A regional economy of recycling over four centuries at Spolverino (Tuscany) and environs

The Roman settlement at Spolverino (Grosseto, Tuscany) was a centre of recycling and reuse. Excavation has revealed a long sequence of occupation, from the late first to the late fifth century AD. Part of a larger assemblage of Roman sites in this part of the coastal ager Rusellanus, it may initially have been a farm or medium-scale villa, but was repurposed for manufacturing activities in the late Antonine period; archaeological research undertaken from 2010–13 has demonstrated the remains of a series of workshops for creating metal ingots, objects from secondary bone reuse, and organizing glass cullet for melting. It is suggested that, as the importance of the agrarian economy of this part of the region waned, Spolverino served the regional and wider economy of the western Tyrrhenian coast by creating a central hub for recycling and reuse, revealing an economic investment and social involvement in recycling across four centuries.