The Late Roman Settlement of Umm Al-Dabadib : A Remote Investigation.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rossi, Corinna.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (214 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Sidestone Press, 2025.

Summary:

How to investigate an archaeological site that became inaccessible? When the Egyptian Western Desert was closed for security reasons in 2016 just before the start of the first archaeological excavation at Umm al-Dabadib, in the Kharga Oasis, this question became the starting point for an unexpected journey in search of an alternative methodology.Our multidisciplinary team, including Egyptologists, archaeologists, architects, historians, engineers, mathematicians, IT experts, botanists and hydrologists, embarked in a 'remote investigation' based on a combination of new tools and methods that were used to retrieve fresh information from old data and alternative sources. Studied from the distance, the Late Roman Fortified Settlement and its contemporary agricultural system provided a wealth of information not only on a specific period of the life of Umm al-Dabadib, but also on its geographical, historical and strategic context.A remote investigation does not substitute an archaeological excavation, but in a remote place like Umm al-Dabadib, nested in an intact natural environment rich in biodiversity, it can help to direct and concentrate future excavations, and reduce both their costs and their impact on the site.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Stefano Della Torre

Preface

Corinna Rossi

Acknowledgments

Note on transcriptions and transliteration

Introduction: The site and its challenges

Part I

Prodding the site from a distance

Seen from the air

Reconstructing what lies beneath

Fausta Fiorillo

How the desert became green

Giovanni Battista Chirico, Antonello Migliozzi, Francesco Giannino, Corinna Rossi, Stefano Mazzoleni

How agriculture became sustainable in the desert

Mauro Moreno, Andrea De Sio, Ludovico Fusco, Francesco Giannino, Fabrizio Cartenì, Antonello Migliozzi, Nicoletta De Troia, Corinna Rossi, Stefano Mazzoleni

Part II

joining the dots

Bricks, walls, vaults and grids: tracing back the building process

Corinna Rossi and Fausta Fiorillo

The architecture of daily life

Fausta Fiorillo and Corinna Rossi

The architecture of power

Ceramics Trade Networks

Clementina Caputo and Nicoletta De Troia

Continuity and discontinuity along the border

Corinna Rossi and Nicoletta De Troia

Conclusions

List of contributors

Index of Subjects, Names and Places

Blank Page.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

94-6427-119-1