The past at risk: the contribution of British archaeology to safeguarding Italian heritage

Professor Simon Keay (University of Southampton and Research Professor at the British School at Rome) on behalf of the British School at Rome

Summary

Results of survey at Teano
(Teanum Sidicinum) in
northern Campania.

From the pioneering work of Thomas Ashby on the countryside around Rome in the early 20th century, to that of John Ward-Perkins on South Etruria after WW2, the British School has built up a tradition of study of the landscape, one that is being inexorably transformed by urban development. As the pace continues to accelerate, BSR is playing a leading role in harnessing new technologies to the protection of remains of the past, largely invisible beneath the fields. Geophysical survey, through various techniques, especially magnetometry, has the capacity to cover large areas of land, sometimes of several hundred acres, and reveal detailed information about roads and structures buried beneath the surface. By maintaining, with the University of Southampton, a standing team of specialists, it has been possible to refine the technique, and generate results that are equally useful to the heritage authorities and the developers themselves. They are also making a major contribution to our understanding of the towns and ports of Roman Italy.

The potential for large-scale study is best illustrated by the gigantic man-made port facilities at Portus, constructed by the emperors Claudius and Trajan. Survey, backed by excavation, has transformed our understanding of this neglected site. In numerous other sites, extending from central Italy (Otricoli, Teano, Tivoli) to Potenza in the north and Matera in the south, the team has located city plans, villas, temples and amphitheatres. The BSR is now exploring the potential of extending its range in the western Mediterranean more broadly, including Spain where Simon Keay has undertaken several projects.