TRAC 2017. The 27th Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference Durham University, Durham, UK Tuesday 28 to Friday 31 March
SESSION TITLE: PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE. POLITICAL, ECONOMIC & SOCIAL DYNAMICS.
SESSION 1: The production and distribution of food in the Roman Empire: modelling political, economic and social dynamics
TITLE: THE LOCATION OF MARCO COLUMELA’S VINEYARDS: BETWEEN AGRONOMIC LITERATURE AND GIS ANALYSIS IN THE GUADALQUIVIR‐GUADALETE INTERFLUVE.
Authors: Pedro Trapero Fernández (University of Cádiz) pedro.traperofe@alum.uca.es Lázaro Lagóstena Barrios (University of Cádiz) lazaro.lagostena@uca.es
Abstract: Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella praises in his book the Res Rustica, the work done by his paternal uncle Marcus Columella, who is vir illustribus disciplinis eruditus ac diligentissimus agricola Baeticae provinciae, especially interested in vineyard production. As both uncle and nephew were citizens of Gades, we could locate these fields in the interfluve between Guadalquivir and Guadalete River, a land dominated by three important cities, Gades, Hasta Regia and Asido Caesarina. Columella wrote about special land conditions because of the good management effected by his uncle in his agricultural holding and other general considerations about Baetica province. Comparing this data clues included in Columella’s book with actual land characteristic, information of others ancient agriculture treatise and archaeological knowledge allow us the possibility to reconstruct rural areas and exploitation units, in order to discriminate part of the rural land ordination and propose where the Marco Columella’s vineyards could be located. Using GIS spatial analysis, we could also model the productive potential of vineyards in this region.
TITLE: VILLAE AND FIGLINAE ON LACUS LIGUSTINUS BANKS. GIS ANALYSIS AND GEOPHYSICS SURVEY IN THE RIVERSIDE OF HASTA REGIA TERRITORIUM.
Authors: Lázaro Lagóstena Barrios (Universidad de Cádiz) lazaro.lagostena@uca.es José Antonio Ruiz Gil (Universidad de Cádiz) jantonio.ruiz@uca.es Jenny Pérez Marrero (Universidad de Cádiz) jennyperezm@gmail.com Domingo Martín Mochales (Universidad de Cádiz) arqueogmu@gmail.com Pedro Trapero Fernández (Universidad de Cádiz) pedro.traperofe@alum.uca.es Javier Catalán González (Universidad de Cádiz) javiercatalangonzalez@gmail.com
Abstract: The territorium of the Hasta Regia Roman colony is located between the watershed of the Guadalquivir basin and the bank of the old Lacus Ligustinus in Baetica province. This territory is characterised by a fertile countryside and at the same time “riparian” conditions due to the marsh of Guadalquivir estuary, as described Strabo. The land had economic activities like intense farming and especially the production and exportation of wine derivatives into Haltern 70 amphorae. The application of GIS analysis techniques combined with the geophysical survey with GPR 3D, allows us to know new keys for land management, only investigated until now by using traditional surface surveys. The distribution of villae system is analysed in a possibly of a centuriati space, also we will identify and analyse the pottery workshops of amphorae, which productions will allow us to know the distribution of Hastensis products. The exploration of various settlements with GPR Stream X, allow us to think on the methodological application of new techniques to a non‐invasive study of the productive territory of the Roman city.
TITLE: GIS‐BASED MODELLING FOR THE RIPARIA/UINEA RATIO IN THE TERRITORIUM OF NABRISSA VENERIA (LEBRIJA, SPAIN). Authors: Daniel J. Martín‐Arroyo Sánchez (Universitat de Barcelona) martin‐arroyo@ub.edu María del Mar Castro García (Universidad de Cádiz) mariadelmar.castro@uca.es
Abstract: Economic and cultural differences between Punic sine pedamentis and Italic cum pedamentis viticulture are attested by Latin agronomists. In this paper, the exploration of such a duality is conducted in GIS by modelling the riparia/uinea ratio in the territorium of Nabrissa. This ratio is based on Columella’s standard (IV, 30, 2) of the proportion between vineyards and riparian spaces required to provide raw material for a vine training system. A model has been developed to test the self‐sufficiency of plots within the ideal application of this ratio, in order to provide surplus for land owners. Silius Italicus (Pun., III, 393) related the name of Nabrissa ‐ on the coastline of the lacus Ligustinus, today the Doñana Marshlands ‐ with the cult of Bacchus, god of wine. The iconography of coinage and the amphorae production point with distinct clarity to viticulture as an important factor in the development of the region. In fact, Baetican wine exportation is attested by the literary sources. Nonetheless, a further understanding of the role of viticulture in a specific study area requires the employment of GIS methodology. In this way, settlement patterns can be tested to ponder the value of some natural resources (superficial water, certain kind of soils…) and the viability of some agricultural strategies. In this case, outcomes from the analysis of the territory of Nabrissa will be confronted to those from the confinia between the nearby cities of Gades and Hasta Regia, as a result of previous attempts. Modelling and historical parallels complete a series of sceneries where the researcher can define certain limits to his theoretical proposals. Agrarian strategies and social constructions, such as the latifundium or discontinued land property, could have been historically reshaped. Their consequences can be evidenced by the archaeological record as patterns of settlement. In this paper, the principal role of viticulture in the Roman economy is explored, drawing on a GIS‐based model.
