Influence of Maritime Construction within Protected Archaeological Sites along Coastal Areas: Los Baños De La Reina (Alicante), Spain

Abstract

A multidisciplinary study was made assessing the impact of the construction of a harbour on an existing Roman fish farm, which was excavated in the first century BC and placed in Alicante, on the SE coast of Spain. The effect of the harbour on the wave frequencies and the velocity of the streams has been modelled for the different building stages, using the SMC (Sistema de Modelado Costero) software, including consideration of the local maritime climate and bathymetry. The results show that the predominant wave frequencies and the stream velocities increased considerably after harbour construction and, as a result, created new turbulence areas within the influence area of the Roman fish farm. The presence of hydrodynamic bioindicators confirms this result. The lithological structure of the rock mass from which the pools were excavated clearly favours the differential erosion and the subsequent failure of the area, which is now exposed to the impact of ocean waves. The activity of some lithophaga organisms can also increase the degradation of the rock mass. Consequently, a joint analysis of the geological, biological, and maritime information available suggests the degradation of the Roman fish farm located in this area was strongly exacerbated by the construction of the harbour.