Woodlands of Antiquity: A millennium of dendrochronological data on forest exploitation and timber economy between the Alps and the Atlantic

The Roman Empire dominated large parts of western and central Europe for over half a millennium, leaving a lasting cultural imprint on the continent. In the densely forested regions north of the Alps, material culture was characterized by the use of wood as a primary raw material. Yet, the drivers behind the Roman timber economy and its impact on woodland exploitation and forest dynamics remain poorly understood. To address this, we investigated a unique collection of 20.397 dendrochronologically dated archaeological woods spanning a millennium of European Antiquity (300 BCE-700 CE). Our results reveal significant increases in exploitation during Roman occupation, with regional differences in onset, intensity, and duration. Due to rising civilian and military demand for wood, Roman logging increasingly extended into primary forests far from settlements, which indicates a significantly improved infrastructure, professionalism, and organization of lumbering. The 3rd century CE marks a tipping point, with sharp declines in wood use and long-distance transport, alongside evidence of overexploitation of old-grown forests (trees aged over 200 y). Late Antiquity is characterized by an overall decline in felling activities during the 4th and 5th centuries and a reestablishment of old-grown forests, manifested by increased tree ages thereafter. These findings demonstrate how Roman imperial expansion fundamentally reshaped woodlands north of the Alps and contribute to the environmental and economic history of European Antiquity.

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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2025-11-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516240122
Primary Topic
Tree-ring climate responses
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Woodlands of Antiquity: A millennium of dendrochronological data on forest exploitation and timber economy between the Alps and the Atlantic

Christophe Perrault, Oliver Nelle, Manuel Broich, Kurt Nicolussi et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Tree-ring climate responses
article

Woodlands of Antiquity: A millennium of dendrochronological data on forest exploitation and timber economy between the Alps and the Atlantic

Christophe Perrault, Oliver Nelle, Manuel Broich, Kurt Nicolussi, Kristof Haneca, Sjoerd van Daalen, Monika Oberhänsli, Julia Weidemüller, Willy Tegel, Yann Couturier, Thorsten Westphal, Fabien Langenegger, Marta Domínguez‐Delmás, Martin Grünewald, François Blondel, Olivier Girardclos, Yannick Le Digol, Andrea Seim, Niels Bleicher, Andreas Rzepecki, Bernhard Muigg, Franz Herzig, Matthias Bolliger, Yardeni Vorst, Bernard Vincent
article en

Abstract

The Roman Empire dominated large parts of western and central Europe for over half a millennium, leaving a lasting cultural imprint on the continent. In the densely forested regions north of the Alps, material culture was characterized by the use of wood as a primary raw material. Yet, the drivers behind the Roman timber economy and its impact on woodland exploitation and forest dynamics remain poorly understood. To address this, we investigated a unique collection of 20.397 dendrochronologically dated archaeological woods spanning a millennium of European Antiquity (300 BCE-700 CE). Our results reveal significant increases in exploitation during Roman occupation, with regional differences in onset, intensity, and duration. Due to rising civilian and military demand for wood, Roman logging increasingly extended into primary forests far from settlements, which indicates a significantly improved infrastructure, professionalism, and organization of lumbering. The 3rd century CE marks a tipping point, with sharp declines in wood use and long-distance transport, alongside evidence of overexploitation of old-grown forests (trees aged over 200 y). Late Antiquity is characterized by an overall decline in felling activities during the 4th and 5th centuries and a reestablishment of old-grown forests, manifested by increased tree ages thereafter. These findings demonstrate how Roman imperial expansion fundamentally reshaped woodlands north of the Alps and contribute to the environmental and economic history of European Antiquity.

Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesVol. 122(48)
University of Geneva (CH), Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL), University of Cologne (DE), Universität Innsbruck (AT), Committee on Climate Change (GB), State Administration of Cultural Heritage (CN), Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Zentrale (DE), Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Archäologisches Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg (DE), Conseil international des monuments et des sites (FR), Archéologie des Amériques (FR), Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux (FR), Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement (FR), Institute of Dendrology (PL), Cultural Heritage Agency of Netherlands (NL), Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom (IT), Amt für Städtebau (CH), Institute of Archeology (UA), Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz (DE), Forest Research Institute (BG), Theologische Hochschule Chur (CH), Dendris (France) (FR), Institute of Archaeology (CN), Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine (BE), Spital Thurgau (Switzerland) (CH), Deventer Ziekenhuis (NL), Department of Archaeology (LK), Institut National des Sciences de l'Archéologie et du Patrimoine (MA), Musée de l'Homme (FR), Institute of History and Archaeology (RU), Denso (United States) (US), University of Gothenburg (SE), Woodside (Australia) (AU), Université de Franche-Comté (FR)
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Openalex Percentile: Top 59%
Tree-ring climate responses
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