Overview

Ancient Water Supply and Management Systems in the Western Mediterranean brings together a wide range of approaches dealing with the connection between settlements and water from the Iron Age to the Late Antique period. It focuses on different infrastructures built to collect and control water from various sources: groundwater, rainwater and surface water. Vital to both human survival and a plethora of crafts and social activities, ensuring a steady supply of quality water was paramount to any settlement in Antiquity. Conversely, an excess of water also entailed drawbacks and, eventually, dangers, leading to the creation of drainage systems. Some of these systems were designed at the same time as the settlements themselves, whilst others are the result of needs that evolved over time. Collectively, these structures aimed to harness naturally occurring waters and greatly transformed the landscape. The contributions that make up this volume, coming from Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, include spatial and territorial studies, and site and question-specific case studies aiming at a broader understanding of the transformative effect and relationship these settlements had with this natural resource. The features under investigation include urban water distribution and drainage systems, aqueducts, wells, cisterns and dams, alongside broader considerations on religious and operational dimensions of these infrastructures.

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9781805830924

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María del Mar Castro García, PhD at the University of Cádiz, is a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada. Her research interests include Roman water management, landscape archaeology, GIS analysis, and remote sensing. Jesús Acero Pérez, PhD in History at the University of Extremadura, has been a postdoctoral researcher, first at the Centre for Archaeology of the University of Lisbon (UNIARQ) and, since 2021, at the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology of the University of Seville. His scientific interests focus on urban planning, architecture, hydraulic engineering and waste management in Roman and Late Antiquity. Davide Gangale Risoleo is an archaeological officer for the Ministry of Culture, working in the ABAP Superintendency for the provinces of Catanzaro and Crotone. He holds a PhD in Ancient Sciences and Archaeology from the University of Pisa and has been a research fellow at the University of Calabria. His research interests focus on the tradition of ancient topographical studies, with particular emphasis on the analysis of the relationship between water and urbanism. Catarina Felício, Archaeologist and Pre-Doctoral Researcher at CHAM - Centre for the Humanities/NOVA FCSH, works on Roman Architecture and Construction, focusing mainly on bath buildings, hydraulic architecture and sanitation.

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