Geoarcheologisch en geofysisch onderzoek in en rond de Romeinse stad Mariana en de benedenvallei van de Golo (Corsica)

The aim of the geoarchaeological study presented here was to use different research methods (the study of historical maps, aerial photography, geomorphologic survey, field walking, geophysical survey and test excavations) to investigate the relationship between the Roman town of Mariana (Northeast Corsica) and the river Golo. Whereas it was difficult to find clear indications for the location of the remains of Mariana in historical maps and written sources, the analysis of aerial photographs offered interesting clues to the town’s defences. Magnetic survey (using a fluxgate gradiometer) provided detail concerning the orientation of the settlement structures, which is in agreement with the excavated southern part of the town (near the medieval Canonica church). It also detected a possible industrial zone with iron slag and a presumed kiln complex. Dating evidence from a test trench over an opus testaceum wall suggests occupation from the early to late Roman Empire. The area investigated provided little evidence for medieval occupation (unlike the Canonica area). At this stage little information is available on the street system. Only one east-west road alignment is visible in the magnetic plot. The location of the forum in the northern part of the survey zone, where a remarkable absence of archaeological traces was observed, also remains uncertain. The town’s history is closely linked to the river Golo. Mariana was built on a river terrace, and some of the 1st century structures were even erected in the old river bed. It suffered from inundations in Roman antiquity and more frequently from the 6th century onwards, because colluvium carried by the river gradually raised its bed. In the 12th century, the Golo reached the southern quarters of the town and caused destruction. Today the old bed has been completely filled in by the river deposits, and the river has moved a few hundred meters to the south