Portus Project Lecture

Last night Professor Simon Keay delivered a lecture outlining the recent research he has been leading as director of the Portus Project, which explores the site of Imperial Rome’s maritime port. Entitled “Roman Emperors, Ships and Commerce: inter-disciplinary research at Portus 2011-2012?, the lecture was chaired by Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton, and introduced by Professor Anne Curry, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

Prof Simon Keay with a 3D printed model of a Roman statue found at Portus, which was given to Vice-Chancellor Don Nutbeam (image: Farahnoosh Berahman)

The presentation emphasised the vast number of collaborations that are part of the Portus Project, not least the involvement of the Archaeological Computing Research Group. The projects’s co-director is Dr Graeme Earl, director of the ACRG, and members of the research group are involved in many aspects of the research from digital recording techniques, to geophysical survey and 3D visualisation.

The project includes researchers from several disciplines in the University of Southampton (including Geography and Environment, Archaeology, National Oceanography Centre, Electronics and Computer Science), as well as collaboration with the British School at Rome, the University of Cambridge, the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma, Université de Lyon, Ecole Francaise de Rome, L-P Archaeology and Parsifal Cooperativa.

The lecture coincides with the launch of the new Portus Project blog, which has further details about the computing applications at the site.