Marine Environments in Front of the Ancient City of Pompeii (Southern Italy) at 79 CE: New Insights for the Unknown Location of the Harbour

Abstract

A multidisciplinary study, including geomorphological, stratigraphic, paleontological and archaeological methods and techniques, allowed for a detailed exploration of coastal landforms and environments in front of the ancient city of Pompeii (southern Italy). The famous site of Pompeii sits on a small volcanic hill in the alluvial-coastal plain of the Sarno River, very close to the ancient paleoshoreline. When the Roman city was buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, pyroclastic fall and flow deposits covered the urban centres and ancient coastal landforms. In this study, 83 new boreholes were carried out up to a depth of 10 m. Some of them (15) were analysed for their sedimentological, stratigraphical and paleontological characterisation, in order to reconstruct the sedimentary environments in 79 CE. The data collected allow for new hypotheses to be formulated regarding the paleoshorelines, as well as the 79 CE coastal landforms and environments. In particular, litho-stratigraphic and fossil assemblages highlight the presence of shallow marine environments in a large back-ridge depression, named Masseria Curati, that is located just outside the city walls. This hypothesis opens new insights on the unknown location of the harbour of the Roman city.

Keywords

• geoarchaeology
• geomorphology
• paleoenvironmental studies
• coastal landforms
• mediterranean ancient harbours