Though abandoned between the third and seventh centuries CE, many Roman villas enjoyed an afterlife in late antiquity as a source of building materials. Villa complexes currently serve as a unique archaeological setting in that their recycling phases are often better preserved than those  at urban sites. Building on a foundational knowledge of Roman architecture and construction, Beth Munro offers a retrospective study of the material value of and deconstruction processes at villas. She explores the technical properties of glass, metals, and limestone, materials that were most frequently recycled; the craftspeople who undertook this work, as well as the economic and culture drivers of recycling. She also examines the commissioning landowners and their rural networks, especially as they relate to church construction. Bringing a multidisciplinary lens to recycling practices in antiquity, Munro proposes new theoretical and methodological approaches for assessing architectural salvage and reprocessing within the context of an ancient circular economy.

‘… this is a detailed and interesting study that casts light on often overlooked or dismissed traces of economic activity. Munro’s investigation of detailed case studies encourages us to consider the latest phases of villas as evidence of material salvage and reuse, and this is a positive move away from tired notions of decay and decline. The volume is thus a welcome addition to the growing scholarship on materials and their reuse in the past, and the author is to be congratulated for writing such a fascinating volume.’

James Gerrard Source: Studies in Late Antiquity