Wood in Masada

[Crispvs]

"the researchers were able to conclude that by the time the Romans arrived at Masada and began their siege (AD73), the entire area was void of timber and firewood, due to 2,220 years of massive exploitation of the immediate environment up to that point."

Hmmm - how did they establish this conclusion? Was it by something secure like pollen analysis or was it the result of modelling based on assumptions of conditions? I am not sure precisely what types of tree grow in that region now and I don't know how well they coppice or pollard, but certainly here in England a reasonably small stand of well managed trees can produce an almost endless supply of firewood by the action of woodsmen cutting branches from different trees in different years and not returning to these trees for several years by which time new branches have grown which can be cut. As long as the trees themselves are not cut down and new trees are allowed to grow to replace old trees close to dying, as well as the correct rotational sequence being maintained, the same copse can provide firewood for hundreds of years. If the population grows, more trees are allowed to grow to increase the number of trees in each rotation.

Has the Haifa team looked at this as a possibility for the supply of firewood to the fortress?


Crispvs