Geomorphological features of the archaeological marine area of Sinuessa in Campania, southern Italy Micla Pennetta a, * , Corrado Stanislao a , Veronica D'Ambrosio a , Fabio Marchese b , Carmine Minopoli c , Alfredo Trocciola c , Renata Valente d , Carlo Donadio a a Department of Earth Sciences, Environment and Resources, University of Naples Federico II, Largo San Marcellino 10, 80138 Napoli, Italy b Department of Environment, Territory and Earth Sciences, University of Milano Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo 1, 20126 Milano, Italy c Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development e ENEA, Portici Research Centre, Piazzale Enrico Fermi 1, Granatello, 80055 Portici, NA, Italy d Department of Civil Engineering, Design, Building, Environment, Second University of Naples, Via Roma 8, 81031 Aversa, CE, Italy article info Article history: Available online xxx Keywords: Coastal geomorphology Geoarchaeology Sedimentology Sea level change Italy abstract Submarine surveys carried out since the '90s along the coastland of Sinuessa allowed us to draw up a geomorphological map with archaeological findings. Along the sea bottom, 650 m off and 7 m depth, a Campanian Ignimbrite bedrock was detected: dated ~39 kyr BP, its position is incompatible with the current sea level. Towards the northern edge of the shoal, a depressed area with 24 cubic elements in concrete was surveyed. These artefacts (pilae) are typical of Roman maritime structures widespread along the southernmost Phlegrean coast. Beachrocks and accessory landforms at the same depth of bedrock suggest that this was emerging and attended by man in Roman times, even for activities related to port facilities. Submerged palaeo-channels, in alignment of current watercourses on the mainland, dissect the shoal. These channels were moulded in subaerial environment during Würm glaciation, following the tuff deposition, and then were drowned by sea-level rise. The northernmost channel, next to the pilae, likely allowed transit and manoeuvring of Roman ships. The discovery along the seabed of a large stump of lead anchor, hundreds of Roman amphorae and fragments, as well as of a depression of millstone, confirm this finding. Probably the sinuous physiography favored the choice of this site for the docking of Sinuessa, as sheltered from storms. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Ground vertical motions along the coast could activate strong erosional processes and the loss of invaluable archaeological heri- tage. Their analysis represents an useful element to define coastal zone hazards and management (De Pippo et al., 2008, 2009). In submerged archaeological sites these phenomena can be investi- gated by reconstructing the ancient coastlines, based on the iden- tification of geomorphic elements moulded during the interglacial sea-level stands (Pirazzoli, 1987, 1991, 1993). Such features, when displaced at different heights with regard to their original genetic contexts, have also furnished important indications about tectonic activity (Flemming, 1969; Flemming and Webb, 1986; Ferranti et al., 2005). In particular, the colony of Sinuessa is the only and most sig- nificant underwater archaeological site along the northern coast of Campania, near the border with Latium, about 40 km north of the other submerged sites of Torregaveta and Pozzuoli Bay. The pres- ence of roads and maritime structures of Roman age, still visible along the coastland of Sessa Aurunca, including in the Caserta district, stimulated geomorphological researches also in the sub- merged area since the nineties (Cocco et al., 1996a, 1996b). New investigations have been triggered by the presence of an ancient Roman road, paved in limestone, perpendicular to the shoreline (i.e. EeW oriented), which ends abruptly, disappearing under the sand of the coastal dune ridge (close to the Baia Azzurra residential complex). In the facing submerged area was detected a stretch of road along the same direction as well as archaeological remains attributable to artefacts and port facilities, possibly related to coastal appliances and activities of the colony seaward. The roadway on the mainland is a branch to the coast of the ancient Via Appia, built starting in 312 BC by the consul Appio Claudio, who * Corresponding author. E-mail address: pennetta@unina.it (M. Pennetta). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.04.019 1040-6182/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Quaternary International xxx (2016) 1e16 Please cite this article in press as: Pennetta, M., et al., Geomorphological features of the archaeological marine area of Sinuessa in Campania, southern Italy, Quaternary International (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.04.019