Description
Book SynopsisSuburbia and Rural Landscapes in Medieval Sicily presents the results of the main ongoing archaeological and historical research focusing on medieval suburbia and rural sites in Sicily. It is thus intended to update traditional views regarding the evolution of this territory from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages by bringing into the picture new data from archaeological excavations undertaken at several sites across Sicily, new information from surveys of written sources, and new reflections based on the analysis of both material and documentary sources. The volume is divided into thematic areas: Urbanscapes, suburbia, hinterlands; Inland and mountainous landscapes; Changes in rural settlement patterns; and Defence and control of the territory. The essays underline the fundamental contribution of archaeological research in Sicily to the debate on the formation of early medieval landscapes at the crossroads between the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. A comparison with other research areas and constant dialogue with historical sources constitute essential elements for advancing our knowledge of the rural and suburban world of Sicily as a case study illustrating wider Mediterranean dynamics.
Table of ContentsIntroduction – Angelo Castrorao Barba, Giuseppe Mandalà
I - Urbanscapes, Suburbia, Hinterlands
Chapter 1: The Topographical Context of Palermo in the Islamic Age: New Archaeological Research – Stefano Vassallo
Chapter 2: The King’s Hospital in Norman Palermo: San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi in Context – Giuseppe Mandalà, María de los Ángeles Utrero Agudo
Chapter 3: The Process of the Creation and Decline of the Local Religious and Economic Centres of Medieval Sicily: a Case Study of the Santa Maria di Campogrosso Monastery – Sławomir Moździoch, Barbara Szubert, Ewa Moździoch
Chapter 4: A Pattern of Changes in Southern Sicily: Agrigento and its Hinterland between the Byzantine and Norman Periods – Maria Serena Rizzo
II - Inland and Mountainous Landscapes
Chapter 5: Contessa Entellina: Rural vs. Urban Medieval Landscapes in Inner Western Sicily – Alessandro Corretti, Claudio Filippo Mangiaracina
Chapter 6: The Settlement of Contrada Castro (Corleone, Palermo) between the Byzantine and Islamic Periods (7th-11th c. AD) – Angelo Castrorao Barba, Roberto Miccichè, Filippo Pisciotta, Claudia Speciale, Carla Aleo Nero, Pasquale Marino, Giuseppe Bazan
Chapter 7: The Madonie Mountains Area during the Norman Age: from al-Idrīsī to Archaeology – Rosa Maria Cucco
Chapter 8: Water Management, Territorial Organisation and Settlement in Calatafimi (Trapani, Western Sicily) – José María Martín Civantos, Rocco Corselli, Maria Teresa Bonet García
Chapter 9: Late Antique and Early Medieval Settlement Patterns in the Inland Landscape of the Erei Upland (Enna, Central Sicily) – Francesca Valbruzzi
III - Change in Rural Settlement Patterns
Chapter 10: Historical and Archaeological Data for the Ancient Road Network in Western Sicily from the Roman Period to the Norman Age – Aurelio Burgio, Alessandra Canale
Chapter 11: The End of Antiquity and the New Point of Departure in the Medieval Settlement System of Southern and Central Sicily – Johannes Bergemann
Chapter 12: After the Late Roman Villa of Piazza Armerina: the Islamic Settlement and its Pits – Patrizio Pensabene, Paolo Barresi
Chapter 13: Etna’s Northwestern Slopes between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages – Andrea Maria Gennaro
IV – Defence and Control
Chapter 14: The Making of the Frontier in the 9th Century. Rocchicella di Mineo (CT) and Rural Landscapes in Eastern Sicily – Lucia Arcifa
Chapter 15: Byzantine and Islamic Villages, ‘Rupestrian Settlements’ and Fortifications in Southeastern Sicily: the LAMIS Project – Giuseppe Cacciaguerra
