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Ash and Waste WaterLouise BLANKEDoctorante, Univ. of Copenhagen - DANEMARKType de contribution : communication longueThe proposed presentation addresses technical solutions to constructional particularities, fuel consumption, and water distribution, with specific reference to the architecture of the Central Bathhouse in Gerasa, Jordan. The technological and economic issue of fuel consumption as well as factors related to the development of bathhouses in Late Antiquity are considered, drawing on comparative material from England, Italy, North Africa, and contemporary bathhouses in the region of Palestine.The Central Bathhouse in Gerasa first came to light in 1998 during excavations carried out by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. The project was abandoned after just one season of work but has, since 2002, been undertaken by the joint Danish-Jordanian Islamic Jarash Project through ongoing excavation and study. Excavations have demonstrated how the building developed through five larger phases from a medium sized bathhouse with several heated rooms into one with only one single heated room.The bathhouse is located in the southwestern angle of the intersection between the two main streets - conventionally called Cardo and the South Decumanus - of the town. Since the early 2nd century CE these streets dictated the alignment of important public and civic buildings, these being situated adjacent to the thoroughfares and postdating the Roman period grid system.Based on archaeological data uncovered from the foundations of the bathhouse, the date of its construction has been established to the mid 3rd century and hence postdates the implementation of the Roman grid system in the city. Nonetheless, the primary layout of the Central Baths was not aligned to the grid of the major streets, but followed a different, and most probably earlier, town plan. Besides the actual bathing suite and an extensive service area, the bath building contained a series of shops facing the South Decumanus and a semicircular latrine: a shape seldom encountered outside North African bathhouses. These features were integrated in the larger bath structure and, through a series of ingenious architectural solutions, served to disguise any ambiguity in the architectural layout from visiting bathers.The excavation of the bathhouse has revealed other carefully planned architectural innovations within the structural components of the building. A secondary entrance to the hypocaust, with the unusual height of 1.5 metres, was included in the original design of the building in order to provide access for cleaning the system of ash, as well as for repairs. A unique system of sewers and drains was arranged so that waste water from the Frigidarium was employed in the flushing of the latrines. However, the architectural solutions to the technical requirements and design difficulties of the Central Bathhouse were clearly not all unproblematic. In particular the unusual height of the hypocaust, standing 1.10 metre higher than the 40 cm recommended by Vitruvius, must have resulted in an increased fuel consumption to achieve the necessary temperature for effective functioning.Through a comparative approach this paper explores similarities in design and technical layout in bathhouses from other provinces within the larger Roman Empire. Solutions to fuel consumption, waste water, and architectural layout will be addressed in detail, and an attempt will be made to estimate the amount of fuel consumed and thereby, using comparative examples, discuss the impact of the fuel expenditure on the economy of the bathhouse. In turn, this information will be applied to a brief discussion of factors that could have directly influenced the development of the Central Baths in detail and Bathhouses in general in Late Antiquity.The paper will be presented in English