In the last decades there has been a significant increase in the use of environmental studies within urban archaeological contexts. An array of lines of research and of practice has emerged, primarily on the basis of human, animal and plant remains, focusing on subsistence, trading, social status, health, hygiene, craft production and pollution. There is a growing involvement of geoarchaeologists, deciphering complex site stratigraphies and explaining the spatial functioning of urban sites. Moreover the relationships between towns and their hinterland have also been investigated from an environmental perspective. Today, it…
