The rise and fall of La Graufesenque: The fate of development based on a non-renewable resource
2022
Terreaux, Jean-Philippe
Even a very gradual depletion of some natural resources can lead to significant disruption to entire societies. Indeed, societies which appear at first glance to be flourishing may in fact be hiding a deep-seated fragility. This phenomenon is illustrated by the results of an archaeological dig in La Graufesenque, an ancient Roman city located in the south of France, which suffered a sudden and brutal demise following years of economic prosperity built on its ceramics trade. In our study, we develop a model to show how forest exploitation at the time can go a good way to explaining this collapse. We combine different data from archaeology, history and economics to show how the case of La Graufesenque allows us to better understand the dynamics of our modern world, which is also faced with dwindling reserves of certain natural resources.
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