B-Roman

B-Roman aims to understand how biological resources were exploited and how they were integrated in the new economical and territorial order under the Romans in Lusitania, western Iberia. We propose to obtain new data on the exploitation of domestic and wild animals and plants, their supply to the cities, how they differed through time and space and what was their role in the introduction of new social and economic models and in the shaping of landscapes in the westernmost Roman province of the Empire. 

To do so, this project will focus on plant and animal remains from a wide set of archaeological sites, combining classic approaches with isotopic analyses in close relation with the archaeological record. For that we rely on an interdisciplinary and international team with a deep knowledge of environmental archaeology and the History of the Roman occupation in the Iberian provinces. 

In the end it is expected that B-Roman will significantly improve our understanding of the exploitation and use of biological resources during Roman times together with their integration in the regional networks in which cities played major roles. Considering its relevance in multiple levels – from the daily life of people in the province to the management of territories and the connectivity with far reaching commercial routes - the new perspectives resulting from this project will contribute significantly to our better understanding of the implementation of new socioeconomic and cultural models under the Roman rule in western Iberia, within the economic, social and environmental history of the Empire.