Non-Invasive Archaeological Methodologies for the Analysis of the Port Structures of Portus Ilicitanus (Santa Pola, Alicante)

Abstract

The traditional identification of the ancient port of Ilici with the current town of Santa Pola in Alicante (Spain) has been based on a small number of punctual, unconnected, and too partial archaeological interventions. Since 2017, a program of geophysical surveys has been performed with a Stream X model multi-channel georadar IDS. This program has been focused mainly on the so-called Mercado de Viguetes, an area in which archaeological excavations have hardly been carried out. The geophysical surveys have allowed us to draw part of the urban fabric of the central core of the Portus Ilicitanus, revealing a set of structures that can be assimilated into a port area: warehouses, houses, open spaces, and decantation basins to produce salted fish, and the probable eastern boundary of the complex identified with the port dock. Altogether, two predominant alignments can be assimilated into the Early Imperial and Late Imperial construction phases. Non-invasive archaeological methodologies have become the main resource for archaeological analysis and heritage protection in view of the current impossibility of carrying out archaeological excavations in this area of Santa Pola.