Fiumicino airport update

Dear all, Some of you might have seen it in the news- Terminal 3 of Fiumicino burned down about two weeks ago. It's hard to assess the damage, but it seems safe to assume that those of you scheduled to land in Terminal 3 will be taken to a different terminal. As in reality it is all one building (three parts of which are somewhat aspirationally called different terminals), this shouldn't cause you difficulties. Continue reading →

2015 Risk Assessment Document

Dear all, The 2015 Health and Safety Risk Assessment document has been finalized and can be found here (UoS-offsite risk_assessment_Portus190515-1). Please read through it. You will be given a full H&S briefing once on site, as well as a copy of this document to read and sign. Furthermore, I will go over main main points in the meeting tomorrow and in individual skype calls for those who can not attend. Any questions on this should be directed to Kris Strutt. Continue reading →

Filming you at Portus

Hi all, I hope you are enjoying the Archaeology of Portus course? There are 1000s of others studying alongside you but you are the only ones who will actually be studying physically on site in a few weeks' time! During the first week of the Portus Field School we will be filming additional content to link the on-line learners with your experience and we are looking for volunteers. Your role would be to appear on camera or assist with the filming or both. Continue reading →

Summer 2014 excavation areas

Hi all, The preparation of excavation area that we will be working in this summer has started, and it's looking really good. A new large trench is being opened in the Navalia, and the facade of the Palazzo Imperiale is being cleared. We will have several excavation areas around the Palazzo: one approaching the facade from the seafront of the Cludian basin, one if the corridor and one continuing from it towards the garden, as well as one in Building 3. Continue reading →

City walls of Ostia on Isola Sacra

Hi, In case some of you missed the post on the project websites: Some of the work we did on Isola Sacra is in today's news, from Times of India to El Pais! It relates to the discovery that the city walls of Ostia incorporated a part of Isola Sacra, and did not end at the Tiber as previously believed. So the city was about 40% bigger than previously thought. Click on the images below for see more. See also the latest post on the Project website for more info. Continue reading →

Welcome to the blog

Hi all, welcome to the portus field school blog. I have placed a video about using this website online. We encourage you to ask (and answer) any questions about the Portus Field School here. You can create your own threads on any aspect of the Field School. In addition to questions we would also welcome more general thoughts on your time involved in the Portus Field School. Continue reading →

Ciampino – Rome- Fiumicino pick up

Hi all, I know some of you are thinking about staying in Rome for a couple of days before the beginning of the excavation, or flying into Ciampino airport and then transferring to Fiumicino to be picked up from there. I got asked for directions, so here is some info. If you are flying into Ciampino- there is no direct bus between the two airports. The only way to go directly is to take a taxi, and if there are a number of you sharing then it makes sense to do so. Continue reading →

PATINA Project – high tech on site during the Portus Field School

During the Field School I and my colleague Angeliki Chrysanthi will be conducting related fieldwork for our PATINA research project. This project is exploring the ways in which digital technologies can bridge the divide between real and virtual research environments. One of the things we are exploring is the flow of information around archaeological sites. In previous years we have done this at Portus and at the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in Turkey. Continue reading →

Excavation preparations

Hi all, We visited the site today and it looks great! Various areas are being cleared in preparation for the summer season, including a section of Palazzo Imperiale that you can see in this photo. Hope it whets your appetite, it certainly made me wish we could start right away! We are thinking of putting three teams in this section with another team working on the famous navalia (ship sheds; the first Roman ones ever discovered). Continue reading →

Portus Field School community

Hi all, if you start to use any social media groups and tools like Facebook to share information about Portus and the Portus Field School add a comment here. This will make it easier to find you. As a starter I will make a twitter list for Portus Field School members on twitter. I have also set up a Portus Project scoop.it account. You can suggest links to this. Continue reading →