Chapter 9. Comparing the hydraulic systems of coastal sites in south-eastern Hispania and Caesarian Mauretania: state of knowledge

Chapitre 9. Mise en regard des équipements hydrauliques des sites littoraux du sud-est de l’Hispanie et de la Maurétanie césarienne : état des connaissances

Laetitia Borau (1)

1 Ausonius-Institut de recherche sur l'Antiquité et le Moyen âge

A comparison of the hydraulic equipment of urban sites in south-eastern Roman Hispania (Betica and Tarracona) and Caesarian Mauritania has never been carried out before. The aim is to examine the types of water supply, storage and distribution structures of thirteen coastal sites located on the two shores of the Mediterranean, trying to identify their particularities and their common points in order to draw up an initial assessment. This perspective is interesting because this study area has the advantage of involving cities with relatively similar climatic contexts (high heat, irregular rainfall) and similar topography, as they are located in coastal areas in the west of the Mediterranean basin. We can see, for example, that the majority of the cities in the corpus are supplied by at least one aqueduct. Moreover, in both territories considered, there is a significant number of large water storage structures (reservoirs and rainwater tanks) and the majority of the sites had thermal baths. Logically enough, the provincial capital of Caesarian Mauretania has a large number of hydraulic structures. This research deserves to be widened in the future, and this first assessment demonstrates the potential of such a study.

Mots clés: Hispanie; Afrique; aqueducs; citernes; fontaines; Aqueduct; cisterns; fountains; Africa; Hispania

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Archéologie et Préhistoire

Laetitia Borau. Chapitre 9. Mise en regard des équipements hydrauliques des sites littoraux du sud-est de l’Hispanie et de la Maurétanie césarienne : état des connaissances. Touatia Amraoui; Alejandro Quevedo. D’une rive à l’autre: circulations et échanges entre la Maurétanie césarienne et le sud-est de l’Hispanie (Antiquité-Moyen-âge), 4, Archaeopress Publishing, pp.169-186, 2022, Archaeology of the Maghreb, 978-1-80327-414-0. ⟨hal-03485369⟩