In this interdisciplinary PhD research the environmental impact of urban and rural structures and activities during past and present times of accelerated growth will be explored using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a methodological approach to assess environmental impacts in a quantitative, systematic way considering all input- and output-related impacts along the complete life cycle of a process or product. LCA is commonly used to compare environmental impacts of industrial production processes but was not used before in an archaeological context. The objectives of this study are to make a life cycle inventory (LCI) of daily life in the Sagalassos/Ağlasun territory (SW Anatolia) in both past and present, and to assess the environmental impact of these human settlements for relevant impact categories. In a first stage, a life cycle inventory database is built by considering the unit processes constituting the main urban activities, in particular construction and use of buildings, and energy use for cooking, heating and manufacturing. From these unit processes all input-related flows of energy and resources needed, as well as the output-related emission flows will be mapped. This mapping may be performed through a combination of foreground data from archaeological and geographical research and background data from literature on experimental archaeology or on similar technologies still used today. Based on this inventory an environmental impact assessment is calculated for a limited number of impact categories relevant for past and present, e.g. extraction of biotic and abiotic resources and land use, and human toxicity.
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