Archaeological and anthropological sciences, Jul 11, 2024
Forty-six glass finds, including vessel fragments, windows, one inlay and one indicator of produc... more Forty-six glass finds, including vessel fragments, windows, one inlay and one indicator of production (moil) excavated in the dump of the Sarno Baths in Pompeii were selected for an interdisciplinary technological, typological and chemical study. The identification of the moil demonstrates that a glassblowing workshop most likely existed in Pompeii, thus putting an end to a long-standing scientific debate. The LA-ICP-MS chemical data show that Roman-Mn base glass predominates, along with few Egyptian natron-type glasses and some plant-ash glass of probable Egyptian origin as well. A large proportion of the analysed glass, including the moil, consists of recycled compositions, suggesting the existence of an efficient system of collection and recycling of glass, which was active even at a time when the city had an abundant supply of fresh glass. The demand for raw glass in Pompeii far exceeded the average demand of other Roman towns, because glass containers were essential for the flourishing perfume industry in Pompeii and Campania. The proximity of the Sarno dump to the perfume district in the southwestern part of the city and to the horrea of the Sanctuary of Venus suggests the possible location of the glass workshop in this area.
The paper reports the results of the analyses on mortar-based materials from the Roman theatre of... more The paper reports the results of the analyses on mortar-based materials from the Roman theatre of Aquileia (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Northern Italy), recently dated between the mid-1st Century BCE and the mid-1st Century CE. Samples were characterized by Polarized Light Microscopy on thin sections (PLM), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and Quantitative Phase Analysis by X-Ray Powder Diffraction (QPA-XRPD). Pyroclastic aggregates (mainly pumices and scattered tuffs), incompatible with the regional geology, were found in two samples from the preparation layers of the ground floor of the building. Their provenance was determined by means of QPA-XRPD, SEM–EDS, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Mineralogical and geochemical analyses demonstrated their provenance from the Bay of Naples, thus recognizing them as pulvis puteolana, a type of pozzolanic aggregate outcropping around the...
The paper tackles the topic of residuality, sketching a theoretical framework and then focusing o... more The paper tackles the topic of residuality, sketching a theoretical framework and then focusing on two peculiar case studies. Firstly, a concise literature review is provided and the very definition of residuals is discussed. Two case studies con-cerning the ancient city of Nora are then presented: the first case deals with the construction of the Roman forum, highlighting the value of residuals in investigating formation processes; in the second one information gained from residual materials are exploited to draw a picture of the archaic city, whose strata and strucutres are poorly preserved.
The ad 79 eruption of the Vesuvius severely affected the floodplain surrounding the ancient city ... more The ad 79 eruption of the Vesuvius severely affected the floodplain surrounding the ancient city of Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River floodplain. The landscape was covered with volcaniclastic materials that destroyed the ecosystem but, at the same time, preserved the traces of former environmental conditions. This study provides—for the first time—a pollen sequence reconstructing the environmental evolution and the plant landscape of the Sarno floodplain between 900 and 750 cal bc and ad 79, i.e. before and during the foundation of the city, and during its life phases. Previous geomorphological studies revealed that the portion of the Sarno floodplain under the “Pompeii hill” was a freshwater backswamp with patchy inundated and dry areas. Palynology depicts a thin forest cover since the Early Iron Age, suggesting an open environment with a mosaic of vegetation types. The local presence of Mediterranean coastal shrubland, hygrophilous riverine forest and mesophilous plain forest is combi...
Il contributo affronta il tema della crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque nell\u2019antic... more Il contributo affronta il tema della crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque nell\u2019antico centro urbano di Aquileia. La disamina si sviluppa a partire dai dati offerti dallo scavo condotto presso i Fondi Cossar; le indagini, condotte tra 2009 e 2015 dal Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali dell\u2019Universit\ue0 di Padova, hanno permesso di mettere in luce un\u2019ampia porzione di un antico isolato urbano. La sequenza emersa \ue8 ora in fase di studio e si avvia alla pubblicazione finale. Attraverso una proposta di lettura formativa dei depositi scavati all\u2019interno dei condotti di scarico e l\u2019analisi dettagliata del materiale rinvenuto si \ue8 cercato di collocare la crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque di questo quartiere dell\u2019antica Aquileia innanzi tutto in un corretto quadro cronologico. Questo ha permesso a sua volta di inserire il fenomeno nel tessuto dei cambiamenti economici e socio-politici che interessarono la citt\ue0 tra medio e basso impero....
During the last few years, interest in reuse practices in the Roman world has received increasing... more During the last few years, interest in reuse practices in the Roman world has received increasing attention. On the other hand, the debate concerning the sustainability of contemporary economies has led to the refinement of theoretical tools such as that of circular economy. The paper examines, in the light of a circular economic framework, those aspects characterizing the Roman urban economy as circular. A series of activities and agents, sometimes leaving little archaeological footprint, reduced waste and optimized the use of fresh resources on a daily basis. These activities (maintenance, repair, secondary use, lateral cycling, recycling etc.) involved a wide range of materials and, far from occasional, they were well integrated into the so-called linear economic model (production, distribution, consumption, and discard). Although the available data are still fragmentary, this systematic review demonstrates that circular economy must be steadily included in the current narratives of Roman urban sites. Economic reasons seem to play a major role in moving the Roman urban circular mechanism; nonetheless, it also emerges a forma mentis putting the object at centre, and not its economic, monetary value. Quantifying the overall impact of circular practices in the Roman urban economy still represents a major challenge, but the data so far collected point to a significant influence.
Les modèles italiens dans l'architecture des IIe et Ier siècles avant notre ère en Gaule et dans les régions voisines: Actes du colloque de Toulouse, 2-4 octobre 2013, 2019, ISBN 978-2-909668-98-7, págs. 93-108, 2019
The paper provides a preliminary report on the 2015-2017 excavations carried out by the Departmen... more The paper provides a preliminary report on the 2015-2017 excavations carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage, Universita di Padova, in the area named Fondi ex Comelli-Moro, in Aquileia. The investigations led to the discovery of the theatre of the ancient city, whose approximate location had been previously conjectured by Luisa Bertacchi. Following archive research and geophysical prospections, the excavations focused on the area occupied by the cavea foundations, revealing their overall dimensions (width of about 95 m) and architectural layout: the summa and media cavea were supported by series of radial walls, while the ima cavea was made of one single, bulky concrete casting. The excavation also provided insights on the area surrounding the theatre and on the activities which were carried out within the building once it ceased to be used for performances, particularly metalworking.
Focusing on classical urban centres, the thesis discusses the topic of dating archaeological depo... more Focusing on classical urban centres, the thesis discusses the topic of dating archaeological deposits through the study of the embedded assemblages. Although this represents a fundamental activity, routinely carried out after the fieldwork, it is still clearly poorly strucutred both from a theoretical perspective and from a methodological one. Hence, the work proposes a review of the main concepts involved in the issue of dating deposits and proposes analytical and comparative tools to be employed. It follows a taxonomy of archaeological deposits, based on their very informative potential for dating purposes and equipped with case studies. Eventually, the thesis proposes a structured working method, which goes from fieldwork to publishing.
Scholars of Roman archaeology, epigraphy, and history are increasingly discussing urban maintenan... more Scholars of Roman archaeology, epigraphy, and history are increasingly discussing urban maintenance and waste disposal, but the impact of these phenomena on the archaeological record remains largely understudied. The presence of waste disposal systems in Roman towns entails that a large part of what was discarded was periodically removed from the urban area. This in turn implies that whole historical periods may be underrepresented by the finds recovered within the city. This aspect can be apprehended through the post-excavation analysis of the House of Titus Macer in Aquileia, whose mid-imperial phase, during which the domus was inhabited and regularly maintained, is poorly represented. What has been observed suggests that great caution must be exercised when using data collected within urban sites to draw conclusions on ancient economic trends. To tackle this problem, our research agendas should target large extra moenia dumps more frequently.
The archaeological area named "Fondi ex-Cossar" represents one of the most interesting ... more The archaeological area named "Fondi ex-Cossar" represents one of the most interesting residential quarters in Aquileia. Nineteenth century excavations had already unearthed remains concerning at least three roman imperial houses with rich mosaics; the complex was deeply restored and the area opened to the public during the Seventies. Given the rough knowledge of the internal arrangement and boundaries of the dwellings and observing the very bad preservation of the floors, the Universita di Padova (Dipartimento di Archeologia) and the Fondazione Aquileia decided to set out new investigations in the area, focusing the attention on the central house, known with the name of "Domus della Scena di Pesca". The excavations have been led by professors, researchers and students of the Dipartimento di Archeologia, with the agreement of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Friuli Venezia Giulia. The research has provided both a deeper dig of the area already investigated during the nineteenth century and a new open-area dig of the western part of the block, which had never been investigated before. As a whole, the area covers a complete stripe of an insula between two north-south paved roads; so it was possible, for the first time in Aquileia, to dig an entire private house and not just a part of it. This paper presents an overview of the data gained during the first two campaigns (2009-2010), some chronological references and some preliminary remarks concerning the building.
The paper presents the results of the last two campaigns of investigation in the Roman theatre of... more The paper presents the results of the last two campaigns of investigation in the Roman theatre of Aquileia. Discovered in 2015, the 95 meters wide building has been excavated through a series of trenches allowing the reconstruction of most of the cavea. During the years 2018-19 the excavation moved to the core of the building, allowing a first reconstruction of its northern access and basilica, of the orchestra and of the scene building, with its stage and scaenae frons. In addition to architectural data, the new investigations allow us to sketch in some detail the evolution of the theatre from its construction to its reuse and, eventually, abandonment and dismantling.
Archaeological and anthropological sciences, Jul 11, 2024
Forty-six glass finds, including vessel fragments, windows, one inlay and one indicator of produc... more Forty-six glass finds, including vessel fragments, windows, one inlay and one indicator of production (moil) excavated in the dump of the Sarno Baths in Pompeii were selected for an interdisciplinary technological, typological and chemical study. The identification of the moil demonstrates that a glassblowing workshop most likely existed in Pompeii, thus putting an end to a long-standing scientific debate. The LA-ICP-MS chemical data show that Roman-Mn base glass predominates, along with few Egyptian natron-type glasses and some plant-ash glass of probable Egyptian origin as well. A large proportion of the analysed glass, including the moil, consists of recycled compositions, suggesting the existence of an efficient system of collection and recycling of glass, which was active even at a time when the city had an abundant supply of fresh glass. The demand for raw glass in Pompeii far exceeded the average demand of other Roman towns, because glass containers were essential for the flourishing perfume industry in Pompeii and Campania. The proximity of the Sarno dump to the perfume district in the southwestern part of the city and to the horrea of the Sanctuary of Venus suggests the possible location of the glass workshop in this area.
The paper reports the results of the analyses on mortar-based materials from the Roman theatre of... more The paper reports the results of the analyses on mortar-based materials from the Roman theatre of Aquileia (Friuli Venezia Giulia, Northern Italy), recently dated between the mid-1st Century BCE and the mid-1st Century CE. Samples were characterized by Polarized Light Microscopy on thin sections (PLM), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and Quantitative Phase Analysis by X-Ray Powder Diffraction (QPA-XRPD). Pyroclastic aggregates (mainly pumices and scattered tuffs), incompatible with the regional geology, were found in two samples from the preparation layers of the ground floor of the building. Their provenance was determined by means of QPA-XRPD, SEM–EDS, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Laser-Ablation Inductively-Coupled-Plasma Mass-Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Mineralogical and geochemical analyses demonstrated their provenance from the Bay of Naples, thus recognizing them as pulvis puteolana, a type of pozzolanic aggregate outcropping around the...
The paper tackles the topic of residuality, sketching a theoretical framework and then focusing o... more The paper tackles the topic of residuality, sketching a theoretical framework and then focusing on two peculiar case studies. Firstly, a concise literature review is provided and the very definition of residuals is discussed. Two case studies con-cerning the ancient city of Nora are then presented: the first case deals with the construction of the Roman forum, highlighting the value of residuals in investigating formation processes; in the second one information gained from residual materials are exploited to draw a picture of the archaic city, whose strata and strucutres are poorly preserved.
The ad 79 eruption of the Vesuvius severely affected the floodplain surrounding the ancient city ... more The ad 79 eruption of the Vesuvius severely affected the floodplain surrounding the ancient city of Pompeii, i.e. the Sarno River floodplain. The landscape was covered with volcaniclastic materials that destroyed the ecosystem but, at the same time, preserved the traces of former environmental conditions. This study provides—for the first time—a pollen sequence reconstructing the environmental evolution and the plant landscape of the Sarno floodplain between 900 and 750 cal bc and ad 79, i.e. before and during the foundation of the city, and during its life phases. Previous geomorphological studies revealed that the portion of the Sarno floodplain under the “Pompeii hill” was a freshwater backswamp with patchy inundated and dry areas. Palynology depicts a thin forest cover since the Early Iron Age, suggesting an open environment with a mosaic of vegetation types. The local presence of Mediterranean coastal shrubland, hygrophilous riverine forest and mesophilous plain forest is combi...
Il contributo affronta il tema della crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque nell\u2019antic... more Il contributo affronta il tema della crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque nell\u2019antico centro urbano di Aquileia. La disamina si sviluppa a partire dai dati offerti dallo scavo condotto presso i Fondi Cossar; le indagini, condotte tra 2009 e 2015 dal Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali dell\u2019Universit\ue0 di Padova, hanno permesso di mettere in luce un\u2019ampia porzione di un antico isolato urbano. La sequenza emersa \ue8 ora in fase di studio e si avvia alla pubblicazione finale. Attraverso una proposta di lettura formativa dei depositi scavati all\u2019interno dei condotti di scarico e l\u2019analisi dettagliata del materiale rinvenuto si \ue8 cercato di collocare la crisi del sistema di smaltimento delle acque di questo quartiere dell\u2019antica Aquileia innanzi tutto in un corretto quadro cronologico. Questo ha permesso a sua volta di inserire il fenomeno nel tessuto dei cambiamenti economici e socio-politici che interessarono la citt\ue0 tra medio e basso impero....
During the last few years, interest in reuse practices in the Roman world has received increasing... more During the last few years, interest in reuse practices in the Roman world has received increasing attention. On the other hand, the debate concerning the sustainability of contemporary economies has led to the refinement of theoretical tools such as that of circular economy. The paper examines, in the light of a circular economic framework, those aspects characterizing the Roman urban economy as circular. A series of activities and agents, sometimes leaving little archaeological footprint, reduced waste and optimized the use of fresh resources on a daily basis. These activities (maintenance, repair, secondary use, lateral cycling, recycling etc.) involved a wide range of materials and, far from occasional, they were well integrated into the so-called linear economic model (production, distribution, consumption, and discard). Although the available data are still fragmentary, this systematic review demonstrates that circular economy must be steadily included in the current narratives of Roman urban sites. Economic reasons seem to play a major role in moving the Roman urban circular mechanism; nonetheless, it also emerges a forma mentis putting the object at centre, and not its economic, monetary value. Quantifying the overall impact of circular practices in the Roman urban economy still represents a major challenge, but the data so far collected point to a significant influence.
Les modèles italiens dans l'architecture des IIe et Ier siècles avant notre ère en Gaule et dans les régions voisines: Actes du colloque de Toulouse, 2-4 octobre 2013, 2019, ISBN 978-2-909668-98-7, págs. 93-108, 2019
The paper provides a preliminary report on the 2015-2017 excavations carried out by the Departmen... more The paper provides a preliminary report on the 2015-2017 excavations carried out by the Department of Cultural Heritage, Universita di Padova, in the area named Fondi ex Comelli-Moro, in Aquileia. The investigations led to the discovery of the theatre of the ancient city, whose approximate location had been previously conjectured by Luisa Bertacchi. Following archive research and geophysical prospections, the excavations focused on the area occupied by the cavea foundations, revealing their overall dimensions (width of about 95 m) and architectural layout: the summa and media cavea were supported by series of radial walls, while the ima cavea was made of one single, bulky concrete casting. The excavation also provided insights on the area surrounding the theatre and on the activities which were carried out within the building once it ceased to be used for performances, particularly metalworking.
Focusing on classical urban centres, the thesis discusses the topic of dating archaeological depo... more Focusing on classical urban centres, the thesis discusses the topic of dating archaeological deposits through the study of the embedded assemblages. Although this represents a fundamental activity, routinely carried out after the fieldwork, it is still clearly poorly strucutred both from a theoretical perspective and from a methodological one. Hence, the work proposes a review of the main concepts involved in the issue of dating deposits and proposes analytical and comparative tools to be employed. It follows a taxonomy of archaeological deposits, based on their very informative potential for dating purposes and equipped with case studies. Eventually, the thesis proposes a structured working method, which goes from fieldwork to publishing.
Scholars of Roman archaeology, epigraphy, and history are increasingly discussing urban maintenan... more Scholars of Roman archaeology, epigraphy, and history are increasingly discussing urban maintenance and waste disposal, but the impact of these phenomena on the archaeological record remains largely understudied. The presence of waste disposal systems in Roman towns entails that a large part of what was discarded was periodically removed from the urban area. This in turn implies that whole historical periods may be underrepresented by the finds recovered within the city. This aspect can be apprehended through the post-excavation analysis of the House of Titus Macer in Aquileia, whose mid-imperial phase, during which the domus was inhabited and regularly maintained, is poorly represented. What has been observed suggests that great caution must be exercised when using data collected within urban sites to draw conclusions on ancient economic trends. To tackle this problem, our research agendas should target large extra moenia dumps more frequently.
The archaeological area named "Fondi ex-Cossar" represents one of the most interesting ... more The archaeological area named "Fondi ex-Cossar" represents one of the most interesting residential quarters in Aquileia. Nineteenth century excavations had already unearthed remains concerning at least three roman imperial houses with rich mosaics; the complex was deeply restored and the area opened to the public during the Seventies. Given the rough knowledge of the internal arrangement and boundaries of the dwellings and observing the very bad preservation of the floors, the Universita di Padova (Dipartimento di Archeologia) and the Fondazione Aquileia decided to set out new investigations in the area, focusing the attention on the central house, known with the name of "Domus della Scena di Pesca". The excavations have been led by professors, researchers and students of the Dipartimento di Archeologia, with the agreement of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Friuli Venezia Giulia. The research has provided both a deeper dig of the area already investigated during the nineteenth century and a new open-area dig of the western part of the block, which had never been investigated before. As a whole, the area covers a complete stripe of an insula between two north-south paved roads; so it was possible, for the first time in Aquileia, to dig an entire private house and not just a part of it. This paper presents an overview of the data gained during the first two campaigns (2009-2010), some chronological references and some preliminary remarks concerning the building.
The paper presents the results of the last two campaigns of investigation in the Roman theatre of... more The paper presents the results of the last two campaigns of investigation in the Roman theatre of Aquileia. Discovered in 2015, the 95 meters wide building has been excavated through a series of trenches allowing the reconstruction of most of the cavea. During the years 2018-19 the excavation moved to the core of the building, allowing a first reconstruction of its northern access and basilica, of the orchestra and of the scene building, with its stage and scaenae frons. In addition to architectural data, the new investigations allow us to sketch in some detail the evolution of the theatre from its construction to its reuse and, eventually, abandonment and dismantling.
Come di consueto, il laboratorio di studio dei materiali archeologici dello scavo dei fondi Cossa... more Come di consueto, il laboratorio di studio dei materiali archeologici dello scavo dei fondi Cossar organizza una serie di attività a carattere didattico/seminariale di base. Le presentazioni sono tenute dagli stessi studenti che partecipano al laboratorio e sono aperte anche ad altri studenti del triennio/biennio che desiderino approfondire lo studio dei materiali archeologici. Quest’anno verrà arontato in particolare il tema dello studio contestuale dei reperti di scavo, della loro interpretazione e delle problematiche che li riguardano. Moderano i seminari la dott.ssa Diana Dobreva e il dott. Guido Furlan
Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repai... more Economic circularity is the ability of a society to reduce waste by recycling, reusing, and repairing raw materials and finished products. This concept has gained momentum in academia, in part due to contemporary environmental concerns. Although the blurry conceptual boundaries of this term are open to a wide array of interpretations, the scholarly community generally perceives circular economy as a convenient umbrella definition that encompasses a vast array of regenerative and preservative processes.
Despite the recent surge of interest, economic circularity has not been fully addressed as a macrophenomenon by historical and archaeological studies. The limitations of data and the relatively new formulation of targeted research questions mean that several processes and agents involved in ancient circular economies are still invisible to the eye of modern scholarship. Examples include forms of curation, maintenance, and repair, which must have had an influence on the economic systems of premodern societies but are rarely accounted for. Moreover, the people behind these processes, such as collectors and scavengers, are rarely investigated and poorly understood. Even better-studied mechanisms, like reuse and recycling, are not explored to their full potential within the broader picture of ancient urban economies.
This volume stems from a conference held at Moesgaard Museum supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Networks Evolutions (UrbNet) at Aarhus University. To enhance our understanding of circular economic processes, the contributions in this volume expand the framework of the discussion by exploring circular economy over the longue durée and by integrating an interdisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, the volume gives prominence to classes of material, processes, agents, and methodologies generally overlooked or ignored in modern scholarship.
Dating Urban Classical Deposits: Approaches and problems in using finds to date strata considers ... more Dating Urban Classical Deposits: Approaches and problems in using finds to date strata considers the issues surrounding the dating of archaeological strata on the basis of the assemblages recovered from them. This process is one of the most common processes in archaeology, yet it is still poorly structured theoretically, methodologically and operatively. No manuals specifically tackle the issue as a whole and consideration of useful theoretical and methodological tools is fragmentary. This book has been developed to try to correct this failing; it is based on the idea that for dating a given layer through the materials recovered from it, the embedding process of the materials must be modelled.
The book reviews the present state of archaeological practice and follows this with a theoretical discussion of the key concepts involved in the issue of dating deposits; the main methodological tools which can be employed (quantitative, qualitative and comparative) are then discussed in detail. The text presents a problem-oriented taxonomy of deposits, with depositional models for assessing how different assemblages can be analysed for dating; each type of deposit is accompanied by case studies where the methodological tools used are explained. Finally, a structured working method is proposed.
The topic of dating deposits crosses the chronological and spatial borders of many archaeologies, but the book focusses on Classical cities (particularly Roman), as they present specific traits (continuous occupation, high rates of residuality, high impact architecture, waste management etc.) making them unique fields for study.
Invisible Circularity from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages
Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022.
Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (... more Conference to be held on the 7th and 8th of September 2022. Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University Venue: Moesgaard Museum, Moesgård Allé 15, DK-8270 Højbjerg, Building 4240, room 301 https://urbnet.au.dk/news/events/2022/invisible-circularity This conference is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet).
This is the collection of the very informal book reviews I wrote at Urbnet, Aarhus University, fo... more This is the collection of the very informal book reviews I wrote at Urbnet, Aarhus University, for the internal newsletter (2022-2023). They have been nicely edited by my dear friend Rhiannon Garth Jones as a farewell present before leaving Denmark. They shouldn't be taken too seriously (or maybe yes??); the reviews, written in a personal/silly sauce, were intended as a tool for encouraging young and old archaeologists to read some of my favourite books. As far as I know, they failed to achieve the goal.
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Papers by Guido Furlan
Despite the recent surge of interest, economic circularity has not been fully addressed as a macrophenomenon by historical and archaeological studies. The limitations of data and the relatively new formulation of targeted research questions mean that several processes and agents involved in ancient circular economies are still invisible to the eye of modern scholarship. Examples include forms of curation, maintenance, and repair, which must have had an influence on the economic systems of premodern societies but are rarely accounted for. Moreover, the people behind these processes, such as collectors and scavengers, are rarely investigated and poorly understood. Even better-studied mechanisms, like reuse and recycling, are not explored to their full potential within the broader picture of ancient urban economies.
This volume stems from a conference held at Moesgaard Museum supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Networks Evolutions (UrbNet) at Aarhus University. To enhance our understanding of circular economic processes, the contributions in this volume expand the framework of the discussion by exploring circular economy over the longue durée and by integrating an interdisciplinary perspective. Furthermore, the volume gives prominence to classes of material, processes, agents, and methodologies generally overlooked or ignored in modern scholarship.
The book reviews the present state of archaeological practice and follows this with a theoretical discussion of the key concepts involved in the issue of dating deposits; the main methodological tools which can be employed (quantitative, qualitative and comparative) are then discussed in detail. The text presents a problem-oriented taxonomy of deposits, with depositional models for assessing how different assemblages can be analysed for dating; each type of deposit is accompanied by case studies where the methodological tools used are explained. Finally, a structured working method is proposed.
The topic of dating deposits crosses the chronological and spatial borders of many archaeologies, but the book focusses on Classical cities (particularly Roman), as they present specific traits (continuous occupation, high rates of residuality, high impact architecture, waste management etc.) making them unique fields for study.
Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University
Venue: Moesgaard Museum, Moesgård Allé 15, DK-8270 Højbjerg, Building 4240, room 301
https://urbnet.au.dk/news/events/2022/invisible-circularity
This conference is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation and the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet).