Neapolis

We all know about Pompeii and Herculaneum, to the south and west of Vesuvius respectively, but its north slope is by contrast almost a blank in the archaeological record, something which the Apolline Project set out to rectify. The reports and linked historical essays in this volume examine the evidence for settlement on the north slope, and seek to integrate this work into wider debates in Pompeiian studies. They also provide useful perspectives on the region in Late Antiquity.
(Abstract from Oxbow Books)

The increase in urban archeology in Naples over the past decades has contributed to the reconstruction of the city's history thanks to the discovery of a lot of pottery. These - in spite of its modest appearance, especially in fragments - represents a consistent sign of the daily ancient city life. In this perspective, it is therefore decided to draw up a thematic archaeological map of Neapolis ceramics, including IV B.C. and VII A.D. It is presented here.
The ceramic graphical representation of discovery ceramic sites makes possible to view, even in the absence of the structures, the topography of production (workshop, raw materials, resources), distribution (communication routes, harbor, market), the city uses and consumption (house, habitat, sacred areas, burials), in synchronic and diachronic perspective.
The Ceramic Map, available online, is a bibliographic database updated and implemented: a working tool, not only for experts, useful to outline the cultural city stratification. The map is a starting point for a comprehensive understanding of the archaeological Neapolis sites through the material culture and it contribute to the analysis and reconstruction of the urban landscape, taking into account the geomorphological elements in view of the settlement of the production and distribution places.
The Map is proposed here as a method of reading and interpretation urban and cultural landscape even in diachronic and transversal multi-disciplinary perspective. The analysis of some significant cases shows in fact its validity also for possible alternative fruition. Interactivity and implementation with digital technology finalized to reproduce integrated virtual reality systems are also an effective extension also for the knowledge, enhancement, communication and use of cultural heritage.

The north slope of the Somma-Vesuvius complex is archaeologically still little known. Archaeological and volcanologic field research at a site in the town of Pollena Trocchia offers new data for understanding the burying process of the AD 472 eruption and following eruptive events. So far seven rooms of a Roman building have been brought to light, which probably date to the 2nd/3rd century AD. The building consists of two storeys. The floors and the collapse of peripheral walls are the only remains of the upper floor. The lower storey was already severely damaged and spoliated before the AD 472 Vesuvian eruption which buried it. The exposed burial sequence is constituted by 7 stratigraphic units interlayered with paleosoils. Four units are exclusively composed of pyroclastic deposits deposi- ted during an explosive eruption. Three units are formed by volcanoclastic debris deposited during either the final phases of the erup- tion or sometime afterwards. The stratigraphic and lithological features, and the archaeological evidence correlate some of these strati- graphic units with known Vesuvian eruptions. In particular, the thick basal sequence that buried most of the building is associated with the reworking of pyroclastic deposits on the north side of the volcano during the last phases of the AD 472 eruption. The structures placed on top of the volcanoclastic deposit testify to a later phase of life, which was quickly interrupted by a subsequent eruption (pro- bably that of AD 512). The whole area was subsequently completely abandoned and covered by volcanoclastic and volcanic debris throughout the following centuries. The stratigraphic sequence attests the impact of secondary events (lahars) as the main cause of destruction and burial of the Roman building.

This article aims to provide a snapshot of local production and trade patterns in the territories of Neapolis and Nola in late Antiquity through the study of published data from Neapolis and pottery assemblages from two sites: a bath complex in Pollena Trocchia and a villa on the outskirts of Nola. Pottery assemblages from both sites are described and compared to the evidence from Neapolis and sites in the Apennines in order to reconstruct trade patterns from the coast to the mountains. Results suggest that the distribution of imported goods is determined more by site ranking and proximity to main routes, rather than by distance. Furthermore, archaeometric analyses are provided for samples selected from burnished ware and cooking ware from Pollena Trocchia and Somma Vesuviana. Results suggest a complex distributional pattern and the existence of several kilns, both around Vesuvius and on the Apennines, which shared the same vase typology.

The Roman baths of Agnano are one of the largest archaeological sites in the territory of Neapolis, between Neapolis and Puteoli. The area was occupied from the age of Augustus; however, there was already a settlement in the Hellenistic peri-od. The discovery of the baths - or rather the first excavation – was made by dr. Joseph Schnerr in 1898; just until 2015 wasn’t made regular archaeological excavations in the area of Roman baths and Hellenistic building. The new excavation could give us some informations on the function of the Hellenistic area (probably a sanctuary devoted to Asclepio and Igea) and the relationship between the natural resources and the baths.

Since the discovery of the ancient harbor of Naples in 2004
during construction work on an underground railway, geoarchaeological
studies undertaken on the archaeological excavation have revealed the
main stratigraphic and paleo-environmental levels of the harbor site near
the Piazza Municipio. However, knowledge of the dynamics and paleoenvironmental
changes in the water column of the harbor, as well as the
processes of transport and deposition of sediments that led to siltation
and infilling of the harbor basin, has been lacking due to the absence of
high-resolution data. To fill these gaps, we have undertaken a threedimensional
study (longitudinal, transverse and vertical) of the harbor
deposits by carrying out geochemical and sedimentological analyses of
four stratigraphic sections of the archaeological excavation. The results
show that after a phase of relative calm during the first half of the 1st
c. AD, siltation of the harbor progressed exponentially up to the 5th c.
AD, when dredging operations were carried out to obtain a water level
sufficient for the development of maritime and harbor activities. We
attribute this acceleration of siltation to a combination of climatic,
anthropic and volcanic factors. Volcanic activity was responsible for a
high-energy, tsunami-type event during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
From the 5th c. AD onwards, the harbor basin of Neapolis does not appear
to have been functional as evidenced by its transformation into a lagoon
following coastal progradation. The last stage of infilling was the
development of a flood-dominated fan delta under the combined influences
of climatic cooling in the Early Medieval Cool Period and agro-pastoral
activities in the catchment area of the harbor. Several generations of
paleo-channels, containing flash flood deposits, as well as sheet wash
from sheet floods, are indicative of high environmental instability in
this period.