archaeologist in Switzerland are behave an experiment to figure out how ancient Romans used a serial of deep shafts to keep solid food cool well into the summer month .
The shafts were pick up in 2013 at Augusta Raurica , an archeologic site located near the Swiss metropolis of Basel . The popish dependency was founded in 15 BC , and it before long blossomed into a vibrant urban center and trade hub that was home to around 15,000 to 20,000 people . But by 300 advert , an inauspicious mixture of warfare , epidemic , and crop failures mean that most of the city had to be abandoned . Today , Augusta Raurica remains one of the best - preserved Roman cities northwards of the Swiss Alps .
At other locations , Romans used similar jibe to stash away fruit , vegetables , oyster , tall mallow , wine-colored , and other perishable goodness . The shafts were ready during the wintertime months , a time when the Romans filled them with snow , internal-combustion engine , and a cover of straw . But the exact method , like so many other technique turn a loss to account , is n’t whole know .
Asreportedin The Local , a research team led by Peter - Andrew Schwarz from the University of Basel is now trying to specify if the Romans used the 12 - foot - deep ( 4 metre ) diaphysis in Augusta Raurica as an ancient mannequin of refrigeration , and to envision out how they did it . Schwarz ’s team is engaging in some observational archaeology , in which they will attempt to do as the Romans did .
really , this is the squad ’s third attempt . The first prison term they tried to do this the researcher fill the barb with snow and chalk all in one go , but the proficiency proved ineffective ; temperature inside rise to above the freezing period — even during the winter month . The second attempt proved more successful , whereby the research worker gradually filled the shot with ice and snow . With this technique , the Baron Snow of Leicester wangle to hang around until June . Not defective .
But this meter around the team is raise a snatch of help to see if they can make the cooling force last even longer . Inspired by ice - Creator , or nevaters , from the Spanish island of Majorca , the research worker are going to pose down 20 to 30 cm layers of blow , and then compact each stratum with a screening of straw . The nevaters of Majorca used a similar technique to keep food cool during the summer months before the advent of electric refrigeration , so it ’s a full lead .
Schwarz ’s squad will be putting down the layer this week , and they ’ll assess their efforts in August . We ’ll do a follow up at that time and rent you know if it worked .
[ The Local ]
Ancient romeArchaeologyScience
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