Summary
Natural archives such as travertine, speleothems and tree-rings are used to understand past environmental changes and to predict effects of future changes. However, such archives lack a direct link with civilization centres where changes in socio-economy and urbanization, particularly in respond to extreme natural events, can be investigated. New archives are needed near ancient urban centres, especially for the Mediterranean with the threat of droughts and desertification. AQUEA presents calcium carbonate deposits from Roman aqueducts as a new high-resolution archive to obtain both environmental and archaeological data for the Mediterranean in the Roman period. AQUEA will be hosted at Oxford University at two departments: the School of Archaeology and Earth Sciences. AQUEA will use samples of carbonate from three aqueduct sites in Southern France; Nîmes, Arles and Bellegarde, to study palaeoenvironmental changes besides local water management, urbanization and economy during the Imperial Roman period: this requires interdisciplinary collaboration of archaeologists and natural scientists. Therefore, the ER will be supervised by specialists in Roman archaeology, particularly on water management and Roman economy, and in palaeoenvironmental proxy analysis. Archaeological investigations include: interpretation of water structures and their context; use of textual sources on ancient environment, economy and water management; the use of archaeological databases, notably on Roman economy; and the relation of carbonate formation to various structural elements. Research in aqueduct carbonates will apply existing techniques and novel approaches such as Calcium isotopes and use of the CaveCalc numerical forward-modelling program, to better interpret analytical results in terms of ancient environment and Roman land use. AQUEA will address questions on a local scale on changing Roman climate, its implications on Roman economy, urban development and societal changes.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/890454 |
| Start date: | 11-10-2021 |
| End date: | 10-10-2023 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 212 933,76 Euro - 212 933,00 Euro |
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Original description
Natural archives such as travertine, speleothems and tree-rings are used to understand past environmental changes and to predict effects of future changes. However, such archives lack a direct link with civilization centres where changes in socio-economy and urbanization, particularly in respond to extreme natural events, can be investigated. New archives are needed near ancient urban centres, especially for the Mediterranean with the threat of droughts and desertification. AQUEA presents calcium carbonate deposits from Roman aqueducts as a new high-resolution archive to obtain both environmental and archaeological data for the Mediterranean in the Roman period. AQUEA will be hosted at Oxford University at two departments: the School of Archaeology and Earth Sciences. AQUEA will use samples of carbonate from three aqueduct sites in Southern France; Nîmes, Arles and Bellegarde, to study palaeoenvironmental changes besides local water management, urbanization and economy during the Imperial Roman period: this requires interdisciplinary collaboration of archaeologists and natural scientists. Therefore, the ER will be supervised by specialists in Roman archaeology, particularly on water management and Roman economy, and in palaeoenvironmental proxy analysis. Archaeological investigations include: interpretation of water structures and their context; use of textual sources on ancient environment, economy and water management; the use of archaeological databases, notably on Roman economy; and the relation of carbonate formation to various structural elements. Research in aqueduct carbonates will apply existing techniques and novel approaches such as Calcium isotopes and use of the CaveCalc numerical forward-modelling program, to better interpret analytical results in terms of ancient environment and Roman land use. AQUEA will address questions on a local scale on changing Roman climate, its implications on Roman economy, urban development and societal changes.Status
CLOSEDCall topic
MSCA-IF-2019Update Date
28-04-2024
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