EVENT: SEMINAR SERIES SEMESTER 2, 2011

This paper provides a framework for examining ancient cities’ fuel supplies. Island, continental and peninsular examples are visited; the historic sources are overviewed; and a detailed case study of Pompeii’s fuel economy ca. third c. BC to AD 79 is presented, including a model which estimates the size of the fuel economy at AD 79. This model is being refined through more detailed studies of: demographics, industrial use of wood and charcoal, geographic information system modelling of forest productivity, and the scientific characterisation of archaeological charcoal. In time, the quantification and qualification of ancient cities’ fuel supplies will provide the basis for a regional synthesis of the ancient Mediterranean fuel supply.