The furnace and the goat-A spatio-temporal model of the fuelwood requirement for iron metallurgy on Elba Island, 4th century BCE to 2nd century ce.

ABSTRACT: Scholars frequently cite fuel scarcity after deforestation as a reason for the abandonment of most of the Roman iron smelting sites on Elba Island (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy) in the 1st century bce. Whereas the archaeological record clearly indicates the decrease in smelting activities, evidence confirming the 'deforestation narrative' is ambiguous. Therefore, we employed a stochastic, spatio-temporal model of the wood required and consumed for iron smelting on Elba Island in order to assess the availability of fuelwood on the island. We used Monte Carlo simulations to cope with the limited knowledge available on the past conditions on Elba Island and the related uncertainties in the input parameters. The model includes both, wood required for the furnaces and to supply the workforce emplo

SUBMITTER: Becker F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7661058 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature