Review of Paul D'Anieri, ed. Orange Revolution and Its Aftermath: Mobilization, Apathy, and the State in Ukraine. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2010. (original) (raw)

The Ancient Mediterranean Environment between Science and History, (ed) WV Harris, 2013

Fuel in the ancient Mediterranean has to date received little detailed analysis. Humans in the Mediterranean consumed fuel in socio-culturally conditioned ways (i.e. history ‘in’ the Mediterranean); but that they could consume fuel at all, and which fuels were available in which areas, is very much a ‘history of’ topic. Quantitative and qualitative studies of the economy have focused on production and trade of goods and slave labor, but the fuel economy has been difficult to trace in the historical sources, mentions being more incidental than material. The most important archaeological evidence, i.e. that of the archaeological charcoal, is not yet routinely collected by all excavators. This is an omission that begs attention, as ancient settlements could not function without fuel. The gathering of wood for fuel occasionally resulted in dramatic changes in the environment when over-exploitation occurred (for example, on islands), while in other places, more sustainable practices appear to have occurred. (Wood was not the only fuel in many parts of the Mediterranean: animal dung and agricultural waste such as chaff and olive lees were also consumed.) Geology, topography, and climate determine which trees may grow in a particular location; but politics, land ownership, cultural mores and agricultural practice moderated the physical factors. This contribution provides a framework for examining ancient Mediterranean cities’ fuel supplies. Archaeological charcoal is at the heart of this approach but aspects of the historic sources are also considered and a case study of Pompeii’s fuel economy c. third c. BC to AD 79 is briefly overviewed in line with the methodology suggested. New scientific techniques beyond simple charcoal identification as to wood type have started to appear and are discussed here in terms of their usefulness for examining forest management and consumption. Further aims of this contribution are to encourage researchers to collect charcoal, and to show the detailed ways in which it can now be used to examine a city’s fuel supply. In time, with sufficient further research, it may be possible to synthesize regional patterns of supply and consumption for the Mediterranean (and the ancient world as a whole). Indeed the relevance of studying ancient wood fuel remains appears to have become greater today as we consider modern problems of climate change, and the potential of pelletized wood (at perhaps 70% of the calorific value of coal) as a part of our fuel future.