Cosa – Tagliata Etruscan–Roman Harbour & Spacco della Regina
Cosa Ansedonia · Portus Cosanus · Tagliata Etrusca
Etruscan to Medieval (273 BCE colony – 1320 CE sack)·Etruscan / Roman Republican / Imperial·🇮🇹 Tuscany, Monte Argentario, Orbetello lagoon, Ansedonia, Italy
About
About Cosa – Tagliata Etruscan–Roman Harbour & Spacco della Regina
Etruscan (273 BCE Roman colony) hill town 13 ha with cyclopean walls on Ansedonia promontory; artificial harbour Portus Cosanus linking Orbetello lagoon to sea via Tagliata Etrusca – 70 m Etruscan rock-cut channel 8 m deep + Roman Spacco della Regina canal 80 m, with moles, fishponds (piscinae), villa maritime. Lagoon quays now 0 to –1 m submerged/tidal due to +0.8 m Roman sea rise and lagoon sedimentation. McCann excavated 1960s; Fioravanti 1990s. First Roman colony harbour engineering textbook for opus quadratum.
Why it mattersEarliest Roman colony harbour with dual Etruscan/Roman rock channels showing +0.8 m sea-level marker for Tyrrhenian; piscinae innovation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Tagliata Etruscan vs Roman recut chronology
- 02Harbour basin single or double lagoon?
Theories
- 01Tagliata first Etruscan drainage then Roman canal recut to adapt to lagoon level falling relative to sea
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Romans, Etruscan engineers, Servilius colony
- Period
- Etruscan to Medieval (273 BCE colony – 1320 CE sack)
- Culture
- Etruscan / Roman Republican / Imperial
- Builders
- Etruscan
- Purpose
- Colonial grain/oil port, maritime villa piscinae, lagoon fishery
- Abandoned
- Sacked 1328? Actually 322? Harbour silted 4th c.; marshy
- Rediscovered
- Bronson rep., 1948 Brown Cosa expedition; McCann harbour 1987
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
273 BCE
Roman colony Cosa founded
273–50 BCE
Tagliata cut and Portus Cosanus moles built
1971
McCann maps submerged lagoon quays 0–1 m
1990s
Fioravanti Tagliata survey
On the ground
Structures & features
42.4120° N · 11.2860° E · 0 m · 3 mapped features
Tagliata Etrusca rock channel
canal70 m Etruscan cut 8 m deep tidal at 0 m
42.4122° N · 11.2862° ESpacco della Regina Roman canal
canal80 m Roman channel to lagoon
42.4115° N · 11.2855° EPortus Cosanus lagoon moles
harbourRoman moles 300 m at 0–1 m
42.4100° N · 11.2870° E