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While many terms are used interchangeably, ‘recycling’, ‘spolia’, ‘reuse’, and ‘reprocessing’ have distinct definitions and histories. This introduction situates previous studies in the areas of ancient recycling and reuse and provides a summary of thirty-eight villa case study sites with archaeological evidence for material salvage and recycling.
Materials collection and organization was an essential part of recycling operations, as it allowed owners and workers to plan their operations and trade. This chapter offers a model for understanding organization and stockpiling and how it relates to recycling at villas and in other contexts.
Both the decline in supply of new materials and sustained recycling practices that were culturally embedded drove villa material salvage and recycling. Economic models emphasize the importance of extant trade routes, especially riverine routes, for the recycled materials markets.
Archaeological evidence of reprocessing installations (hearths, kilns, and other fire-powered operations) has been discovered at thirty-one villa case study sites, working lead, iron, bronze, gold, copper, glass, and converting limestone into quicklime. The spatial relationship between the installations and the rooms in the former villa indicates both that these workshops reprocessed salvaged architectural materials and utilized the footprint of the villa to undertake the operations.