Onoba Aestuaria Vol. I-II

Abstract

An essential aspect in the study of Huelva's Roman past is the incorporation of a documentary corpus including all the archaeological interventions recorded as Roman. This is a major part of this work, which includes both objective aspects of the intervention (methodology, descriptions, planimetry, photography, etc.) and possible functionalities of the constructional structures. A corpus which turns out to be the fundamental basis of this work, a compendium that provides us with the requirements to lay out urban, political, social and economic questions about the functioning and morphology of this Hispano-Roman city in the South-West of Spain. The data collected have provided us with the necessary elements to sketch our own conclusions about the Roman city of Onoba, one of the largest cities among those located in what is today the Spanish province of Huelva. It was the exporting port of the mining production of inland Baetica, the harbour which received the products coming from the Mare Nostrum and, at the same time, one of the first doors to the Atlantic route. It is, therefore, its connection to maritime commerce, its port activity, the most important feature of this site since ancient times. Besides, we will deal with the techniques used in the harvesting of marine resources and farming in this historical period as well as with some controversial aspects in this field of research, such as the legal condition of the city in Roman times, an issue which is still under debate due, basically, to the scarcity of epigraphic remains in the city. Onoba is essentially a seaport. Its strategic location and maritime vocation are its most remarkable features and have somehow marked the historical evolution of the city. Thus, in order to understand its Roman period as well as the control and establishment of the new hegemonic power in Hispania Ulterior, we will have to go back in time and get to know the long maritime tradition of the city and the presence of Mediterranean peoples with deeply-rooted sailing traditions (the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, etc.). The development of the portus onobensis was heavily connected to the mining developments in the western area of Baetica. Thus, the increasing metallurgic production from Augustan times to the 2nd century AD, would become a reality also in the port. At first, the mines became the property of the emperor and the port acquired the status of colony with the aim of controlling the mining exports and protecting the economic interests of the state in the area. During the first two centuries the mining development reached its heyday and, consequently, the port reached the highest level of trading activity with large amounts of exports and imports, and the city reached its maximum size, an important urban development and demographic growth. It will be at the end of the 2nd century AD, moment in which the metallurgic production decreased considerably, that the decline of the city and, as a consequence, that of the port of Onoba starts to be noticeable. Thus, it can be proved, on the basis of the archaeological records in Huelva, that Onoba follows the pattern of many other Hispanic cities, in which urban life came into crisis to the benefit of the rural areas. The evolution and the way of life in the Roman city of Onoba Aestuaria are inextricably connected to the port activity, being the economic factor the one that has determined its historical development. Onoba is a seaport, Onoba is a city, Onoba is the most western hegemonic bastion of Baetica. Because of its location and economy, Rome chose to endow it with certain freedom but also exerted the necessary control in favour of the interests of the state.