Panel 4.4 – The exploitation of raw materials in the Roman world: a closer look at producer-resource dynamics

Organiser/Chair:

• Dimitri Van Limbergen (Ghent University)
• Devi Taelman (Ghent University)

External Discussant:

• Koenraad Verboven (Ghent University)

Speakers:

• Wim De Clercq (Ghent University)
  Salt for the Soldiers. The technology and economy of Roman salt-making in Northern Gaul
• Fernando Lopez-Sanchez (University of Oxford)
  Fishing factories and the limits of navigation in the Ancient Roman Mediterranean
• Tibor Grull (University of Pécs)
  From knowledge transfer to transplantation. Economic role of medical plants in the Roman Empire
• Fabian Becker (Freie Universität Berlin)
  Elba deforested? New perspectives on the ancient bloomery smelting landscape of Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy)
• Christophe Vaschalde (LabEx Archimède)
  Production and management of fuel for the imperial ceramic workshop of Loron (Croatia). An archaeological and anthracological approach
• Gabrielle Kremer and Sophie Insulander (Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Antike, ÖAW)
  Stone supply for Carnuntum and Vindobona. Provenance analysis in a historico-economical context
• Florent Delencre (Université de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté)
  Stone resource economy during the 1st century BC in Aeduans and Lingons territories
• Maddalena Bassani (University of Padova)
  Beyond health. The exploitation of the thermomineral resources in artisan activities

Pre-industrial societies were all dominated by agricultural production. What distinguishes them is the importance of the non-agrarian sector of the economy against that agricultural background. While not escaping the limits of an organic economy, the Romans stand out for having developed a wide range of manufacturing businesses and services (e.g. construction, fuel supply, metal- and pottery production). This development stimulated the widespread and large-scale extraction of raw materials like stones, ores, clay and wood. Compared to other premodern economies, raw material consumption rates in the Roman world were thus high. The way in which both renewable (wood) and non-renewable (stone, minerals, metal, clay) resources were exploited is an important determinant for the functioning and longevity of a pre-industrial economic system. Even in a territory as large as the Roman Empire, such activities put considerable pressure on the land. Strategies of resource-exploitation and conservation were thus essential in dealing successfully with this situation in the long-term. The question of how the Romans dealt with the uncertainty of natural reserves and the unpredictability of consumption is very much at the core of the debate on the non-agricultural ancient economy. The issue revolves around whether their decisions and actions merely reflect a 'substitution of resource sources' mentality – that is, exploiting a particular resource until depletion, after which new possibilities were simply explored further afield – or if optimal extraction strategies may be identified. In other words, how rational were the Romans in their exploitation of raw materials, and to which extent did they counteract over-exploitation for economic and ecological reasons? With this panel, we would like to explore if, when, where and how the Romans pursued a harmonious balance between the limited availability of a particular resource and the law of supply and demand. We are hereby particularly interested in identifying measures that show environmental concerns in their management strategies. This may be through specific case studies on both smaller and larger territorial scales, or by reflecting on the issue on a more theoretical level. We especially welcome proposals that focus on innovative approaches and/or draw on inter-disciplinary datasets (geo-and bioarchaeology, paleoecology, etc.).

1. Wim De Clercq (Ghent University)

Salt for the Soldiers. The technology and economy of Roman salt-making in Northern Gaul
Historical and archaeological sources bear extensive testimony of the large-scale extraction of salt in the most Northern parts of Gaul. Several find complexes in the coastal areas of the civitates Menapiorum and Morinorum (now Belgium and France) as well as textual evidence attested in Italy and Gaul point to the importance of this resource-exploitation in a remote area of the Roman Empire. The technological and social organisation of the extraction strategies of this seemingly inexhaustible resource in a difficult landscape-context as well as the complex social and economic mechanisms that seem to have been at stake in the transaction of the salt to the military and civil consumers will be at the centre of our talk. It will be assessed whether technological constraints in the salt-works, environmental conditions in a continuously changing landscape or even the social context were putting constraints on the exploitation of salt. Specific attention will also be drawn in this context to the specific use of various types ceramic containers and supports in the salt works.

2. Fernando Lopez-Sanchez (University of Oxford)

Fishing factories and the limits of navigation in the Ancient Roman Mediterranean
This paper explores the narrow links existing between the creation and exploitation of fishing factories and the navigation across the Mediterranean Sea during Ancient Roman times. It is maintained that the extraction of salt and many of the activities carried by many fishing factories established along some strategic points in the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea were not fundamentally private enterprises directed to private consumption, but activities orientated to the supply of food to the sailors of fleets connected with the Roman State. We explore the dependence of Roman navigation in the Mediterranean Sea on the periodical migrations of some species of fish in its waters. We also explore the limits imposed on Roman official navigation by the capabilities of the fishing factories charged with the supply of salty fish and other products to Roman sailors.

3. Tibor Grull (University of Pécs)

From knowledge transfer to transplantation. Economic role of medical plants in the Roman Empire
Transfer of natural resources–including plants–is a constant phenomenon accompanying colonialization. “Plant imperialism” had a powerful impact in the history of mankind: new food plants caused radical changes in the dietary customs (potatoe, corn, rice), and had long-term effect on our everyday life (sugar, tee, cocoa, tobacco). Some economic plants transformed entire industrial sectors (rubber), and some helped to treat successfully endemic deseases (quinine). This lecture focuses on the transfer of medical plants in the Roman Empire, viz. knowledge transfer, transplantation, and product transfer. (1) “Knowledge transfer” always preceded exploitation of nature. The number of medicinal plants recorded almost trebled between 400 BCE and 250 CE as the Greeks discovered more about the regions beyond the Mediterranean. (2) The second phase is the exploitation of nature and transfer of plants. Exotic plants were often transferred far from their original biotope and were grown in gardens. Roman herb gardens had important economic value: they provided medicine for the population. (3) The third phase is the commercialization. Medical plants and pharmaceuticals became conventional commodities in the Roman Empire, as it has been proved by archaeology and epigraphy respectively. (4) Considering that the average health condition of the Roman population was in all probability quite poor, the “medical industry” had a considerable economic value in the Roman Empire.

4. Fabian Becker (Freie Universität Berlin) / Raphael Alexander Eser (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) /  Brigitta Schütt (Freie Universität Berlin)

Elba deforested? New perspectives on the ancient bloomery smelting landscape of Elba Island (Tuscany, Italy)
Elba Island was—together with mainland Populonia—the center of bloomery smelting in Roman Italia. Whereas mining on Elba and smelting in Populonia continued until the 2rd c. CE, most Elban smelting sites were abandoned in the 1st c. BCE. This abandonment is commonly explained with deforestation—i.e. a lack of fuel wood to run the furnaces.
Our paper reassesses this ‘deforestation hypothesis’ in the context of the common understanding of ancient metallurgical centers as hotspots of deforestation and Grove and Rackham’s skeptical view on the ‘ruined landscape’ theory.
After shedding light on (i) the development of the deforestation hypothesis in travel narratives from the 18th and 19th c. and (ii) the Roman forest management system as evident in the pattern of smelting sites on Elba, we focus on new (iii) sedimentological evidence and (iv) results from wood resource modelling.
Sediment sequences obtained on Elba suggest that the morphodynamics—especially floods and erosion on the slopes—accelerated during the period of Roman smelting. In addition, charcoal content in the sediments increased and a uniform species composition suggests a human imprint. Nevertheless, the resource modelling indicates that wood availability and regrowth most likely exceeded wood consumption.
In synopsis, our results indicate that there are good reasons to doubt that deforestation was the (only) reason for the abandonment of smelting sites on Elba Island, although smelting had a significant local impact.

5. Christophe Vaschalde (LabEx Archimède - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes) / Corinne Rousse (Aix Marseille Université) / Gaetano Benčič (Zavičajni muzej Poreštine) / Benoît Brossier (Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier)

Production and management of fuel for the imperial ceramic workshop of Loron (Croatia). An archaeological and anthracological approach
The great workshop of Loron (Tar-Vabriga, Croatia) corresponds to an out of standard complex of pottery production, known as the property of senators and emperors, from Domitian to Hadrian. Built on the seashore around 10 AD, on the territory of the colony of Parentium (Poreč), it was mainly dedicated to the large-scale production of Dressel 6B oil amphorae, intended for exportation.
From 2012 onwards, an international scientific program focuses on the exploitation of natural resources, especially fuel to supply the high yield kilns. The methodological approach, based on archaeological and bioarcheological datas (anthracology and dendrometry), shows that the amphorae production is based on a rational management of forest, and a sustainable land investment. The recent excavation of one of the kilns, perfectly preserved, with a set of intact carbonized logs of wood discovered in the praefurnium can precise the management of the fuel and the functioning of the kilns in the last phase of activity of the complex. The results will be compared with the datas of other ceramic workshop centers, in Gaul and Baetica, on which similar interdisciplinary studies have been conducted.
The case of Loron is one of the few examples of application of bio-archaeological approach on a potters’ workshop during the High Empire. The problematic of deforestation during the Antiquity is renewed thanks to this approach.

6. Gabrielle Kremer and Sophie Insulander (Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Antike, ÖAW) / Michaela Kronberger (Wien Museum) / Martin Mosser (Stadtarchäologie Wien)

Stone supply for Carnuntum and Vindobona. Provenance analysis in a historico-economical context
The paper as a part of the interdisciplinary project „Stone monuments and Stone Quarrying in the Carnuntum – Vindobona Area“ (FWF P 26368-G21) highlights chronological developments and the role of distance and accessibility for ancient stone supply in Carnuntum and Vindobona.
For Carnuntum, where far more than 2000 sculpted Roman stone artefacts made from Neogen calcareous sandstone and limestone are known, the petrographic analysis of selected object groups throws new light on the initiation and development of local and regional quarrying activities implemented by military troops since the mid-1st c. AD. Local supply from the immediate vicinity of Carnuntum has been complemented from the beginning by rocks from the Wolfsthal quarries and the Leitha Mountains area. The question arises how the choice of material is related to the types of monuments, workshops and lithological properties.
For Vindobona, the analysis of about 200 Roman stone objects, including all types of artefacts from art works to quernstones, suggests that three quarrying areas were significant. After the installation of Roman troops, stone material for construction and infrastructure was quarried from the immediate vicinity as well as the region south of Vindobona. In contrast, for gravestones, altars etc., finer-grained rocks from the Leitha Mountains area, located about 35 km from Vienna, were important, which shows that longer transportation routes were accepted in exchange for a higher-quality result.

7. Florent Delencre and Jean-Pierre Garcia (Université de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté)

Stone resource economy during the 1st century BC in Aeduans and Lingons territories
Stone is a major element in Roman construction and its systematic use contributed to the complex process of economical and cultural changes known as romanization. It is accompanied by new quarries, appearance of new tools and new know-how required in order to extract and to implement these materials.
The analysis of building stones supply appeared as relevant for several archaeological sites, dated from the 1st century BC, belonging to two territories located in Centre-Eastern Gaul: Aeduans and Lingons ciuitates. Indeed, in spite of their belonging to two different Roman provinces, their relationship to Rome seems alike: these two territories are called foederati ciuitates.
The highlighting of differential origins for stones according to construction needs (use of resources near the sites for masonry elements, choice of peculiar stones for specific architectural elements) marks precise selections depending on economical, technical, and aesthetic criteria. Buildings on Lingons territory are characterized by an exclusive use of local stones, never exceeding a 25 kilometres distance, whereas the Aeduans can occasionally choose resources farther. These discrepencies raise a question concerning the insertion of various building sites in economical and architectural problematics. Moreover, they show that both building materials and stones can be considered as cultural markers, linked to a global transformation of construction and perception of material resources in the environment.

8. Maddalena Bassani (University of Padova)

Beyond health. The exploitation of the thermomineral resources in artisan activities
The study of the thermomineral resources in Roman age, conducted at the Department of Cultural Heritage of Padua University during several years, constitues a research topic widely analysed. From the archaeological evidences attested in the Euganean area, the research has examined both all the thermomineral sites in ancient Italy, recorded by means of a GIS database, and, more recently, those of the western Roman provinces.
Thanks to an extensive analysis of the structural and infrastructural records, the results have been multiple. On one hand, in the most known cult-healing perspective, several data related to the different dynamics of public and private settlements at the curative springs are collected and published. On the other hand, it has been possible to recognize, in certain contexts, clear traces of a non-therapeutic exploitation of the mineral sources and of their by-products (i.e. stony deposits, muds, pure elements, as in the case of the sulphur).
In this sense the paper will offer a detailed overview of the use of thermomineral resourses for handmade and commercial activities, starting from the archaeological records already studied. It aims at profiling both a wide number of Roman sites not strictly classifiable as curative settlements but, rather, as artisanal establishments and, also, it intends highlighting, where possible, affinity with mining practices and productions consilidate in post-antiquity age.