ICCROM Mora Samples Collection
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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 Science54, 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.

Inventory