An integrated assessment of Rome's society and resources in antiquity

Ancient Rome has been the first "mega-city" with a complex structure and history of its society, infrastructure and the natural recources used at the time. Urban patterns of settlement will be compared with major road networks, burial grounds and the mineral resources utilized by the Romans between the 1st and 3rd century AD. Subterranean burial habits developed - amongst other reasons - from open quarries where volcanic pozzulan was mined for technical purposes. Subsequent use as collection adits for Rome's water supply finally turned into the more and more sophisticated development of the well-known catacombs. The connection between the mined raw materials and the subsequent use as burial grounds will be one of the aspects of this interdisciplinary project.