Ostia: MRA-ITA-Ost001
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Ost001
Sample Material Type
- Stucco
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 5
- Width
- 2.5
- Height
- 1.1
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 10.8
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Ostia
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Ostia
Ostia Antica
Historical note about the site/monument
- Archaeological evidence suggests that settlements at Ostia existed from at least the 4th century BCE. It was as a Roman colony, however, that the site underwent significant expansion, serving as a naval base and later a commercial center due to its strategic coastal position. Continual problems with harbor management and silting were addressed in the 1st century CE by the construction of a hexagonal basin adjoined to the existing harbor. The city reached its peak in the 2nd century CE, concomitant with the building of several public baths and apartment blocks (some of which were adorned with mosaics and mural paintings). With the decline of the Roman empire in the 3rd and 4th centuries, Ostia’s importance in commerce swiftly fell. It was plundered for building materials in the medieval and renaissance periods, and only in the 19th century received the serious attention of archaeologists. It is now an important site for paleoenvironmental studies and investigation into human impact on coastal ecology, as well as general archaeological research into urban life and art in the Roman period.
Further reading:
Vittori, C., Mazzini, I., Salomon, F., Goiran, J. P., Pannuzi, S., Rosa, C., & Pellegrino, A. (2015). Palaeoenvironmental evolution of the ancient lagoon of Ostia Antica (Tiber delta, Italy). Journal of Archaeological Science, 54, 374-384.
Scatigno, C., Prieto-Taboada, N., Martinez, M. P., Conte, A. M., García-Diego, F. J., & Madariaga, J. M. (2016). Analytical techniques for the characterisation of historical building materials: Case study “Casa di Diana” Mithraeum (Archeological site in Ostia Antica, Italy). Advances in Materials Science Research; Nova Science Publishers, Inc.: New York, NY, USA, 31.
Bakker, J.T. (1991). Living and Working With the Gods: Studies of Evidence for Private Religion and Its Material Environment in the City of Ostia (100-500 AD). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN-10: 9050630561.
Chronological period (sample)
- Roman period
Other info about sample provenance
- Ostia Antica, Stucco dorato (hand-written note)
Date of sampling
- Unknown
- Yes
Other related archival documents
- Hand written list with samples description and provenance. Fragments of mural paintings -removed from the restauro by Ann Stoves. April 1967 [ photo 20180803_113409]. EB86: folder 07_Italy1967
Other information about the sample
- The samples were removed during restoration for analysis at the Courtauld Institute of Art.