Description
Book SynopsisCore tourist sites for the classical world are the ruins of those many and scattered examples of ''lost'' and abandoned towns - from Pompeii to Timgad to Ephesus and Petra. Usually studied for their peaks and growth, rarely are their ends explored in detail, to consider the processes of loss and also to trace their ''afterlives'', when they were often robbed for materials even if still hosting remnant populations.This volume breaks new ground by examining the phenomenon of urban loss and abandonment from Roman to medieval times across the former Roman Empire. Through a series of case studies two main aspects are examined: firstly, the sequences and chronologies of loss of sites, roles, structures, people, identity; and secondly the methodologies of study of these sites - from early discoveries and exploitation of such sites to current archaeological and scientific approaches (notably excavation, urban survey, georadar and geophysics) to studying these crucial centres and their fates. H
Trade Review'In sum, a well-produced and thought-provoking volume; I particularly liked the neat solution used to integrate the colour plates, reproduced separately, into their respective articles using black and white thumbnail images in the text.' Antiquity 'This volume joins an extensive and still-growing body of literature on classical and Late Antique urbanism, as well as considerations of "decline and fall' within the later Roman empire. It breaks significant new ground by combining these two areas of research within a single volume and by developing and maintaining a strong theme of new ideas related to the challenges and potential of archaeological research focused on the development, abandonment, and later activities of former urban centers. ... a must-buy...' American Journal of Archaeology ’Il volume [...] rappresenta un contributo prezioso... I risultati delle ricerche e le nuove conoscenze portate alla luce in questo volume, con le figure di alta qualità , rappresentano un apprezzabile passo avanti... ’ [’This volume represents an important contribution... The results of this research and the new knowledge brought to light in this volume, with high quality images, represent a great stride forward...’] Hortus Artium Medievalium (HAM) 'This valuable book lets the archaeology ’talk’ far more in showing the changes, losses and transformations to a variety of late Roman cities and in revealing their medieval successors.' Medieval Archaeology ’... breaks significant new ground ... by developing and maintaining a strong theme of new ideas related to the challenges and potential of archaeological research focused on the development, abandonment, and later activities of former urban centers. The included case studies offer something for specialists and students of nearly every region of classical and Late Antique archaeology ... it is a must-buy for academic libraries ... The volume offers much for students and scholars within classics, ancient history,
Table of ContentsContents: Preface; Vrbes extinctae: archaeologies of and approaches to abandoned classical cities Neil Christie; Classe: archaeologies of a lost city, Andrea Augenti; Potentia: a lost new town, Frank M.R. Vermeulen; After the rats: Cosa in the late Empire and early Middle Ages, Enrico Cirelli and Elizabeth Fentress; Urban change on the Balearics in late Antiquity, Miguel Ãngel Cau; Recopolis: Vrbs Relicta? An historico-archaeological debate, Isabel Velázquez and Gisella Ripoll; Deciphering 'lost' urban landscapes at Cyrene, Gareth Sears, Vince Gaffney, Chris Gaffney, Richard Cuttler, Helen Goodchild and Susan Kane; An 'Ice Age settling on the Roman Empire': post-Roman Butrint between strategy and serendipity, William Bowden and Richard Hodges; Memory and loss in the late antique cities of Knossos and Sparta, Rebecca J. Sweetman; Hierapolis of Phrygia: the drawn-out demise of an Anatolian city, Paul Arthur; Dura deserta: the death and afterlife of Dura-Europos, J.A. Baird; Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester, Hampshire, UK): an early medieval extinction, Michael Fulford; Concluding remarks: a tale of many (lost) cities: past, present and future, Andrea Augenti; Index.
