An agricultural system in a hostile environment: the Late Roman site of Umm al-Dabadib - Kharga Oasis (Egypt)

Funded by an ERC consolidator Grant, focuses on archaeological and environmental methodology used to investigate a chain of Late Roman fortified settlements of the Kharga Oasis, located in Egypt’s Western Desert, that in the Fourth Century AD represented a portion of the southern boundary of the Roman empire. The best-preserved site is Umm al-Dabadib containing the virtually intact remains of an imposing settlement with a vast and elaborated agricultural system. The site fully represents the struggle between man and environment on a knife edge. Ancient Roman centuriatio (field division), subterranean aqueducts (qanat), covered conduits, open-air canals, outlines of fields are studied using a combination of classic and innovative investigation techniques (3D survey, archaeological excavations of the built-up area and the agricultural system, archaeobotanical analyses, ceramic studies, analyses of satellite images).