Description
Book SynopsisThis is the second volume arising from the 1994–2003 excavations of the Triconch Palace at Butrint (Albania), which charted the history of a major Mediterranean waterfront site from the 2nd to the 15th centuries AD. The sequence (
Butrint 3: Excavations at the Triconch Palace: Oxbow, 2011) included the development of a palatial late Roman house, followed by intensive activity between the 5th and 7th centuries involving domestic occupation, metal-working, fishing and burial. The site saw renewed activity from the 10th century, coinciding with the revival of the town of Butrint, and for the following 300 years continued in intermittent use associated with its channel-side location.
This volume reports on the finds from the site (excluding the pottery), which demonstrate the ways in which the lives, diet and material culture of a Mediterranean population changed across the arc of the late Roman and Medieval periods. It includes discussion of the environmental evidence, the human and faunal remains, metal-working evidence, and the major assemblages of glass, coins and small finds, giving an insight into the health, subsistence base and material culture of the population of a Mediterranean site across more than 1000 years. The findings raise important questions regarding the ways in which changes in the circumstances of the town affected the population between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They illustrate in particular how an urban Roman centre became more rural during the 6th century with a population that faced major challenges in their health and living conditions.
Trade ReviewRigour of method and intelligence of archaeological reading make this book an excellent example of how, from the 'little forgotten things' (to take up the title of a famous text by an American archaeologist), you can think about history in its broadest sense. * Archeologia Medievale *
Table of ContentsPreface –
William Bowden and Richard Hodges -
- Introduction – William Bowden
-
Summary of the excavated sequence
- The archaeological sequence and the material evidence
- An investigation of the subsistence base at Butrint: the archaeobotanical evidence – Alexandra Livarda and John Giorgi
- Sampling and processing methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Concluding remarks
- The faunal remains – William Bowden, Zoe Knapp, Adrienne Powell, and James Westoby
-
Introduction
- Methods
- The assemblage
- The Roman/late antique period (Phases 1 to 10): 3rd century to early 7th century
- Age structure and husbandry practices at the late antique Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House areas
- The medieval period (Phases 12 to 15): early 10th century to 15th century and later
- Age structure and husbandry practices at the medieval Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House areas
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- The human skeletons from the Triconch Palace and the Merchant’s House – Jared Beatrice, Todd Fenton, Carolyn Hurst, Lindsey Jenny, Jane Wankmiller, Michael Mutolo, Christina Rauzi, and David Foran
-
Introduction
- Demographic profile: the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House skeletons
- The spatial arrangement of the skeletons
- Skeletal palaeopathology
- Discussion: living conditions at late antique and medieval Butrint
- Conclusion: life and death at late antique and medieval Butrint
- Metalworking at the Triconch Palace and the analysis of slags and waste – Patrice de Rijk
-
Introduction
- Iron working
- Copper alloy working
- Silica-rich slag
- Other finds
- Conclusion
- The ancient and early medieval coins from the Triconch Palace c. 2nd century BC to c. AD 600 – T. Sam N. Moorhead
-
Introduction
- The condition of the coins
- Coins per period
- Deposition of coins
- Mints
- Discussion by period
- Possible hoards
- Conclusion
- The middle and late Byzantine, medieval and early modern coins – Pagona Papadopoulou
-
Byzantine coins (9th to 13th century)
- Non-Byzantine coins (late 10th to 12th century)
- Conclusion
- The small finds – John Mitchell
-
Introduction
- 1. Silver artefacts
- 2. Copper alloy artefacts
- 3. Iron artefacts
- 4. The iron nails
- 5. Lead artefacts
- 6. Glass artefacts
- 7. Stone artefacts
- 8. Ceramic artefacts
- 9. Worked ivory and bone
- The vessel glass from the Triconch Palace: a catalogue – Sarah Jennings, with additional contributions from William Bowden and Karen Stark
-
Introduction
- The glass as deposited
- The catalogue
- The Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House as lived environments in late antiquity – William Bowden
- The domus and Triconch Palace (pre-AD 425: Phases 1 to 4)
- The 5th-century domestic occupation (AD 425–500: Phases 5 to 6)
- The ‘ruralisation’ of the Triconch Palace? (AD 500–50: Phases 7 to 8)
- Blacksmiths and burials (AD 550–650: Phases 9–10)
- Living and dying in later 6th-century Butrint
- The Triconch Palace and the archaeology of late antiquity
- Conclusion
- Living and dying at the Triconch Palace in the Middle Ages – William Bowden
-
Abandonment (mid-7th to early 10th century: Phase 11)
- Urban renewal, soldiers and stock rearing? (10th to 12th century: Phases 12 to 13a)
- Diminishing activity and the severing of the channel link (c. 12th to 14th century: Phases 13b to 14a)
- A small Venetian garrison? (c. later 14th to 16th century: Phases 14b to 15)
Appendices 4.1. The human skeletal remains: supplementary material –
Jared Beatrice 4.2. Summary of the human skeletal remains from the Baptistery –
Jared Beatrice 6.1. Catalogue of coins from the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House, up to
c. AD 600 –
T. Sam N. Moorhead 6.2. Excavated coins by context and period –
T. Sam N. Moorhead 7.1. Catalogue of coins from the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House 9th to 17th century –
Pagona Papadopoulou
