Baldini, Isabella (Dipartimento Storia Culture Civiltà, Bologna)
Paper: Gortyn of Crete in the 8th century: the role of the Church in the transition
Gortyn was one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean. It was capital city of the province of Crete and Cyrenaica during the Roman period and at the beginning of the 4th century it still included many pagan sanctuaries, public squares and a praetorium. Throughout the 4th and the 5th centuries, the local church grew in importance, causing a radical shift in the organization of the city. This is particularly evident in the western district of Gortyn–today the village of Mitropolis–where archaeological researches have unearthed a wide basilica with five aisles and a baptistery. It has been identified as the archiepiscopal church of Crete, built in the 6th century AD. It was one of the largest edifices in the eastern Mediterranean, comparable to the great ecclesiastical complexes of Cyprus and Constantinople in size and sumptuous use of marble. The basilica remained in use, without suffering a significant reduction of its extension, for an extensive period until the Muslim conquest of Gortyn in the 820s. Its late 7th and 8th century phases allow for the investigation of the ecclesiastical, devotional and social life of an important religious building from the age of Justinian to the first iconoclastic period, a rare example. It represents, therefore, a significant model for studying the process of urban transformation of a big insular city from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. This is particularly significant comparing the western district of Gortyn, where the basilica rises up, to other areas of the city (byzantine settlement on the acropolis, in the agora, in the former praetorium): the Cretan capital suffered a possible demographic decline and a general fragmentation of its residential fabric, transforming the cityscape. In these conditions, the local Church seems to have increased in importance as main actor of the economic life and building activity of the Gortynian community until the Arab occupation, as the recent archaeological investigations seem to demonstrate.
Beghelli, Michelle (RGZM, Leibniz-Forschungsinsitut für Archäologie, Mainz)
Paper: Stone and the Church in the 8th century. The economics of sculpted products and its
transformation between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
The economics and production processes of stone architectural sculpture in the Early Middle
Ages has been very little inquired, whereas for the Roman, Early Byzantine and Late Medieval
periods one can count on a vast body of literature that provides data on several aspects: from the supplying and the transport of stone and its costs and logistics to the working techniques, technical knowledge, organisation of workshops and craftsmen, their relation with the patrons, and so forth. In most of continental Europe, early medieval stone sculpture means essentially architectural decoration and furnishings of churches and monasteries: capitals, lintels, doorposts, etc.; and altars, chancel screens, ciboria, ambos, baptismal fonts, etc. Although its role was at times underestimated, there is little doubt that the Church was a crucial economic agent in the Early Middle Ages: this is all the more true when considering the economics of stone products, as the Church was the main builder of the period. A whole sector of the ancient construction industry (theatres, thermae, fora, etc.), previously patronised by the Roman imperial rulership and sumptuously decorated with carved marbles, had gradually disappeared. The public monumental architecture was, by now, mostly consisting of churches and ecclesiastical buildings, promoted by prominent clergymen, often financed by noblemen and kings, but still wonderfully adorned with carved stones – one of the most impressive features for the contemporaries. From this perspective, it is easier to appreciate the importance of analysing the economics of stone sculpted products in the Early Middle Ages.
This – largely neglected – subject has been the focus of my research in the past few years. The production processes of early medieval sculpted products proved itself quite different in comparison to the Roman and Late Antique period. An overall examination on the types of stone used for architectural decoration in about 500 churches and monasteries (Southern France, Northern Italy, Istria, Austria, Switzerland, Southern Germany), a thorough collection of documentary, literary and epigraphic sources on craftsmen and patrons, and a systematic evaluation of the archaeological materials (i.e. the sculpted stone fragments) have shown differences in a number of aspects, from the provisioning of stone to the gathering of the workforce and the social context of makers, patrons and financers. One of the most relevant change is the striking increase of travelling masons and sculptors: they are at work in the most prominent building sites and they move from their places of origin because of a network of high ranked individuals, who sent craftsmen one another. Whereas the elites of the past preferred to express their status through the import of precious and exotic marbles, sometimes already carved and ready to be set in place, in the Early Middle Ages they showed it through the movement of persons: namely, summoning the very best artisans available, who often travelled hundreds or thousands of kilometres. The factors causing the transition from one system to the next started to appear at the end of the 4th c., then increased in number in the 5th and 6th c.: but it is only in the 8th c. that we can see the new situation fully developed and „operational“.
In order to carry out the research, a new transdisciplinary method had to be adopted. It must be emphasized that all the sources – material evidence, written documents, inscriptions, petrographic data – are equally essential, as a number of aspects related to the economics of stone sculptural products are simply impossible to study when confined to a single academic discipline. Among other results, it has also been possible to recognize the work of the same group of sculptors and masons in different locations, at times quite far from each other.
Berkes, Lajos (HU Berlin)
Paper: Economic Contacts between Syria and Egypt in the Early Islamic Period
This paper aims at collecting and analyzing the documentary evidence on Syro-Egyptian contacts in the early Islamic period with a special focus on economic aspects. After the Arab conquest Syriac influence appears ony many levels in Egypt. It seems for instance that new Greek terms were introduced for certain products by the clerks of the conquerors. Furthermore, late seventh-early eighth century papyri contain several references to requisitined goods and artisans sent from Egypt to Syriac cities for buliding projects. Apart from the state driven movement of products and workforce, also church documents provide us with valuable hints for Syro-Egyptian relations. After an overview of the known evidence, the paper will continue with the presentation of a remarkable unpublished papyrus from the Berlin collection, a Coptic legal document from the 7-8th c. written in Emessa. Finally, the paper will deal with the implications of the evidence: Were the economic contacts largely driven by state demands or were there also major factors contributing? Did the contacts between the two regions decrease or intensify after the Islamic conquest, and to what extent and why?
Brown, Amelia (University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australien)
Paper: St. Nicholas sails from East to West in the 8th Century
This paper considers the literary and archaeological evidence for how St. Nicholas became a maritime saviour saint in both the eastern and western churches between the 7th and 9th centuries. The relics, images and souvenirs (eulogiai) of numerous holy men and women were adopted and carried by sea in the early church to ensure a safe return ashore. However, the actual means by which specific images and miracle stories were selected and spread is poorly understood. Direct contact went primarily by sea between Constantinople and Rome, for example, but the specific agents of that contact are often mysterious. Saints credited with salvation at sea would be among the first candidates for widespread carriage and adoption abroad. Thus evidence for St. Nicholas as a saviour of seafarers spreads first from southern Anatolia to Constantinople, and then to Alexandria, Italy and the Black Sea in the 7th to 9th centuries. The spread of iconographic types, miracle texts and then the actual relics of St. Nicholas between east and west, north and south suggests unexpected levels of communication and trade across the Mediterranean sea in the 8th century. The cult of St. Nicholas thus has unexpected importance for reconstructing relations between Constantinople, Rome and the coasts of the Mediterranean even in the era of Arab invasions and iconoclasm.
Bulla, Maria Paola (PhD candidate Neapel)
Poster: The Islamic Pottery Issues in Tunisia: The Transition (7th–8th Centuries)
One of the issues of Islamic pottery productions in Tunisia is related to the start of this manufacturing (from the 9th century with the Raqqāda’s ceramics) and it concerns the understanding of the so-called “transitional phase” that marked the changeover in pottery production from late antiquity to the Islamic period. This interim period corresponds to the early Islamic ages: 7th and 8th centuries. The questions associated to this historical period, to which archeologists are trying to provide an answer, affects not only the manner in which the transition occurred from productions of previous epochs to those more advanced of the Islamic period, but also touches on the arrangements concerning the dissemination of technical innovations introduced by the Arabs in Ifriqiya.
The object of this contribution is make the point on the current state of studies on the subject taking stock of recent bibliography and bring together all the data discovered so far in archaeological sites occupied during the centuries in question, in a bid for clarity on this “dark” period.
Bycroft, Clare (Oxford)
Poster: Quantifying the genetic impact of the Muslim conquest of Iberia (711 CE)
In 711 the Umayyad Caliphate invaded the Iberian Peninsula with an army of largely Berber origin, who defeated the ruling Visigoths in less than 10 years. The military and political response to the invasion – the Reconquista – began in the middle of the 8th Century, and was led by Christian-ruled territories in northern Iberia. The demographic impact of these significant historical events is of interest to both historians and geneticists. Genetic information carried in individuals living today has the potential to complement the historical record by quantifying aspects of demographic history such as the extent and timing of genetic mixing between people of different ancestral origins. Genetic studies have reported signals of historical genetic mixing between peoples of north African and European origin in Iberia. However, estimates of the timing of this event (or events) vary greatly, from as long as 74 generations ago (~100BCE) to 23 generations ago (~1300CE). Likewise, estimates of the fraction of African-like DNA in Iberians vary between 0% and 22%. By applying cutting-edge statistical methods to a data set containing genetic information on ~3000 individuals from many regions of Spain, Africa, and Europe, we clarify the timing and likely source of African-like (and potentially non-African) genetic contributions to the Iberian Peninsula, and infer a genetics-based map revealing that there is strong regional variation in the levels of north African-like DNA across the peninsula. These findings indicate that childbearing unions between locals and immigrants was not uncommon, but that the pattern of settlement (or later movements) of people of north-African origin in Iberia varied considerably across the peninsula. Our analysis of genetic data also provides evidence of population movement within Iberia predominantly along a north-south axis, reflecting the historically-documented movement of peoples from the north to the south, as territory changed hands during the Reconquista. These results indicate that the upheavals associated with the Islamic invasion and subsequent Reconquista have each had a profound and long-lasting genetic impact, and represent the most significant demographic events in the last 2000 years of Spanish history.
Cacciaguerra, Giuseppe (The National Research Council of Italy – Institute of Archaeological and Monumental Heritage (IBAM-CNR), Catania)
Paper: Cities and markets in transformation in the early medieval Mediterranean: ceramics and trade in Syracuse in the 8th century
Syracuse was a key city on the political and economic level in byzantine Sicily and central Mediterranean. Recent research carried out on some early medieval contexts of Syracuse have acquired data on ceramics and material culture which enhance the definition of the economic and commercial role of the city in the Mediterranean basin from the mid-7th to the early 9th century. The analysis of the ceramics revealed that the end of african imports of transport amphorae (salsamenta, olive oil, etc.) and sigillata led to further development of local production and the need for goods from the eastern byzantine and italian regions. In fact, data highlight the emergence of local production of cooking and tableware that emphasize the presence of specialized production for domestic consumption. In parallel, the large number of globular amphorae and other oriental and southern italian ceramics demonstrate the presence of stable trade routes with the eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic regions, despite the Islamic raids conducted in the first half of the eighth century. The trade flow, especially to the East, is due to the key role of the Sicilian grain trade in the eighth century for the supply of Constantinople managed and controlled by the State, also attested by other sources (kommerkiaroi).
Carolla, Pia (University of “Roma Tre”)
Paper: The Power of a Context. Literary Distortion of Economic Issues
In 782 the empress Eirene concluded with the Abbasid caliph Hārūn-al-Rashīd an onerous peace treaty which included the release of Staurakios, Petros and Antonios: the three, while negotiating with the Arabs, had been taken prisoners. Byzantine chroniclers described negotiations in detail, focusing on their heavy consequences.
On the one hand, their reports provide relevant information on crucial issues such as economic connections, trade and exchange between Byzantium and the Arabs; on the other hand, literary evidence shows that some of those data were deliberately under-/overestimated by the Greek sources.
In particular, Theophanes’ narration[1] proves to be one of our few witnesses to the economic backdrop of those diplomatic missions.
However, in the 10th century within the so-called Excerpta historica of Constantine VII[2] an extract of Georgios Monachos’s account[3] of the same events was included, as „just one out of many” analogous negotiations. Precedents were adduced in the ELR anthology, from Polybius (2nd century BC) until as late as 9th century.
In a literary perspective, the 10th century ELR collection saw Georgios Monachos’ text as relevant as Priscus of Panion’ narration of analogous events occurred under Theodosius II (5th century), namely on Byzantine negotiations with Attila the Hun.
At this second level, contemporary events in Georgios Monachos’ account were therefore led back to the past, as a “re-representation” of an ancient drama, with empress Eirene “starring” as Theodosius II, Staurakios as the eunuch Chrysaphius, and Harun-al-Rashid as a “new Attila”: the 8th century watershed was perceived by Georgios Monachos, his cultivated readers and later interpreters as a recurrence of the 5th century scenario, which in turn displayed the eternal return of classical past.
This paper aims (a) to detect the literary underpinning in Georgios Monachos’ text and in its later reception and (b) to provide a better insight on the change of Byzantine economic connections under empress Eirene in a proper, “3D” perspective.
Beyond literary distortions, this case study contributes to understand continuity and change of the economic structures in the Late Antique Mediterranean world.
Casali, Veronica (San Marino); Donadei, Silvia (Salento, IT); Marsili, Giulia & Orlandi, Lucia (beide Bologna, IT)
Poster: The 8th century at Gortyn: pottery production and context analysis
Archaeological investigations at the Episcopal Basilica of Mitropolis (Gortyn) have led to a better definition of the building phases, the church plan, the functional destination of some annexes and the continuity of life of the monument at least until the 8th century. Some results have been achieved thanks to an in-depth analysis of the quantitative data from pottery, in connection with the original stratigraphic contexts. Moreover, the study of common and storage ware, coarse ware, slip-painted ware, as well as amphorae, belonging to both local and Cretan productions, has demonstrated a remarkable continuity of local workshops. Furthermore, a noteworthy number of morphological types, known mainly in Gortyn and in some other Cretan sites – such as Eleutherna and Pseira -, should be dated over a considerably long chronological span, which may reach at least the end of the 8th century. In some cases, the presence of imported vessels from both Aegean and Oriental markets attests a persistence in trade and connections between Crete and some Mediterranean regions.
Proposed together with:
Casali, Veronica (s. o.) & Pellacchia, Debora (Bologna, IT)
Poster: The 8th century at Gortyn: glass and mosaic production
Recent studies about the basilica of Mitropolis in Gortyn led to new consideration about its chronology. Traces of a late frequentation are attested at least until the 8th century. Among the material findings belonging to this period, many glass artifacts have been found, such as vessels, window glass and mosaics. The most documented and relevant types of glass vessels are beakers, stemmed goblets and bowl-shaped lamps on a plain hollow stem. Several specimens of the latter type have a wick-holder fixed inside the stem, a feature that is documented only in Eleutherna and in Gortyn. The quality of the material is quite poor: most of the fragments have, in fact, numerous air bubbles of various sizes, often associated with well visible spirals, resulting from the glassblowing. All these factors reveal a rather rough manufacture process, more focused on the number than on the quality of the final product. Late phases of the basilica show renewal interventions on wall mosaic. Anyway, tesserae are much more rough and irregular and decorative patterns are not as precise as the older ones. The presence of this late mosaic fragments occurs mostly in the presbytery, where main traces of a late worship attendance have been identified.
Castiglia, Gabriele (Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana (Roma); Università degli Studi di Siena)
Poster: Urban and Rural Ecclesiastical frameworks in northern Tuscany in the 8th century
In light of recent acquisitions derived from the CARE project (Corpus Architecturae Religiosae Europeae), the aim of this poster is to outline some trends relating to the definition of the urban and rural ecclesiastical frameworks and distribution of ecclesiastical buildings in the eighth century A.D. northern Tuscany. The catalogue for this area, curated by the writer, is based on published data (both archaeological and documentary) and on surveys carried out in the field and has provided archiving of all the evidence both in an on-line platform (https://arcmed.lettere.unipd.it/care/index.php/Pagina_principale) and in a relational database. The cataloguing of all the data has allowed to advance a series of quantitative studies related to the gradual spread of the ecclesiastical network in Northern Tuscia, with a mutual dialogue with broader archaeological, historical and topographical reflections. The dataset leads so far to outline an exponential increase in the number of known churches beginning right from the eighth century AD, with a peak in its second half, showing a trend that, in this chronological span, is transverse to both the urban and rural areas, while in the first half of the ninth century A.D. these same values suffered a considerable drop (especially in cities). These trends are to be read as an expression, on the one hand, of a desire for self-representation of their status by the late Lombard élites and, on the other hand, in the later stages, of a renewed economic and territorial management policy by the Carolingian aristocracies that, especially during the ninth century AD, will greatly reinforce the rural church network, also in relation to the development of the decimae collecting system.
Cirelli, Enrico (Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte und Provinzialrömische Archäeologie, LMU München)
Paper: Economy and trade at Ravenna during the 8th century
The temporary conquest of Ravenna by king Austulf (751 AD) and the end of the rule of the exarchate is the beginning of a new phase of this Imperial city moving its role towards a new position as centre of the new idea of power during the middle Ages. In the last 15 years the excavations conducted in Classe, one of the main Adriatic ports, and the last excavations in the center of the town, give us a new quantitative perspective for the period that follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Despite the fall of the Exarchal administration, the infrastructure and city services were still guaranteed, probably by the Episcopal authority, in the same way that was happening in many other Italian cities from the North to Sicily, and the same was true especially with regard to the urban defenses. If we adhere to old-fashioned historical theories the final act of Late Antiquity is in fact during the 7th c., caused by Arab invasions. Certainly the idea that north-western Europe was cut off from the newly-Islamic Mediterranean from the 7th c. AD, thereby causing it to develop a dynamic economic focus within the Frankish realm of Charlemagne, has been comprehensively disproved not only by archaeology but also by a more inquisitive reading of contemporary documents. In this lecture I will try to demonstrate with archaeological evidence that Ravenna and Classe played a fundamental role in the creation of a new economic system that laid the foundations for the following political assets.
Cosentino, Salvatore (Ravenna)
Paper: Muslim presence and economic transformations on seventh and eighth century Aegean islands: is there an insular model of the ‘dark centuries’?
There seems to be little doubt that during Antiquity the insular societies of the Mare Nostrum were, on the whole, wealthy, well organized and densely populated. In part, their prosperity depended on the fact that they did not have experienced enduring situation of military conflict on their territories throughout the Principate and Late Antiquity. But beginning with the 640s they suffered intermittently naval raids on the part of Arab-Muslim forces. Their chronology, intensity and effects on insular societies varied depending on the position of islands in the sub-regional spaces of the Mediterranean. As far as the Aegean is concerned, the impact of 7th and 8th century Muslim raids on its socio-economic organization has been the subject of divergent interpretations by scholars. Some have minimized their importance; others have seen in their occurrence a break in the social and civic life of the islands. It is a fact that most of the available researches on the Aegean islands stops on the threshold of the 7th century. But while recent scholarship seems to emphasize the disruption that Muslim expeditions produced on inland societies of early Byzantine Anatolia, at the same time archaeological studies are demonstrating that in the 7th and 8th century new types of amphorae – or imitations of the late Roman ones – appeared circulating along interregional routes of the Aegean and between the Byzantine insular world and the Muslim Crescent Fertile. The present paper aims at analysing the issue under three standpoints: 1) to ascertain how many, when and why Muslim expeditions raided the Aegean during the period in question; 2) to evaluate if and how naval attacks could cause long-term damages on the economy of the islands; 3) to assess whether in the 7th and 8th century there occurred an evident transformation of the insular settlement patters and an increase of fortifications as well as societal militarization. The results of the analysis will be compared with current opinions about pottery and monetary circulation in the Aegean.
Cromwell, Jennifer (Kopenhagen)
Paper: Administering Egypt: The role of Coptic within a wider imperial context
In Egypt, from the 690s/700s, Coptic began to be used in the writing of a range of documents concerning taxation, especially the poll tax: tax demands (entagia), receipts, letters concerning payment (or non-payment), and documents indirectly concerning taxation, for example travel restriction. Relevant material has been found throughout Egypt, especially in the Hermopolite nome, Aphrodito, and western Thebes, from urban, rural, and monastic sites. This paper will argue that these administrative developments in Egypt, with the first use of the country’s indigenous language for such purposes, is a result of wider policies within the Caliphate. The increase in taxation paperwork—especially in Coptic—during the Ummayad period needs to be viewed in terms of wider events in the empire. In order to fund the army and territorial expansion, from the Iberian peninsula to Bactria and Sogdiana, building works both in Egypt and other territories including major constructions in Damascus, and communication, it was essential to develop, implement, and enforce the taxation system. The survival of such a wealth of written evidence means that Egypt can be used as a case study for how this was administered at a local level, revealing as well the problems encountered throughout the process.
Decker, Michael (Prof. of Byzantine History and Orthodox Religion, University of South Florida)
Paper: Patterns of Transition: The Case of Sicily
Building on research I have undertaken in support of my monograph The Byzantine Dark Ages (Bloomsbury, 2016) I shall share a broader analysis of Sicily in the context of the Byzantine and Mediterranean economy of the eighth century. In this paper, I will discuss available textual and material data, including numismatic finds and newly excavated finds from the villa of Durrueli (near Agrigento). Through a combination of a broad set of evidence, I will further integrate an understanding of environmental conditions into a discussion of the early medieval Sicilian landscape and economy. Finally, I shall also explore some of the known networks of exchange linking Sicily to ports abroad and raise their potential to inform us about cultural change.
Eger, Alexander Asa (University of North Carolina)
Paper: Building up the Frontier: Micro-Regional and Divergent Settlement Patterns across the Eighth Century on the Umayyad and ‘Abbāsid thughūr
Byzantine and Early Islamic historians have disregarded the existence of rural and peripheral settlements particularly in the 7th and 8th centuries and most especially on the Islamic-Byzantine frontier (al-thughūr), typically envisioned as an uninhabited military zone ravaged by constant interreligious conflict. On the other hand, Islamic archaeologists, working in greater Bilād al-Sham, have argued for strong continuities of both rural and urban settlement from the Byzantine/Sasānian sixth century through the tenth century, countering any claims of a landscape in decline, and in some cases, compensating for the bleak historians’ perspective. Evidence from survey and excavation complicates these two opposing viewpoints by showing a nuanced history of differing settlement patterns within smaller river valleys and plain. Most, though not all, of these micro-regions did not have direct continuity from the sixth century. Furthermore, settlement and land use patterns in the seventh and eighth centuries diverged from those from the eighth to tenth centuries. Settlement in the seventh and early eighth centuries (Umayyad period) was sparse consisting of few reoccupied Byzantine towns, few remaining Byzantine villages. Yet, during this century, the Umayyad state and local predominately Miaphysite Syriac-speaking Christian communities, both autonomously and in cooperation, developed key agricultural estates alongside irrigation systems on the frontier. Beginning in the late eighth/early ninth centuries (‘Abbāsid period) there was a significant increase in settlement in the landscape with newly founded or occupied urban centers and villages, as well as an established category of midrange sites that were neither urban nor rural but served as waystations on trans-frontier routes. The motivations for gradual and/or encouraged sedentarization on the hand and promotion of trade and exchange on the other are multivariant, showing as much concern on the part of the central state to build up and control its own unstable peripheries and resources as it was to protect its frontiers from external threats.
Gerousi-Bendermacher, Eugenia (Director of Byzantine Antiquities, Greek Ministry of Culture)
Paper: In search of social and economic activities in the Cyclades islands in the 8th century
On the island of Thera excavation has revealed sections of settlements that date back to late antiquity, situated on the coastal sites of Kamari and Perissa, that seem to be abandoned in the mid-7th century approximately. A three-aisled Early Christian basilica at Perissa, which has only been partly excavated, preserves rich sculptural decoration and, judging from the hitherto available data, was the largest basilica on the Cyclades until the establishment of the church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani on Paros by the Emperor Justinian I.
A gold coin issued by Leo III the Isaurian, dated between 720 and 725, as well as bronze coins of Leo V the Armenian (813–820) were recovered from the deposits of the basilica. The gold coin of Leo III leads us to the destructive volcanic eruption that took place on the island in 726 AD, which Theophanes eloquently describes in his Chronicle attributing the devastation to the iconoclast emperor.
A year later the fleet of the Theme of Hellas and the Cycladic islands, which had revolted against Leo III for having banned the public display of icons, sailed against Constantinople, but was crushed by the imperial fleet. Leo had already begun a series of administrative and military reforms of the empire aiming to maintain a powerful line of defence at sea against the Arab onslaught by establishing the first naval Theme of Cibyrrhaeots between 717 and 732. Thera and the locality of Perissa with the busy harbour was a passage that apparently recovered quickly from the natural disaster and served as a mooring and possibly a trading place.
Our knowledge of the 8th century on the Cyclades is meagre; nevertheless, the few, yet very significant numismatic finds that date from the 8th and the early 9th century discovered on the islands of Thera, Naxos, Delos, Rhenea, Polyaigos and Amorgos, in conjunction with fortresses, such as the Castle of Apaliros, and the churches with the uniconic decoration on Naxos, as well as other archaeological finds, attest to the efforts of the islanders to survive from the natural or man-made disasters and carry on their lives and trade activities which had always been their main source of wealth.
Gil, Joan Pinar (Dipartmento di Studi Storici, Univ. Turin)
Paper: Changing habits and changing scenarios: visual appearance and purchasing power as mirrored by the 8th century Mediterranean jewellery deposits
By the beginning of the 8th century, the funerary world in the western Mediterranean experiences apparently dramatic changes: a great number of rural cemeteries seem to be abandoned at this moment; the ones which continued being used displayed no further presence of grave goods, an element which, instead, occurred frequently in the previous three centuries. The phenomenon is common to the greater part of Western Europe and, even if it has attracted the interest of a number of scholars, none has examined the phenomenon in the Mediterranean area in a thorough way: where, when and how did it begin and spread?
From the perspective of the jewellery assemblages alone, instead, the transition to the 8th century seems to be far less dramatic: generally speaking, the bearers of precious metal items had been absent from those cemeteries long before the time of their definitive abandonment. This is indeed another interesting and insufficiently researched process, having implications not only within the sphere of social practices and aesthetic tastes, but also being closely related to the evolution of the geography of power and the spatial organization of social differences.
The overall disappearance of grave goods in the West is broadly parallel to the emergence of new Mediterranean clusters of intense deposition of grave goods, mainly in the western Balkans. Both phenomena have been always examined as fully independent ones, deriving either from cultural transformations (in the West) and from short-termed historical events (in the Balkans). It is nonetheless likely that they were connected to common economic and social trends, as the comparison between 8th-century both funerary and non-funerary assemblages suggests. In order to explore such trends, it is advisable to endeavour a new approach, based on cost calculation and topographical analyses, a new method that I have successfully tested in other groups of Late Antique and Early Medieval metalwork assemblages.
Thus my paper intends to address the following issues:
- Transformations in funerary habits: the end of the southernmost „Merovingian row cemeteries“, its regional and supra-regional rhythms and its socio-economic implications.
- Transformations in dissemination patterns: the „shifting“ of funerary depositions into new scenarios and the correspondences between funerary and non-funerary assemblages.
- Definition of the main features of the 8th century jewellery sets: visual appearance, symbolism, regional shades of meaning and long-distance connections.
4. Jewellery deposits as a mirror of economic and social issues: topography and cost calculation.
Ginalis, Alkiviadis (Bremen)
Poster: Harbour infrastructures shedding light on the 8th century AD
Central Greece and in particular Thessaly constitutes an ideal region to gain equal information for the study of Byzantine history and material culture of the Early- to Late Byzantine periods. As such, this provides an insight into social developments and compare independent regional and imperial activities. Functioning as economic hubs, cultural and social meeting points, as well as the main gate for communication and economic exchange, especially the study of various coastal infrastructures and their role within maritime connectivity provides a rich new resource with which to understand these cross-cultural dynamics in the late antique and medieval Mediterranean. As part of archaeological fieldworks and preliminary excavations between 2012 and 2016, the speaker investigated a series of coastal sites within the entire region of Thessaly. These include both primary port sites and secondary harbours such as Skiathos, revealing a new overall picture of the history and trading networks of Byzantium. With the result, that various architectural remains and archaeological finds shed light on the controversial period of the “Dark Ages” and particularly the 8th century AD.
González, Ada Lasheras & Martorell, Francesc Rodríguez (Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, Tarragona)
Paper: The city of Tarragona by the 8th century: new elements of discussion
The knowledge of the Late Antique city of Tarraco / Tarracona has improved remarkably in recent years (Keay 1984, Aquilué 1992, Macias 1999, Remolà 2000, Macias and Remolà 2011, Pérez 2012)1. However, the 8th century is still seen as a concluding period. A moment when the decline and forsake of the city is clearly revealed, which culminated in the arab and berber invasion in the year 713/714 (Serra i Vilaró 1943; Capdevila 1964-1965; Recasens 1975; Virgili
1984 and 2011).
Yet the development of new investigations begins to call into question such explanations, despite some difficulties in analysing the stratigraphic sequences due to alterations in medieval and modern times. However, palynological studies have confirmed the agrarian exploitation of the adjacent rural areas throughout the whole medieval period (Riera, Miras, Giralt and Servera 2010). In this regard, the new archaeological data provided by recent excavations prove a certain urban development in the harbour area by the beginning of the 8th century (Díaz and Roig 2016, Remolà and Lasheras in press). Likewise, the research on the Islamic and Frankish literary evidence sheds light on the position of the city by the end of the Visigothic Kingdom (Gonzalo 2013). On the other hand, current ceramic studies begin to attest a decrease of Mediterranean imports and the regionalization of the instrumentum domesticum (Rodríguez and Macias in press), which is probably to be related with the transition between the end of the Byzantine trade model and the new one of the Umayyad Caliphate, that will characterize the maritime trade in the western Mediterranean.
In short, this contribution aims to provide some new elements to the discussion about the role of Tarraco / Tarracona in the new political and economic context that came into being by the first decades of the 8th century.
(Bibliographie hier ausgespart)
Gonzalez, Horacio
Poster: Byzantine amphorae in Ephesos, 7th – 9th centuries. New evidences for a better understanding of the Middle Byzantine commerce
In the course of the current research of the Austrian Archaeological Institute focus on “Byzantine Ephesos”, an interdisciplinary approach was selected with the application of scientific methods and taking into consideration a variety of sub-disciplines. As an example may be mentioned the research on the harbor, which has now revealed that the Roman harbor basin continued to be used until the 12th/14th century. It is in this area of the ancient city where new evidence of urban settlement and occupation during the Middle Byzantine period has been found.
Excavations carried on during the last years in some of the most important Byzantine context, brought in light high quantities of pottery and other items from the second part of the 7th till the last moments of occupation of the ancient city area around the 14th century.
It is in the frame of a new and actual project about the Byzantine amphorae from Ephesos, started in January 2017, where this new material is going to be studied. Together with the Early Byzantine phase, characterized by a huge amount of imported materials from all around the Mediterranean and nearby regions and big quantities of local productions, a very active Middle Byzantine moment is also to be underlined. Even if the changes occurred in the ancient city denote a new urban model, the existence of local products and import amphorae reveal the continuity of important maritime exchanges after the destruction episodes of the first half of 7th century, and are one of the best evidences of the continuity of Ephesos as a dynamic commercial settlement.
Internullo, Dario (Medieval History; Papyri and Latin Texts – Insights and Updated Methodologies, University of Federico II, Neapel)
Paper: Papyrus, parchment and the beginning of the written memory of Western Europe
Considered as a watershed between Antiquity and Middle Ages by many scholars, the 8th century witnesses also a great change in documentary practices of Western Europe: papyrus, usually imported from Egypt, was replaced by parchment, which was available wherever sheeps, goats and calves grazed.
Moving from Henri Pirenne’s studies, several scholars (lastly M. McCormick and C. Carbonetti Vendittelli) have investigated the origins and developments of such a phenomenon, in the attempt to explain it in the light of broader economic and cultural processes. However, many aspects remain unclear: what was the chronology of the change within local contexts? Is there a correlation between that change and political events involving Egypt in the late 7th and 8th century? How is this change reflected in the earliest European documentary series preserved until today?
This paper aims at evaluating the aforementioned aspects, in order to provide further insights into the understanding of the phenomenon. It will proceed through the following steps: first, a mapping of the papyrus circulation in Western Europe (V-XI century) will be presented and dicussed; this be followed by a second mapping, concerning the appearance of the first parchment documentary series in the same area; finally, an analysis of the main Egyptian political events involving Western Europe will be illustrated. The conclusion will attempt to cross these data and promote a new perspective on this cultural transition.
Jackson, Mark (Newcastle University)
Paper: Transforming cultural practices in 8th century domestic contexts at Kilise Tepe, Turkey
Excavations of stratified domestic contexts at Kilise Tepe provide a detailed archaeological record for rural life in the Byzantine period (Jackson 2013). The final phase of the early Byzantine occupation is characterised by the abandonment of buildings with objects found lying on the floors of rooms. While the forms and decoration of the locally produced ceramics from Kilise Tepe, with their domed bases and ornate red painted decoration, recall wares from Umayyad contexts in Syria and Jordan and Greek painted wares on Crete, the vessels are clearly part of a local tradition. Other parts of the assemblage such as painted globular amphorae found in the abandonment phase also form part of widespread economic interaction. Both scientific dating of contexts and typological comparison of ceramics point to an 8th century date for the site’s abandonment. This paper will focus on interpretations of the decorated ceramics to consider their roles both inside rooms and in the village where their functions can be seen to provide insight into both gendered activities and bodies during the 8th century. The interpretations proposed will help to reveal societal change linking traditions across the Mediterranean during the 8th century.
See: Jackson, M. 2013 ‚2007-2011 Excavations at Kilise Tepe. A Byzantine Rural Settlement in Isauria‘. Dumbarton Oaks Papers 69, 355-380.
Kalas, Gregor (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
Paper: Reusing Ancient Buildings as Charity Centers in Eighth-Century Rome
Traditionally, the popes have been seen as acquiring civic responsibilities in Rome due to the inefficiencies of Byzantine rule in Italy. Medieval biographies issued at the behest of popes and appearing in the Liber Pontificalis chart the papacy’s political ascent. Yet this important source dramatically slants the narrative in favor of the papacy. An alternative to the pro-papal view emerges from studying the charity centers or diaconiae in eighth-century Rome on account of the important financial contributions of the lay benefactors. The political prominence of those lay people who controlled charity is indicated by evidence that crowds flocked to ancient buildings both for the social services and for processions in honor of the prominent sponsors. Indeed, early medieval charity specifically compelled the poor to participate in outdoor rituals in which they performed their ties to the benefactors prior to receiving baths, cures, and meals. Recent research on the long survival of ancient cities demonstrates the importance of surviving imperial buildings in offering resonant backdrops for open-air ceremonies that centered public attention upon civic authorities. Reused ancient buildings, thus, proved to be a boon to donors seeking to establish both political prominence and spiritual credentials in Rome.
My proposed paper will focus on the conversion of ancient architecture into diaconiae in Rome in order to interpret how lay donors acquired economic leadership roles and how they collaborated with popes to serve the poor. The diaconia of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (located at the ancient altar of Hercules) features inscriptions of its lay sponsors Davit and his brother Eustathius who together with Georgius ceded agricultural estates to the charity center. An inscription at Sant’Angelo in Pescheria (occupying the first-century Porticus of Octavia) lists numerous relics that brought fame to its lay benefactor, the duke Theodotus who collaborated with Pope Stephen II (papacy 752-757). The same Theodotus commemorated his deceased brother in a burial chapel where an inscription establishes support for charity at Santa Maria Antiqua in which extant paintings record the patron’s family affiliating themselves closely with Pope Zacharias (papacy 741-752). Santa Maria Antiqua itself emerged within a massive ancient structure originally built in the first century by the emperor Domitian. The proposed paper will argue that antiquities granted political leadership roles to prominent lay people who operated in close collaborations with the papacy and my analysis of economic activities at eighth-century charity centers in Rome will attest to the politicized roles played by these lay benefactors.
Kovarik, Sophie (Oxford)
Paper: Continuity and change in the notarial practice of Middle Egypt after the Arab conquest
The Late Antique notarial deed in Egypt – a document that is validated by the signature of a licenced ‘private’ notary (tabellio) providing it with probative force – was well established by the late 5th, early 6th century. However, within Egypt huge regional differences apply in layout and wording, especially between Middle and Upper Egypt (climatic circumstances did not allow for much material from the delta). The end of Byzantine rule does not seem to have had an immediate impact on these traditions which remained in place at least for several decades after the Arab conquest. Thus far though, only Middle Egypt shows any contractual activity in Greek as late as the late 7th and early 8th century (when the format finally seems to change) and can therefore serve as a regional case study on continuity and transformation in the notarial practice thereafter: What characteristics of the Byzantine documents prevail, what changes are introduced with the new rulers and when? Finally, is there a reason why Greek is still in use whereas, in comparison, in other parts of the country, at that time, contracts already fall into the Coptic sphere? Of special interest is a small dossier of early 8th century contracts from the Heracleopolite nome (in part unpublished), the latest known Greek notarial documents from Egypt so far, which will be explored more in detail.
Ladstätter, Sabine (Direktorin | Leiterin der Grabung Ephesos Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut Zentrale Wien)
Paper: Out of the dark – Ephesus in the 8th century
The Anglo-Saxon traveller and bishop Willibald, who visited Ephesos in 720, described a flourishing city with commercial contacts with Greece, a functioning harbour, and resplendent churches and pilgrimage sites. But which city did Willibald actually see, when he visited the Basilica of St. John, the grave of St. Mary Magdelene, and the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers?
In recent years geoarchaeological investigations, geophysical prospections, excavations an analyses of specific find categories provided a much clearer picture of Ephesos in the 8th century, but also pointed out the methodological challenges of reaching the Middle Byzantine settlement phases in an ancient metropolis.
If one takes as a basis of the archaeological analysis such aspects as city planning, architecture, and decoration, then the Middle Byzantine city of Ephesos, in contrast to its imperial and also Late Antique predecessor, had lost its Roman appearance. Points of connection are limited to individual prestigious buildings, sacred structures, and the re-use of ruins as spolia. If, however, one alters one’s perspective and pursues an analysis based on different criteria, namely the city as a condensed settlement area, as an economic factor, and as the site of social and ideological interactions, and if one also attempts at the same time mentally to block out the imperial metropolis, outshining everything, and its alleged decline, then an amazingly vital civic body reveals itself, one which continued to pass on antique elements in modified form yet which also reacted to altered living conditions.
Meinecke, Katharina (Institut für Klassische Archäologie, Universität Wien)
Paper: Illustrating an Empire: Continuity and Change in Umayyad Visual Culture
In the Levant, the Umayyads, Islam’s first dynasty (r. 661-750 CE), mark the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. Under their rule, visual culture in a Graeco-Roman-Byzantine tradition continued to prosper, both in the Hellenized Christian population, for example in church mosaics, and in the visual expressions of the new Arab elite, as we find it mostly in ‚desert castles‘ and mosques built by often princely patrons. Merged with these Hellenistic iconographies in the monuments of the Umayyad patrons, though, are iconographic motifs appropriated from other cultural environments present on the vast territory of the caliphate, especially from the former Sasanian Empire. Only under the successor Abbasids, when the Hellenistic Christian culture in the Levant quickly declined, Graeco-Roman-Byzantine iconographic and stylistic influences became less dominant in visual culture, indicating an end to ‚classical‘ antiquity in the territory of the caliphate.
I wish to suggest that the Umayyads, by merging culturally diverse iconographies in their visual culture, strived to present the unifying and peacemaking quality of their rule. In addition, this appropriation of Hellenistic and Sasanian iconography, which is also found in Umayyad representations of rulers, expresses an elite culture and a universalistic royal ideal well known from other preceding and contemporary Late Antique empires. The special emphasis on iconographic motifs of Sasanian origin in the formation of Umayyad visual culture reflects the Umayyad caliph’s position as the Sasanian king’s successor, since the Sasanian Empire was completely incorporated into the caliphate in the course of the Islamic conquest.
This paper wishes to provide an insight into the first half of the 8th century from the perspective of visual culture in order to provide a comparison – or contrast – to contemporary developments observed in archaeological and documentary evidence.
Montinaro, Federico (Tübingen)
Paper: Further throughts on the kommerkiaroi, trade and the “Dark Centuries” of Byzantium
In recent decades, the precise role of early Byzantine kommerkarioi has been the object of much debate. Kommerkiarioi (an obvious construct from Latin commercium) first pop up in Justinianic times and are ever since almost exclusively documented by the hundreds of lead seals they have left behind in the exercise of their duties. These seals are also exceptional in that they bear an imperial portrait similar to that found in contemporary coins and are explicitly dated by indiction. Too, some seals bear an imprint of burlap on the reverse side evocative of Roman commercial seals. The legend puts the kommerkiarioi in relation with a number of “warehouses” (apothekai) distributed across the provinces of the Byzantine Empire.
Further evidence is admittedly circumstantial and scholars have understood seventh- and eight-century kommerkiarioi variously as state raw silk monopolists (which sixth-century legal sources indeed state they were, taking over some of the duties of Late antique comites commerciorum), as collectors of a levy on trade called kommerkion (which their name would suggest and which they certainly were in later times) and, perhaps more intriguingly, as government officials in charge, following the Arab conquests and between 650 and 730 at least, of requisitions of supplies for the Byzantine army comparable to the fourth-century land tax in kind, the annona. The case has also been made that, from 730 to the beginning of the ninth century, a related institution, called “imperial kommerkia” and using similar seals, superseded the kommerkiarioi in this particular task.
Developing the conclusions of a previous study by the author, the present paper sets out to reassess the literary and documentary evidence on kommerkiarioi, including the most recent sigillographic finds, within the political, cultural, and economic context as can be gauged from texts and archaeology, with special reference to the eighth century.
To varying extents, while allowing for cultural transformation, all the above-mentioned hypotheses reflect longstanding conceptions of the Byzantine “Dark centuries”, lasting roughly from 600 to 800, as a time of economic depression, demonetization, and more or less severe reversion to natural economy. While the setback is undeniable, and arguably even more profound than is usually assumed when it comes to agricultural produce, there is space for an alternative, more positive interpretation of “Dark centuries” kommerkiarioi. This sees them as the indicator of a temporary readjustment of the Byzantine fiscal system in fact much unlike any Late antique precedents and indeed founded on the hope of extracting substantial revenue from what was a probably declining, yet now more visible trade.
Müller-Wiener, Martina (TU Berlin, FG Historische Bauforschung und Baudenkmalpflege/Resafa Projekt)
Poster: Northern bilād al-shām in the 8th Century: Changing Patterns of Regional Orientation – The Ceramic evidence
The ceramic evidence from the caliphal residence Resafa-Rusafat Hisham in northern Syria gives a strong argument to suggest a change of orientation towards the sawād, the Mesopotamian lowlands, during the first half of the 8th century. Discussing this observation in the context of the ceramic records from other sites in Northern bilād al-shām and contrasting the emerging patterns with the evidence from coin finds, the paper will discuss the issue of changing patterns of regional orientation and overlapping systems of distribution and exchange in 8th-century northern bilād al-shām.
Pantelidis, G. (Klassische Archäologie TU Darmstadt)
Poster: Didyma in the 8th century: The historic sources and the archaeological evidence
For a long time archaeological research in Didyma focused on the local history, especially the Temple of Apollo, the Holy Road leading to it and its surrounding buildings during the classical epochs. However, since the first excavations a few late antique to Byzantine records have been documented, which were often summarized only briefly in reports. So far little was known about the buildings, structures and material culture of Didyma in the 8th century.
The excavations of recent years and decades outside the well-known areas have now revealed the remains of modern churches and their predecessors, as well as Byzantine finds and findings, which are significantly broadening our knowledge also of the early medieval city. Thus the continuity of Early to Late Byzantine burials shows a continuous settlement in Byzantine times. Furthermore the evidence of a catastrophic event around the middle of the 7th century – probably an earthquake – as well as subsequent repair and reconstruction measures during the course of the 8th century are found in several places throughout the city.
The poster contribution summarizes all the documented historical and archaeological evidence for the transitional phase of the 8th century in Didyma. To this end, unpublished excavation reports are being re-evaluated and integrated into the local urban history. In addition to the interpretation of the architectural findings, selected examples of region-ally produced pottery of the 8th century are presented with regard to production, use and matters concerning its deposition.
Poulou, Natalia (Associate Professor of Byzantine Archaeology Department of History and Archaeology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Paper: Sailing in the Dark: trade networks and commercial interaction between Crete and the neighboring islands in a period of transition
The 8th c. AD, a period of transition for the Byzantine Empire, is demarcated by a series of changes in the state’s borders as well as in the state’s structure, communications, and organization of commerce. This paper examines the evidence from archaeological work carried out in Crete and the islands of the southern Aegean during the last decade and discusses issues such as settlement patterns, production and consumption of agricultural produce as well as sea routes and trade patterns.
Rubery, Eileen (Courtauld Institute of Art; Institute of Continuing Education Cambridge)
Paper: The Medical Cult of SS Abbacyrus and John in Rome: how 7th century military and spiritual disputes affected the development of medical care in eighth century Rome and beyond
The church of S Maria Antiqua, situated in the Roman Forum at the foot of the Palatine Hill (originally the site of the Imperial palaces) contains at least four images of the medical Saint Abbacyrus, whose original site of worship at Aboukir, outside Alexandria, is thought to have been established in the 5th century by Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria in order to curb the popularity of the Isis cult amongst the local Christians.
This paper starts by exploring the impact of religious disputation surrounding the nature of Christ and of military unrest due to Islamic incursions in the East, on the transfer of this cult to Rome. IT continues by outlining the establishment of the ‘Chapel of Medical Saints’ there in the Church of S Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum in the 8th century, and then considers the subsequent spread of the cult to other churches in Rome, including S Passera and S Angelo in Pescheria in the eighth century.
Notwithstanding its name, the ‘chapel of medical saints’ in S Maria Antiqua also contains military saints and at least one female saint. The possible implications of these images in relation to the function of the church and its relationship with healing, war, the contemporary Roman Emperors and the Popes of Rome will be considered.
The context of the surviving archaeological and pictorial decorations linked to healing, to the military and to the papacy within this church will be used to suggest that this church initially acted as an incubation site, then as a diaconate and, by the end of the first millennium, was possibly a site for more formal medical support.
Sack, Dorotheé & Gussone, Martin (TU Berlin, FG Historische Bauforschung und Baudenkmalpflege/Resafa Projekt)
Poster: Resafa-Rusafat Hisham in the 8th Century. Settlement Pattern of a Caliphal Residence
Starting as a military post of the Roman limes, Resafa in Northern Syria became an important pilgrimage city due to the veneration of S. Sergios. The Umayyad Caliph Hisham (r. 105-125/724-743) was attracted by the importance of the place and decided to take his residence there. Within the city, he built the Great Mosque next to the main pilgrimage church. During his rule, also the main city structures and urban life have been restored – he repaired the city walls and the water supply system, several bazars indicate economic growth and the increasing importance of trade. A large settlement to house the households of the Caliph and his court, containing several palaces, gardens and outbuildings, covering an area of approx. 3 square kilometres, evolved south of the walled pilgrimage city.
New findings, regarding the settlement pattern in the 8th century, were gained by a multidisciplinary large scale research project until the beginning of the Syrian war (10 field campaigns 2006-2011). An overview of the results, in preparation for final publication, is presented in this poster.
Schmidt, Stefanie (Basel)
Paper: Trade and Economic Life in Late Antique and Early Muslim Aswan
Byzantine Egypt was invaded by the Muslim army of ‘Amr b. al‐‘Āṣ in the early 640s. Whereas the literary sources give plenty of information about the conquest of the Nile Delta and also that of Middle Egypt, our knowledge about early Muslim activity in the southern part of the country is still patchy. Narratives which mention this part of Egypt are primarily concerned with the hostilities between Muslim Egypt and Nubia, which were settled under the governorship of ʿAbd Allāh b. Saʿd (AD 645‐656) by a treaty in AD 652. The city of Aswan, which is located close to ancient Nubia, certainly played a decisive role in securing the southernmost border of Muslim‐ruled Egypt. However, we have only little evidence about when the Arabs came to Aswan and what impact they had on everyday, but in particular on the economic life of the town.
The majority of information on ancient Aswan comes from the 9th to 12th century. The Medieval writers, for example, describe Aswan as a central hub for trade from the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the border with Nubia. Mascūdī (895‐957) tells us about huge caravans full of merchandise, which was trans‐shipped and traded in the city. Aswan pottery found in Nubia and all over Egypt shows Aswan not only as a significant place of trade, but also of production of high quality goods. Arabic letters from Qasr Ibrim emphasize the role of local elites like the Kanz al‐Dawla in organizing trade including products like spices, dyestuff, medical substances and textiles.
But what were the settings for this economic success story? What do sources tell us about the
economy of early Muslim Aswan in the 7th and 8th century? The paper aims at analyzing commercial activity, trade networks and local production in this transition period by bringing together recent scholarly results from the fields of archaeology, papyrology and epigraphical sources. Special attention will be given to the prosopographical material from the so‐called Fatimid cemetery, which is a source of major importance for our picture of the society of Muslim Aswan.
Sindbæk, Søren (Aarhus University, Højbjerg, DK)
Paper: Northern Emporia and the eighth century world. A view from new excavations in Ribe
The emergence of coastal and riverine trading emporia around the North Sea and the Baltic is a conundrum of research on the integration of European societies and economies in the eighth century. Ribe in Denmark was active as a nodal point of maritime communication from c. 710, and is well known today thanks to excavations from the 1970s–90s, which revealed the structure of its urban layout, the connectivity indicated by its prolific imports, and the sophistication of its artisanal workshops. What makes Ribe unique, however, among the early northern Emporia, is the finely sequenced stratigraphy, which offers the possibility of following the decade-by-decade development of this place at the intersection of the Carolingian renaissance and the ‘Viking’ maritime expansion. The Northern Emporium research project 2016-20 integrates a large-scale research excavation in Ribe with a programme of scientific investigations of the archaeological materials. This presentation reviews their implication for the urban evolutions and connectivity of the eighth century world, from the agency in North Sea trade through the affinities of early urban industries to the scale and impact of the first arrival of Islamic silver.
Søvsø, Morten (Head Curator, Dydvestjyske Museer, Ribe, Dänemark)
PhD über Ribe und die Urbanisierung in Südskandinavien
Paper: 8th century emporia, sceattas and Danish kingship
In Southern Scandinavia three 8. C. emporia are known today; Ribe in Jutland, Reric/Gross Strömkendorf on the southern Baltic shore and Åhus in Scania. Today the sites are placed in three different countries: Denmark, Germany and Sweden, and all three emporia have been excavated and analyzed by not closely associated researchers and interpreted within different national traditions and research agendas. Taphonomy has also had different effects on the sites.
By analyzing the excavations in Ribe, which offer the best material, a new model for the development of this site can be proposed. When comparing these results to the other two emporia some interesting common feautures appear.
The material from Ribe includes 218 sceattas, mostly found in closely dated contexts allowing a reconstruction of the monetary system in Ribe. From c. 725 the wodan/monster or series X sceatta was used as a monopoly coin and recent metal detecting in Reric suggests that a similar coin system was in use here.
When using the sites as border markers and plotting other 8. C. archaeological sites a sketchy image of a Danish Kingdom, comparable in size to what is known from later in the Medieval Period appear. Roughly at the center lies Lejre – the legendary home of the Danish Royal Family.
Szenthe, Gergely (Ungarisches Nationalmuseum Budapest)
Paper: The Carpathian Basin during the ‘Transition period’: how the Avars integrated into the changing world between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
The later seventh century saw profound changes also in the Carpathian Basin. The archaeological record reflects a rather dramatic population growth, a change in settlement patterns, a transformation of burial rites and of social display, and probably also a shift in military organisation and social hierarchies. At the same time, between the period of active communication with Byzantium (630s) and the fall of the khaganate following the campaigns of Charlemagne (late eighth century), the Avars virtually disappeared from the written sources of the surrounding world. Nevertheless, as documented by the archaeological evidence, hierarchical structures survived in the Carpathian Basin.
We find a wide range of definitely Byzantine objects in ‘early Avar’ material culture, or at least a range of artefacts imitating Byzantine forms and made using Byzantine technology up to the mid-seventh century. From the second half of the century, the impact of Byzantine material culture seems to have waned considerably in the region and, as a result, countless regional, ‘Avar’ artefact types appear. Nevertheless, the material culture in the Mediterranean had a continuous impact on local styles as evidenced by various morphological traits and ornamental styles, but also by a small series of artefacts probably made outside the Carpathian Basin. A technological recession accompanying the regionalisation of the material culture of the late Avar period in the Carpathian Basin, roughly spanning the eighth century, provides the framework for the production of costume accessories in general, and especially of the cast copper-alloy mounts adorning male belts. These mounts were made according to uniform formal principles, most likely everywhere where ‘Avar’ social (power) structures appear. The exclusive use of cast mounts in the social display of male society disengages this technological recession from the context of a social crisis and raises it to one of the components of a newly-evolving socio-cultural quality. The decorative ornament of these objects reflects the growing prestige of cast artefacts through the increasing amount of invested aesthetic work. This phenomenon, a characteristic trait of late Avar material culture, can also be noted across the entire northern periphery of the Mediterranean, from Western Europe to Central Asia, and in the Mediterranean too to some extent.
This paper aims to investigate how the Carpathian Basin took part in the social and cultural processes of the ‘Transition period’ through a look at smaller-scale regional contacts and elite communication between the Carpathian Basin and the surrounding political formations, as well as through a study of the distributive networks inside the Avar territory, with a focus on problems of material culture style and chronology.
Tchekhanovets, Yana & Ben-Ami, Doron (Israel Antiquities Authority)
Paper: An open market of Abbasid period exposed in recent excavations in Jerusalem
The archaeological evidence for the Abbasid period in Jerusalem has increased considerably in recent years, as the focus of archaeological research is gradually shifting to include this period. The large-scale salvage excavation at the Givati Parking Lot, south of the Haram al-Sharif, exposed extensive Abbasid period remains, dated to the 8th – 9th cc. that shed new light on the function of this area at the time, filling the gap left by a paucity of historical sources.
As it appears, in the 8th c., in beginning of the Abbasid period, the area south of the Haram al-Sharif became dedicated to commercial activities in the open market place, almost totally lacking any architectural remains. The refuse pits, scattered throughout the excavation area, are forming the most prominent feature of this stratum. Most of them are rounded, with an average diameter of ca 1 m, and a similar average depth, although some were extremely deep. The contents of the pits is surprisingly rich and varied: pottery vessels, both utility- and table-wares; bone artifacts and bone-production waste; glass vessels; beads of various materials; metal artifacts; animal, bird, and fish bones; chunks of charcoal; egg shells; and a large quantity of botanic material, remarkably preserved as a result of phosphatization, including vegetable and fruit seeds, some belong to imported species. These finds provides evidence of the diet and the economy in Jerusalem during the 8th c.
The analysis of the different finds from the pits and their spatial distribution conjure up a vivid picture of an open market that consisted mainly of wooden stands and platforms in which merchants displayed and sold their merchandise. Similar concentrations of refuse-pits are well-known from the excavations of Fustat, and from numerous Central Asian sites, f.e., Afrasiyab and Altyntobe.
In the mid-late 9th c. the large open market place gave way to a well-planned architectural complex that occupied the entire area. The archaeological evidence indicates that these structures were devoted to various artisanal activities, and the entire area was part of a commercial quarter which operated in this part of Abbasid Jerusalem during the late-9th and early 10th cc.
Zavagno, Luca & Bakirtzis, Nikolas (Department of History, Bilkent University)
Paper: When the cities do not go missing. Urbanism in Cyprus between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages
In this paper, we will revisit this transitional period in Cypriot Medieval history with a particular focus on the fate and transformation of urban centers, a process closely related to the changing conditions of the socioeconomic and political landscape in the island in the transition from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. In this context, we will re-assess the evidence supposedly pointing to the diminished importance of urban coastal sites in favor of inland ones over the eighth and early ninth century. Furthermore, we will attempt to place the settlement patterns in Cyprus within the economic, administrative and political context of the Byzantine Mediterranean during the so-called Dark Ages.
Indeed, the two milestones traditionally used to understand the trajectories of the Cypriot political and economic organization: the Arab raids of the 7th century and the re-conquest of Cyprus by Nicephoros Phocas in 965 have been proved ineffective in order to fully grasp the causes and effects of the transition of urban sites in terms of social structures, planning, and fabric. This not to deny that the Arab incursions and natural disasters, combined with the overall weakening of the Empire and the economic networks of the Eastern Mediterranean, did affect the political and economic conditions in the island. However new archaeological, numismatic and sigillographic evidence allows a more nuanced understanding of the historical realities of Cyprus between the late seventh and the mid-ninth century. In other words, we need to move beyond the model of a ‘dark centuries’ uniform decline and the so-called “Condominium period” with its undefined status to that of economic and cultural transition, transformation and adjustment to the changing geopolitical landscape of the region. In this process, it is important to carefully analyze the aforementioned milestones and to question their historiographical formation. In addition, it’s also necessary to consider other sources of information such as hagiographies and the related role of monasticism during the same period.
By using material culture and archaeology in a comparative perspective (with regard both to Umayyad Syria-Palestine as well as other islands of the Byzantine Mediterranean like Crete and Sicily), this paper will prove how Cypriot cities seems to have experienced a rather fluid response to the variable shear political-military stress endured by the island due to its position at the edge of two empires (the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad and later Abbasid Caliphate). Tracing the capital city of the island between Salamis-Costantia and Nicosia remains an open question; a query with particularly useful implications as it forces us to look closely at the organization of he island’s economy. In effect, the island de facto capitalized on the lack of a unique and permanent urban catalyst for the main political, military and religious functions by reorganizing the urban settlement pattern around resilient although less-than-centralized lines.
[1] Theophanes, Chronographia AM 6274, I p. 456, 2-22 de Boor.
[2] ELR = Excerpta de Legationibus edidit C. de Boor, pars I. Excerpta de legationibus Romanorum ad Gentes. Excerpta historica iussu imp. Constantini Porphyrogeniti confecta ediderunt U.Ph. Boissevain, C. de Boor, Th. Büttner-Wobst, Volumen I. Excerpta de Legationibus. Berlin: Weidmann 1903, p. 5, 22-31. A new critical edition of the whole ELR is forthcoming by P. Carolla for Teubner/de Gruyter (Bibliotheca Teubneriana).
[3] See the full text: Georgii Monachi Chronicon edidit C. de Boor. Lipsiae: in aedibus B.G. Teubneri, 1904, II, p. 767, 5-14 de Boor.