PER UNA RICOSTRUZIONE DEL PORTO DI THARROS: PROSPEZIONI, SCAVI ARCHEOLOGICI COSTIERI E INDAGINI GEOARCHEOLOGICHE

Abstract

The identification of the harbour of Tharros in correspondence with the current Mistras lagoon is the result of
an interdisciplinary research which has included over the years surveys in the lagoon and in perilagunar area,
an underwater excavation and two excavation tests in perilagunar area; at the same time, geoarchaeological
investigations were performed (11 borehole cores and GPR survey) for the reconstruction of the ancient shoreline
and the paleoenvironment. The research has allowed us to hypothesize that the anchorage, which was transformed
with the construction of harbour facilities in the late Punic age, was situated in a deep well sheltered inlet,
located north of the city; due to the natural coastal dynamics, strongly accelerated by the presence of the built
structures, this would have progressively closed and partly silted already in Roman times and was for this reason
abandoned.

Key words: Tharros, harbour, geoarchaeology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology.