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Article Reference Continuity and change in animal exploitation at the transition from Antiquity to the early medieval period in the Belgian and Dutch loess region
Abstract This article studies the evolution of livestock exploitation during the late Roman Empire and the Merovingian period by highlighting significant and progressive changes in husbandry practices that are discernible from archaeozoological data relating to five settlements in the Belgian and Dutch loess region. The intensive exploitation of cattle for agricultural activities, transport, and meat supply of consumer sites during the Roman period was progressively abandoned. Pigs grew in importance during the late Empire and became predominant at all sites from the 5th century onwards. Reduction in demand for powerful draught animals for agricultural work in the loess belt is reflected by strong decrease in cattle size and robusticity in the 6th century. Kill-off patterns, sex-ratios, and pathologies related to the use of cattle for traction also point to changes in the objectives of breeding cattle. There was a shift from intensive exploitation for traction during the late Roman period to mixed breeding for meat and milk production in addition to traction during the Merovingian period. The archaeozoological results suggest a less intensive exploitation of agricultural land and a more significant exploitation of woodland. An increase in cattle is recorded at the end of the Merovingian period, in particular at the sites of the Meuse valley, coinciding with an increase in agricultural production.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference The impact of policy measures on profitability and risk in geothermal energy investments
The development of geothermal energy is below the European National Renewable Energy Action Plans’ anticipated trajectory. High upfront investment costs and multiple sources of uncertainty result in a major investment risk, hampering the mobilization of required capital. To evaluate different policy measures, we developed a geological economic Monte Carlo simulation model that integrates both market and geological uncertainty and a firms’ option to abandon the geothermal project development after a first drilling is made. If the objective is to reduce the abandonment rate of geothermal projects, a heat premium comes forward as the most cost-efficient policy instrument. However, the risk that a project turns out unprofitable is not reduced and windfall profits do occur. In contrast, a recoverable loan reduces both the investment risk and the abandonment rate. An insurance scheme targets the investment risk as well. However, it also increases the abandonment rate and appears as the least cost-efficient policy measure. Considering the different policy performance indicators, a tax rebate is never preferred. Our results demonstrate the intricacies of choosing the correct policy measure, and the need to support such policy decisions with quantitative analyses.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Roman pottery production in Civitas Tungrorum, Central Belgium, during the first-third centuries CE.
Aspects of Roman pottery production at the workshops of Kontich, Tienen, Rumst, Grobbendonk and Clavier-Vervoz in the Civitas Tungrorum of central Belgium are explored. A total of 150 wasters from five sites were studied macroscopically, as well as via a combination of thin-section petrography, geochemistry and scanning electron microscopy, in order to gain insights into ceramic technology and aspects of the organization of production. Particular emphasis was given to the individual technological sequences and shared strategies of raw material selection, paste preparation and firing employed at the five adjacent sites. The integration of petrographic and geochemical data permitted the establishment of compositional reference groups for the Roman kiln sites of Civitas Tungrorum, which can be used to track their products within the surrounding landscape.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference The pitfalls of diachronic comparisons: fish consumption in the medieval and postmedieval town of Aalst, Belgium
The inland town of Aalst is located on the banks of the River Dender, which is part of the Scheldt basin that drains the major part of Flanders, the northern part of Belgium. In an attempt to look for diachronic trends in fish consumption, ichthyological remains from 34 stratigraphic units, derived from seven different sites within the town, are compared, spanning the period from the twelfth to the end of the eighteenth century AD. It was hypothesised that for the medieval and postmedieval periods, the relative frequencies of the various taxa would reflect the historically established development of marine fish consumption and the gradual decline of freshwater fish exploitation due to overfishing and pollution of local freshwater habitats. While it was taken into account that factors such as social position and purchasing power will have influenced the spectrum of fish consumed, the results show that there is an unexpected large inter- and even intra-site variation, even within a restricted time period, patterns difficult to explain and hampering most interpretations. Considering diachronic comparison of the fish assemblages, this inevitably raises the question whether new insights will be easier to gain from wider generalisation or from going into greater interpretational detail.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Ecomorphology of toothed whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti) as revealed by 3D skull geometry
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Economic threshold of CO2-EOR and CO2 storage in the North Sea: a case study of the Claymore, Scott and Buzzard oil fields
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Climate dynamics during the penultimate glacial period recorded in a speleothem from Kanaan cave, Lebanon (Central Levant)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference High-resolution reconstruction of 8.2-ka BP event documented in Père Noël cave, southern Belgium.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Evidence for solar influence in a Holocene speleothem record (Père Noël cave, SE Belgium).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Reconstruction of Atmospheric Lead Pollution During the Roman Period Recorded in Belgian Ombrotrophic Peatlands Cores.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018