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Timber economy in the Roman Age: charcoal data from the key site of Herculaneum (Naples, Italy)

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Abstract

The city of Herculaneum (Naples, southern Italy), buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Somma-Vesuvius in 79 ad, is a key site for understanding the timber economy during the Roman period. In this paper, the results of charcoal analysis of different building element types are presented. Beams, joists, poles, planks and door and window frames were investigated allowing us a view of which timber the Romans preferred for building in this area. We also fit the taxonomic results into the reconstruction of the ancient Campanian landscape, and finally, we discuss the knowledge that the Romans had about the technological properties of the wood that they used for building and the possible selection criteria that they followed in choosing them. Coniferous timber is the preferred material for building purposes. Abies alba is especially used, this fact confirming its stronger presence in southern Italian woods during the past and suggesting that its decline is mainly due to human overexploitation. The large presence of Cupressus sempervirens, selectively used for the production of poles, confirms that this tree was cultivated in plantations for timber production in the Vesuvius area. Furthermore, it might indicate that cypress could have been present as a natural tree in the local vegetation, suggesting a forest type that nowadays almost completely disappeared from this area and from the entire Italy. The findings of Juglans regia, Pinus pinea and Olea europaea, typical elements of the Mediterranean cultural landscape, show that their use was not limited to fruit production and that Romans also appreciated their timber. Beside these local resources, the presence of Picea abies and Picea/Larix indicates the importation of timber from northerly regions, probably the northern Apennines and the Alps.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been funded through the German Research Foundation (DFG) financed Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes” at Kiel University, by a grant to Daniela Moser. The authors are grateful for the permission granted by the Soprintendenza Pompei for access to Herculaneum archaeological site and for the sampling campaign. This research was carried out in the context of the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP; www.herculaneum.org), an initiative of the Packard Humanities Institute (and its Italian arm, the Istituto Packard per i Beni Culturali) in collaboration with the Soprintendenza; a third partner, the British School at Rome, was involved from 2004 to 2014, the period in which the work described in this article took place. The authors would like to thank the HCP team for their support in ensuring that this project took place; in particular, thanks are due to Alessandra De Vita, Fiorenza Piccolo, Domenico Camardo and Sarah Court. The authors are grateful to Eileen Küçükkaraca for checking the English language. Reviewer’s comments greatly improved the manuscript.

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  1. Oliver Nelle

    Present address: Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Referat 84.1 Dendrochronologisches Labor, Fischersteig 9, 78343, Gaienhofen-Hemmenhofen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School “Human Development in Landscapes”, Kiel University, Leibnizstrasse 3, 24118, Kiel, Germany

    Daniela Moser & Oliver Nelle

  2. Institute for Ecosystem Research, Paleoecology Unit, Kiel University, Olshausenstrasse 75, 24118, Kiel, Germany

    Daniela Moser & Oliver Nelle

  3. Laboratory of Vegetation History and Wood Anatomy, Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy

    Daniela Moser & Gaetano Di Pasquale

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  1. Daniela Moser
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  3. Gaetano Di Pasquale
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Correspondence to Daniela Moser.

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Moser, D., Nelle, O. & Di Pasquale, G. Timber economy in the Roman Age: charcoal data from the key site of Herculaneum (Naples, Italy). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 905–921 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0406-0

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