LIFE Project – ERC Consolidator Grant 2015
LIFE’s aim is to provide a comprehensive set of archaeological and environmental data to study Late Roman settlements on the edge of desert areas and to reconstruct the dominant strategy for controlling the empire’s margins. The case study is one of the Late Roman fortified and linked settlements located within the Kharga Oasis (Western Egyptian Desert), which in the 4th century represented a portion of the empire’s southern border. All these sites, located in remote and harsh environments, share the same architectural features and also feature similar agricultural settlements, suggesting the existence of a strategy for occupying the region.
A detailed study of Umm al-Dabadib, the best-preserved site, will produce a robust set of criteria to be applied to the analysis of its lesser-preserved counterparts. In turn, a comprehensive study of these independent and autonomous settlements with a strong military presence will allow for a reconstruction of Late Roman strategies for controlling the desert routes that intersected this oasis, and will offer an important contribution to the debate on the defense of the empire’s borders in the historical period from Diocletian to Constantine and beyond, up to the end of the 4th century.
The site will be analyzed by integrating traditional and innovative study techniques: 3D surveys of the architectural ruins, archaeological excavations of specific portions of both the built-up areas and the agricultural system, archaeobotanical analyses, study of the ceramics, satellite imagery analysis, etc., all conducted within a broader framework of environmental study of the area and historical analysis of written sources. Dissemination will be carried out both through traditional channels (paper publications) and through an innovative information system accessible to scholars worldwide, which will fully exploit the potential of the latest survey techniques.
The project will start in July 2016. In the meantime, check out the previous experiences that led to LIFE here .
