Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses

Using archaeobotanical data and examining them with a novel combination of density interpolation surfaces and social and spatial network analyses, this study has brought together exotic food plants in Roman London to outline the changing ‘face’ of its flavourscape, and contextualise it within the br...

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Main Authors: Livarda, Alexandra, Orengo, Hèctor A.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31215/
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author Livarda, Alexandra
Orengo, Hèctor A.
author_facet Livarda, Alexandra
Orengo, Hèctor A.
author_sort Livarda, Alexandra
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Using archaeobotanical data and examining them with a novel combination of density interpolation surfaces and social and spatial network analyses, this study has brought together exotic food plants in Roman London to outline the changing ‘face’ of its flavourscape, and contextualise it within the broader exotics commerce in Britannia. Consumption of a variety of exotics appeared to be widespread since the very first stages of London's establishment and their presence was maintained throughout although later on, as life in the town developed and its character changed, the focus of their distribution also changed. The emphasis shifted from the core of the city in its early days towards its outer zones, such as the upper Walbrook valley and Southwark in the Middle Roman, and the western and eastern sectors in the Late Roman phase. These changes appeared to largely reflect the changes in the overall commerce network of exotics in Britannia. In this network London starts as a mainly consumption place in the Early Roman phase to become the main redistribution centre in the Middle Roman and the necessary intermediate node in the transport system that had been established by the Late Roman phase, connecting the south to the north.
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spelling nottingham-312152020-05-04T20:09:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31215/ Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses Livarda, Alexandra Orengo, Hèctor A. Using archaeobotanical data and examining them with a novel combination of density interpolation surfaces and social and spatial network analyses, this study has brought together exotic food plants in Roman London to outline the changing ‘face’ of its flavourscape, and contextualise it within the broader exotics commerce in Britannia. Consumption of a variety of exotics appeared to be widespread since the very first stages of London's establishment and their presence was maintained throughout although later on, as life in the town developed and its character changed, the focus of their distribution also changed. The emphasis shifted from the core of the city in its early days towards its outer zones, such as the upper Walbrook valley and Southwark in the Middle Roman, and the western and eastern sectors in the Late Roman phase. These changes appeared to largely reflect the changes in the overall commerce network of exotics in Britannia. In this network London starts as a mainly consumption place in the Early Roman phase to become the main redistribution centre in the Middle Roman and the necessary intermediate node in the transport system that had been established by the Late Roman phase, connecting the south to the north. Elsevier 2015-03 Article PeerReviewed Livarda, Alexandra and Orengo, Hèctor A. (2015) Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science, 55 . pp. 244-252. ISSN 0305-4403 Roman London; Exotic food plants; Network analysis; Commerce; Flavourscape; Archaeobotany http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440315000217 doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.01.008 doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.01.008
spellingShingle Roman London; Exotic food plants; Network analysis; Commerce; Flavourscape; Archaeobotany
Livarda, Alexandra
Orengo, Hèctor A.
Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title_full Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title_fullStr Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title_full_unstemmed Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title_short Reconstructing the Roman London flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
title_sort reconstructing the roman london flavourscape: new insights into the exotic food plant trade using network and spatial analyses
topic Roman London; Exotic food plants; Network analysis; Commerce; Flavourscape; Archaeobotany
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31215/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31215/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31215/