-elite marble use” Fasti Online 2009 159 1 10 (http://www.fastionline.org/docs/FOLDER-it-2009-159.pdf).
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Coates-Stephens R. Alto Bauer F. & Witschel C. “The reuse of ancient statuary in late antique Rome and the end of the statue habit” Statuen in der Spätantike 2007 Wiesbaden 171 88
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Coates-Stephens R. Lavan L. & Bowden W. “Attitudes to spolia in some late antique texts” Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology 2003 Leiden 341 357 Late Antique Archaeology 1
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Coates-Stephens R. “Epigraphy as spolia—the reuse of inscriptions in Early Medieval buildings” BSR 2002 70 275 296
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Coates-Stephens R. “Muri dei bassi secoli in Rome: observations on the re-use of statuary in walls found on the Esquiline and Caelian after 1870” JRA 2001 14 217 238
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Deichmann F. W. Die Spolien in der spätantiken Architektur 1975 Munich
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DeLaine J. Brunn C. & Gallina A. “Building activity in Ostia in the second century AD” Ostia e Portus nelle loro relazioni con Roma 2002 Rome 41 101
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Esch A. “Spolien: Zum Wiederverwendung antike Baustücke und Skulpturen in mittelalterlichen Italien” Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 1969 51 1 64
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Gering A. “Das Stadtzentrum von Ostia in der Spätantike. Vorbericht zu den Ausgrabungen 2008–2011: mit Beiträgen von Lena Kaumanns und Luke Lavan” RömMitt 2011 117 409 509
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Gering A. “Plätze und Straßensperren an Promenaden. Zum Funktionswandel Ostias in der Spätantike” RömMitt 2004 111 299 381
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Heres T. Paries, a Proposal for a Dating System of Late-Antique Masonry Structures in Rome and Ostia 1982 Amsterdam
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Kinney D. Rudolph C. “The concept of spolia” A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe 2006 Malden, Massachusetts 233 252
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Kinney D. “ ‘Spolia. Damnatio’ and ‘renovatio memoriae’ ” MAAR 1997 42 117 148
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Kinney D. Scott S. C. “Rape or restitution of the past? Interpreting spolia” The Art of Interpreting 1995 University Park, Pennsylvania 52 67
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Laird M. L. “Reconsidering the so-called ‘Sede degli Augustali’ at Ostia” MAAR 2000 45 41 84
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Laubry N. & Poccardi G. “Une dédicace inédite à l’empereur Probus” ArchCL 2009 60 275 305
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Meiggs R. Roman Ostia 1973 2nd edn. Oxford
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Nuzzo D. Paroli L. “Le iscrizioni” La basilica cristiana di Pianabella 1999 Rome 33 202 Scavi di Ostia 12
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Pavolini C. Ostia 2006 Rome
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Pensabene P. Ensoli S. & la Rocca E. “Reimpiego e depositi di marmi a Roma e a Ostia” Aurea Roma. Dalla città pagana alla città cristiana 2000 Rome 341 350
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Pensabene P. Ostiensium marmorum decus et decor: studi architettonici, decorativi e archeometrici 2007 Rome
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Potter T. Towns in Late Antiquity: Iol Caesarea and its Context 1995 Oxford
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Stocker D. Parsons D. “Rubbish recycled: a study in the reuse of stone in Lincolnshire” Stone: Quarrying and Building in England AD 43–1525 1990 Chichester
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Thomas E. & Witschel C. “Constructing reconstruction: claim and reality of Roman rebuilding inscriptions from the Latin West” BSR 1992 60 135 177
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Underwood D. Lavan L. “Archaeology and spolia: report on the reused materials in the Kent-Berlin Ostia excavation” Public Space in Late Antique Ostia. Archaeological Cleaning and Survey by the University of Kent 2008–2012 (forthcoming).
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Ward-Perkins B. From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Urban Public Building in Northern and Central Italy, AD 300–850 1984 Oxford
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Wohl B. L. “Constantine’s use of spolia” Acta Hyperborea 2001 8 85 115
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1
See Kinney (2006).
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2
Especially Esch (1969) and Brilliant (1982).
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3
E.g. Wohl (2001).
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4
Coates-Stephens (2001) and (2002) are good examples for the incorporation of spolia into an archaeological study.
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6
Meiggs (1973); Calza et al. (1954).
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7
DeLaine (2002).
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8
Heres (1982).
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9
Pensabene (2007).
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12
Heres (1982) 558; Laird (2000) 70. There seems to be other evidence for reuse in this building, notably several sarcophagi covers reused as steps up to the apsidal room: Laird (2000) 51. However, no date has been put forward for this work.
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14
Heres (1982) 421.
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15
Heres (1982) 510.
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16
Heres (1982) 375–77; Pavolini (2006) 111.
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17
Heres (1982) 548.
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20
Latrines: Heres (1982) 510. A reused marble element in the tufa course at the Mitreo raises the question whether the rest of the tufa in this wall was recycled as well. Unfortunately, like bricks, there is little evidence to determine new or reused blocks. Unusual cuts and irregular shapes are one indication that a piece may have been recovered from an earlier structure, but they do not demonstrate it conclusively.
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22
Heres (1982) 471.
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24
Pavolini (2006) 57.
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25
Heres (1982) 86, 146; Pavolini (2006) 68–70.
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26
Heres (1982) 539–41.
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28
See Gering (2004).
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29
Coates-Stephens (2002) 295 notes the high frequency with which inscriptions were reused in the pavements of buildings in Rome, throughout Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.
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34
Clayton Fant (2009) 5.
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35
Deichmann (1975) 5.
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36
Meiggs (1973) 97.
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37
Pensabene (2007) 435–37.
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38
Ward-Perkins (1984) 212; Kinney (1995) 54.
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39
Kinney (1997) 124.
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40
Kinney (1997) 124.
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Reuse as Archaeology in Ostia: A Test Case for Late Antique Building Chronologies in Ostia
In: Late Antique ArchaeologySearch for other papers by Douglas Underwood in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The study of spolia has been largely undertaken by art historians, and scholars interested in issues of ideology and appropriation. However, the reuse of all types of architectural materials, from carved marble to bricks, tufa and mortar, can play an important role in field archaeology. This study proposes a different approach to reused materials, whereby they are recorded systematically across an archaeological site in conjunction with traditional excavation, in order to help attain more accurate building chronologies. Applying this approach to the site of Ostia provides a test case for this idea, a methodology which delivers new insights into the construction and modification of the late antique city.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 268 | 34 | 4 |
| Full Text Views | 92 | 1 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 62 | 4 | 0 |
