Non-Invasive Archaeological Methodologies for the Analysis of the Port Structures of Portus Ilicitanus (Santa Pola, Alicante)

Juan Francisco Álvarez Tortosa, Francisco Javier Catalán González, Daniel Mateo Corredor, Manuel Ruiz Barroso and Jaime Molina Vidal ()
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Juan Francisco Álvarez Tortosa: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico (INAPH), Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Francisco Javier Catalán González: Área de Historia Antigua, Universidad de Cádiz, 11003 Cádiz, Spain
Daniel Mateo Corredor: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico (INAPH), Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Manuel Ruiz Barroso: Área de Historia Antigua, Universidad de Cádiz, 11003 Cádiz, Spain
Jaime Molina Vidal: Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico (INAPH), Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: The traditional identification of the ancient port of Ilici with the current town of Santa Pola in Alicante (Spain) has been based on a small number of punctual, unconnected, and too partial archaeological interventions. Since 2017, a program of geophysical surveys has been performed with a Stream X model multi-channel georadar IDS. This program has been focused mainly on the so-called Mercado de Viguetes, an area in which archaeological excavations have hardly been carried out. The geophysical surveys have allowed us to draw part of the urban fabric of the central core of the Portus Ilicitanus , revealing a set of structures that can be assimilated into a port area: warehouses, houses, open spaces, and decantation basins to produce salted fish, and the probable eastern boundary of the complex identified with the port dock. Altogether, two predominant alignments can be assimilated into the Early Imperial and Late Imperial construction phases. Non-invasive archaeological methodologies have become the main resource for archaeological analysis and heritage protection in view of the current impossibility of carrying out archaeological excavations in this area of Santa Pola.

Keywords: georadar; Portus Ilicitanus; cetaria; port; Hispania; Roman Empire; Roman archaeology; remote sensing; Santa Pola (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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