The development and operation of Roman hypocausted baths

Hypocausted baths represent physical systems which are susceptible to theoretical and practical examination. A consideration of the development of the hypocaust gives an idea of the state of the art at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain. It also explains why the importance of baths in the history of architecture, usually taken as being almost axiomatic, is determined by comfort physics. A number of problems in the way of a simple theoretical calculation of the fuel consumption is examined, and a calculation of the order of the requirements of a small rural establishment is attempted. The social and ecological implications are briefly touched upon.     

Late quaternary alluviation and soil formation in the southern Argolid: its history,causes and archaeological implications

In the context of an archaeological survey of the southern Argolid, Greece, studies have been carried out to elucidate the evolution of the landscape since its earliest known human occupation about 50,000 years ago. One of these studies was a detailed geological mapping of the late Quaternary alluvium and soils in the area. Dated by means of thorium-uranium disequilibria, archaeological finds, and historical information, seven periods of alluviation were identified, each of short duration relative to long intervening periods of stability and soil formation. The three earliest alluvial phases, falling before and during the last glacial interval, range from about 330,000 to 32,000 years in age. No alluviation accompanied the last glacial maximum around 20,000 years ago. In fact, a stable landscape persisted until about 4500 years ago, when debris flows and widespread aggradation in the valleys resulted from major slope destabilization and soil erosion, probably as a result of extensive land clearance in the Early Bronze Age. A subsequent stable period lasted through the many upheavals of the later Bronze Age, the Dark Ages, and the early historical period. It came to an end with a brief phase of alluviation between about 300 and 50 BC. Stability returned through the late Roman period, notwithstanding considerable expansion of the settled area. Another period of destabilization, this one marked by debris flows and hence major soil erosion, is poorly fixed in time, but probably coincides with expanded maquis clearance accompanying the resettlement of the area around AD 1000. Subsequent events of soil erosion and aggradation vary in nature and timing from one drainage to the next and, in some areas, continue today.Nature and chronology of the soil forming and alluviation events show that simple correlations with climatic events do not suffice to explain them. For the latter ones, past about 2500 BC, human activity seems to be the dominant cause, but once again the relation between cause and effect is not straightforward. Land clearing, or neglect of soil conservation efforts during economic downturns, appear to have a more devastating effect upon the landscape than do intensive land use or total land abandonment.     

THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF IRON IN FIRST MILLENNIUM BC IRELAND

Archaeological data available for reconstructing the Irish Iron Age have expanded rapidly due to the large number of excavations conducted in recent decades as part of large infrastructure projects. This article interprets iron‐production sites dating to the first millennium BC, many of which were discovered as part of those projects, as representing discrete but overlapping communities of ironworking practice. Through a synthesis of recent excavation data, I outline the evidence for different modes of iron production that range from very small scale to ironworking specialists attached to high‐status persons. Developing a socially‐driven reconstruction of this technology provides insight into various aspects of Iron Age society as embedded in local, regional, and pan‐regional communities.