Pitch production during the Roman period: an intensive mountain industry for a globalised economy

The authors' research project up in the Pyrenees mountains has located and excavated Roman kilns for producing pitch from pine resin. Their investigations reveal a who le sustainable industry, integrated into the local environmental cycle, supplying pitch to the Roman network and charcoal as a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Orengo, Héctor A., Palet i Martínez, Josep M., Ejarque Montolio, Ana, Miras, Yannick, Riera i Mora, Santiago
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/122800
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/122800
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Geoarqueologia
Productes forestals
Excavacions arqueològiques
Imperi Romà, 30 aC-284 dC
Madriu, Vall del (Andorra)
Archaeological geology
Forest products
Archaeological excavations
Roman Empire, 30 B.C.-284 A.D.
Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley (Andorra)
Descripción
Sumario:The authors' research project up in the Pyrenees mountains has located and excavated Roman kilns for producing pitch from pine resin. Their investigations reveal a who le sustainable industry, integrated into the local environmental cycle, supplying pitch to the Roman network and charcoal as a spin-off to the local iron extractors. The paper makes a strong case for applying combined archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations in upland areas, showing these industries to have been not so much marginal and pastoral as key players in the economy of the Roman period and beyond it into the seventh century AD.