Organisers: Arkadiusz Sołtysiak (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw), Adam Izdebski (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena)

Session language: English

Date: 22.03.2021

Scales of fragmentation is an unique interdisciplinary project developed in collaboration between the Freie Universität Berlin, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, and the University of Warsaw, co-founded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Narodowe Centrum Nauki. It attempts at understanding the changes in human diet, nutrition, health and subsistence strategies during the transition from Roman Antiquity into the early Middle Ages. It takes as its focus the Eastern Mediterranean (the core lands of the Later Roman Empire) in the period between ca. 300-800 CE. Our main hypothesis – which we will test using the state-of-the-art methods of archaeological science – is that as the Late Roman world system fragmented in the course of Late Antiquity, subsistence strategies were becoming increasingly based on local environmental resources, with important consequences for human nutrition. Diets were becoming more diverse, while at the same time sites with strong connection to the remnant Roman state of the early Middle Ages (Byzantium) maintained at least some elements of their Late Roman subsistence strategies.

International collaboration is crucial to the success of this project. We will work not only across national, but also disciplinary borders. Building on mutual strengths, together we have a chance of making a major contribution to the study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, demonstrating the potential of combined humanistic-scientific approaches. The session organised as a part of the The Past Has a Future! conference will be a good opportunity to gather the collaborators of the project and to discuss the potential of specific regional sources that may be used in developing the synthetic view of the economic and social processes that were triggered by the fall of the Roman Empire. We welcome contributions that cover any kind of evidence (fieldwork archaeology, bioarchaeology, history, natural sciences) related to the human populations living in the Eastern Mediterranean, Southern and South-Eastern Europe and the Near East between 300–800 CE.

 

The session schedule is available here.

 

Speakers and papers with abstracts:

1. Adam Izdebski (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany)

Scales of fragmentation: Bioarchaeological evidence of economic and social transformation from the Late Roman to Early Medieval period in the Eastern Mediterranean

Scales of fragmentation is an interdisciplinary project that attempts at understanding the changes in human diet, nutrition, health and subsistence strategies during the transition from Roman Antiquity into the early Middle Ages.

It takes as its focus the Eastern Mediterranean (the core lands of the Later Roman Empire) in the period between ca. 300-800 CE.

Our main hypothesis – which we will test using the state-of-the-art methods of archaeological science – is that as the Late Roman world system fragmented in the course of Late Antiquity, subsistence strategies were becoming increasingly based on local environmental resources, with important consequences for human nutrition. Diets were becoming more diverse, while at the same time sites with strong connection to the remnant Roman state of the early Middle Ages (Byzantium) maintained at least some elements of their Late Roman subsistence strategies. The project is developed in collaboration between the Freie Universität Berlin, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, and the University of Warsaw, co-founded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the National Science Centre, Poland.

2. Roksana Chowaniec (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland), Girolamo Fiorentino (University of Salento, Lecce, Laboratory of Archebotanics and Paleoecology, Italy), Matilde Stella (University of Salento, Lecce, Laboratory of Archebotanics and Paleoecology, Italy)

Landscape exploitation at ancient Akrai/ Acrae (SE Sicily) from Late Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity: bioarchaeological investigations

The presentation will focus on the recent studies of the landscape exploitation at the ancient town Akrai/Acrae, located in the Hyblaean Mountains, in southeastern Sicily. The town was founded in the Sicilian interior in the 7^th century BC, close to the modern town of Palazzolo Acreide, in the Palazzolo Formation, but the objectives of this presentation focus on tracing the changes and degradation that occurred between the Late Hellenistic period and Late Antiquity. The research comprises the examination of plants (seeds, fruit and charcoals) and animals and shows how intensive exploitation of nature resulted in deforestation, depletion of hydrological resources in the region, but also in changes of farming, which became particularly visible in the Late Roman and Byzantine age. The aim of this presentation is also to reconstruct agricultural and dietary preferences, food production and storage. Preliminary results show that the investigated area was almost continuously occupied and suggest that the landscape, the strategic location of the town and the environmental resources (springs, rivers and forests) were very important in the growth and the development of the ancient center.

3. John Gross (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland)

Analyzing stress from Late Roman to Early Medieval Period in Campania, Italy

Sites in Italy that have been dated to the Late Roman and Early Medieval periods provide opportunities to observe the stress between two populations. Two sites from the Campania region provide such an opportunity to examine stress between two significant periods. Forty individuals from the Grottaminarda collection, stored at the site of Aeclanum in the central region of Campania, Italy, have been dated to the 6^th century AD and 59 individuals from the Early Medieval church site of Roccarainola, in the municipality of Naples, which has a start date in the 7^th Century AD. This study investigates and determines when stress occurred in two population groups and the frequencies between the two sites. Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH), Cribra Orbitalia  (CO), and Porotic Hyperostosis are used in this study to determine the presence of such stress. The dentition will be analysed on all the individuals to determine who has LEH and following the Reid and Dean protocols (2000) to see when the defects occurred. While also observing the skull to determine if CO and PH are present.

4. William Bowden (Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom)

From urban to rural: changing diet and subsistence strategies at Butrint (Albania) in the 5^th to 7^th centuries

This paper presents some of the key findings of major excavations at the Triconch Palace, a major late Roman domus at Butrint in southern Albania. Abandoned as an elite dwelling shortly after AD 420, the domus complex remained a focus of occupation for a further two centuries. Although no longer a focus of elite dwelling, prior to AD 500 the diet of the inhabitants was consistent with earlier patterns from Butrint with pigs and cattle dominant alongside evidence of domestic and wild fowl (the latter indicating hunting). After around AD 500 sheep/goat became dominant in the assemblage, while the material culture also reflects a shift to a more basic level of subsistence. During the 6^th century, the area was partly used for burial. The graves were predominantly those of infants and children whose remains showed poor nutrition and high levels of weaning stress, which apparently contributed to high levels of child mortality. The Triconch Palace assemblage thus indicates an urban area that saw dramatic shifts in health and subsistence during late antiquity. This paper will present an outline of the evidence and offer some possible interpretations.

5. Magdalena T. Srienc (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria), Helmut Schwaiger (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria), Nina Brundke (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria), Thorsten Jakobitsch (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria), Andreas G. Heiss (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria), Alfred Galik (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria), Sabine Ladstätter (Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria)

Living in transitions: Life history and living environments from the Austrian Jauntal valley micro-region ca. 500-900 CE

The period of transition from late antiquity to the early medieval period during the 5^th-6^th century in the Eastern Alpine region is influenced by large-scale migrations and the expansion of Christianity across (Eastern Alpine) Europe. The resulting exchanges of power led to a melting pot of different cultures inhabiting the region of what is today Lower Carinthia, in Austria, such as the Romans, Lombards, Slavs, Ostrogoths, and Avars. Despite the number of historical and archaeological sources, many questions about the development and structure of the medieval human population remain unanswered, particularly on people inhabiting Lower Carinthia. The core information about the early medieval human population derives mainly from cemetery contexts since few settlement contexts have been discovered and analyzed.

The Jauntal valley is located in southern Austria near the Karawanken mountain ridge. Excavations at three cemetery sites have been conducted: the late antique/early medieval cemeteries at Hemmaberg (143 individuals), Globasnitz (422 individuals), and the early medieval cemeteries at Jaunstein (130 individuals). The close spatial and contemporary relationship between the sites, but differing in material culture, create a unique setting in the archaeological and anthropological record during the late-antique/early medieval transition period in the Eastern Alpine region. As a result, this micro-region is an ideal case study to explore the lived experiences by applying bioarchaeological methods to determine the nature of contact and interaction between potential different/differing cultural groups. Currently, three projects headed by the Austrian Archaeological Institute incorporate interdisciplinary bioarchaeological approaches investigating the living conditions and environments of this micro-region.

6. Veronika Pflaum (Museum of Gorenjska, Slovenia)

Archaeology of food in the Gorenjska region, Slovenia

The presentation summarizes some of the results of selected researches conducted in the Gorenjska region in Slovenia and contributing to the findings on nutrition between the Roman period and the High Middle Ages.

Archaeozoological research in Bled, Mošnje and Kranj presented the role of cattle in the diet and economy of the local population in different periods and changes in the size of cattle over time. Palynological research in Lake Bohinj and on Planina pri Jezeru presented changes in afforestation, the presence of meadows and pastures over time, and detected the early appearance of cerealia type, rye and flax pollen. Osteological research performed on the skeletal remains from a large cemetery in Kranj has also identified changes that can be caused by prolonged starvation, chronic malnutrition, avitaminosis (especially lack of vitamins C and D) or anemia. The complex research on kitchen culture in the early Middle Ages, based on the early medieval settlement in Pristava in Bled, included methods of experimental archaeology. Experiments have shown some direct connections or exclusions in the relationship between the shape of vessel, the type of hearth and the food preparation process. Two historical topics are included in the presentation, as well: the climate disruption, which as a result of an as yet unidentified cataclysm of global proportions in 536 affected most of the northern hemisphere for more than a year and caused catastrophic consequences, including severe deprivation and starvation; and secondly, the important role of the forest in the economy of the inhabitants of the Eastern Alps in the early Middle Ages for grazing bees and pigs.

7. Gabriel Vasile (“Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology, Bucharest, Romania)

From Roman Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Human skeletal material for the analysis of stable isotopes from necropolises of Wallachia and Scythia Minor (Romania)

The withdrawal of Roman troops and administration from Dacia, at the end of the 3^rd century AD, was followed in Wallachia by the appearance of migrant populations (Goths, Gepids, Huns, Avars, Proto-Bulgarians). This is proved by the funeral rituals, which have changed several times (from cremation to inhumation and vice-versa). In order to trace the socio-economic changes in the space between the Carpathians and the Danube, we have available skeletal material from three archaeological sites: Corabia (Olt County, 30 skeletons, cremation and inhumation, Roman period), Boldești-Grădiștea (Prahova County, 15 skeletons, inhumation, Sântana de Mureș-Cerneahov culture), Brăilița (Brăila County, 45 skeletons, cremation, Dridu culture). We mention the fact that we have very little information about the funerary phenomena of the 5^th-7^th centuries on the Lower Danube.

The territory between the Danube and the Black Sea (Scythia Minor) continued to be an integral part of the Empire for about four centuries. Funeral manifestations are characterized by biritual cemeteries, cremation or inhumation. In order to follow the changes in diet, subsistence and mobility (local Christians or pagan populations in the process of Christianization?) of the populations from Scythia Minor, based on stable isotope analyses, we can take dental and bone samples from five necropolises: Satu Nou (Constanța County, 30 skeletons, mainly cremation, Roman-Byzantine period), Nufăru (Tulcea County, 10 skeletons, inhumation, Roman-Byzantine period), Isaccea (Tulcea County, 50 skeletons, inhumation, Roman-Byzantine period), Mangalia (Constanța County, 25 skeletons, inhumation, Roman-Byzantine period) and Istria (Constanța County, 25 skeletons, mainly burial, early Middle Ages).

8. Ali Metin Büyükkarakaya (Hacettepe University, Turkey), Elena Vorobyeva (Koc University, Turkey)

Life at the Rural Settlement in Asia Minor: Bioarchaeological Research at the Juliopolis (Iouliopolis) Necropolis

The archaeological site of Juliopolis (Iouliopolis), flooded in 1954 during the construction of the Sarıyar dam, is located 122 km northwest of Ankara and has been a subject of rescue excavations by the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations since 2009. The campaigns focused on the part of the settlement that remained above water, mainly its necropolis with 749 graves unearthed so far. Juliopolis is one of the largest necropoleis in Asia Minor and archaeological evidence together with radiocarbon dating confirm its usage throughout Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. It represents a unique diachronic dataset for multidisciplinary research of its inhabitants’ lifestyles, population structures, and well-being. This is the focus of the Juliopolis Anthropological Research Project that employs anthropological analysis, archaeological chemistry, and digital technologies.

Dietary habits in the Roman Imperial and Early Byzantine periods are examined through stable isotope analysis of 42 bone samples with the intention to study possible fluctuations in isotope ratios linked to a particular period, burial context, as well as age and sex of an individual. Average isotope ratios of Juliopolis are expected to be consistent with those at other contemporary sites, i.e. Sagalassos, Ephesus, Hierapolis, and Pergamon. There will likely be a number of dietary outliers whose presence can be explained by social factors and high human mobility at the site. Since this is currently work in progress, the main objective of our conference paper is to introduce the project and to discuss it with a wider community of researchers.

9. Nino Tavartkiladze (Department of Archaeology, Tbilisi State University, Georgia)

Late Antique-Early Medieval period Archaeological and Anthropological review of the Georgian population

Late Antique- Early Medieval period covers an important period of Georgian history, one of the characteristics of which was an increase in the arrival of various ethnic groups. In 30 BC. Octavian took the power and ended the republic in Rome, which led to the end of the so-called Hellenistic period and began a Roman Empire, or late-antique Period. By this period, significant ethnical changes took place in the whole Caucasus population. Important are the facts that hint at relationships between various ethnic groups, ethnic settlement waves, which could have been the cause of the anthropological characteristics of the population. As for the early middle ages, the early feudal period of Georgian history (IV-X centuries) is filled with important historical events such as internal social-economical development, as well as in terms of external political relationships. It is considered that to grasp the characteristics of the modern Georgian population, an anthropological study of the early Middle Ages population of Georgia is of crucial importance.

Our research-based on the Georgian sites from a different region: We study 31 different Late Antique sites and 48 Early Medieval sites. By this period, materials from the Late Antique period from Georgia consisted of 207 Individuals, 120 of which were male and 75 female and 1 Child. From Early Medieval period sites, we studied 309 individuals from 48 sites, 115 of which were female, 180 male, and 1 infant. We conclude the Georgian population age pyramid, types of burial and physiological stress markers.

10. Anna Karligkioti (Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus), Mahmoud Mardini (Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus),  Chryssa Vergidou (Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus), Efthymia Nikita (Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus)

Current directions in Eastern Mediterranean/ Near Eastern bioarchaeological research in STARC

This presentation briefly outlines ongoing bioarchaeological research conducted at The Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Centre (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute, focused on Eastern Mediterranean/ Near Eastern assemblages dating between 300-800 CE. Our research interests generally span prehistory to 18^th century CE populations, aiming at elucidating diachronically patterns of health and disease, diet, mobility and overall life quality. At the moment, three projects in our research team cover part of the SCALoFRAG time span, namely the study of skeletal remains from 7^th century CE Amathus (Cyprus), the Roman Province of Macedonia (Greece), as well as Roman Tyre, Beirut and Byblos (Lebanon). The research questions fall under the abovementioned broad scope of bioarchaeological research in STARC; however, they are context-specific for each assemblage. As such, for Amathus, the emphasis is on identifying bioarchaeological changes between the era before and after the Arab invasions, for Greece we test dietary patterns and the degree to which they may offer insights to the character ‘Romanization’ acquired in different regions, while for Lebanon, we examine the relative ‘status’ of the population in three Phoenician cities, which had diverse economies, also within the broader context of ‘Romanization’. These projects involve various partners, with most notable the national departments/ephorates of antiquities; however, we are always keen to expand our collaborative network, especially among other institutions that actively engage in bioarchaeological research in the region.

11. Arkadiusz Sołtysiak (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland), Tomasz Waliszewski (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland)

Chhim and Jiyeh – Two problematic cemeteries in Lebanon

During long-lasting activities of Polish archaeologists in central Lebanon, three Roman / Byzantine cemeteries have been found. One of them (Barja) is not securely dated, so it won’t be present here in detail. The other consists of two burials inside a Christian basilica at Chhim, a village of olive-makers in the hills between Saida and Beirut. The burial in the narthex was a relatively narrow pit, densely filled with carefully arranged human bones of a few dozen individuals. Both adult and subadult individuals were present there, but – if any sex assessment was possible – no females have been identified. The last site is Jiyeh, tentatively identified as ancient Porphyreon, with a large area of graves cut into the rock c. 1km north of the town. Although this cemetery was badly damaged by modern building activity, strongly eroded human remains were retrieved from several contexts, representing the population of the Late Roman town.

12. Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin (Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, United Kingdom), Arkadiusz Sołtysiak (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland)

Isotopic evidence of an environmental shift at the fall of the Kushite kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BC – AD 350), Sudan

The circumstances surrounding the collapse of the Kushite Kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BC – AD 350) in present-day Sudan remain speculative. Previously investigated causative factors include political and economic instability, and social unrest. A recent climate and environmental changes hypothesis has been investigated using stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of human and animal dental enamel in 79 samples from 13 archaeological sites located between the First Nile Cataract and the Blue Nile. The results show increasing ẟ¹⁸O values towards the end of the Meroitic and in the Post-Meroitic period suggestive of an environmental shift towards more arid conditions that likely contributed to the fall of the Kushite kingdom.

13. Robert J. Stark (Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Canada), Joanna A. Ciesielska (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland), Artur Obłuski (Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland)

An Investigation of Lay and Monastic Diets at the medieval Makurian Site of Ghazali, Sudan

The Late Antique period in Nubia (ca. 350-550 CE) saw the emergence of three independent kingdoms: Nobadia, Makuria, and Alwa. A cultural transition that would come to define these three kingdoms over the next thousand years was the widespread adoption of Christianity in the ca. 6^th century CE, having been introduced to Nubia by direct envoy from Byzantium. Along with conversion to Christianity came the rise of monastic settlements in Nubia, having been initially influenced from neighbouring Egypt, where the monastic tradition had already been well established. To date only thirteen Nubian monastic sites have been confidently identified, of which the site of Ghazali (ca. 680-1275 C.E.) in the Bayuda desert of Sudan has been one of the most extensively documented. Of the four cemeteries identified at Ghazali, two were utilized by lay populations, one by the resident monastic community, and one by an as yet unclear group. The presence of both lay and monastic populations in the same area provide an excellent opportunity for assessing diversity in dietary practices between these diverse yet inter-related communities residing at and around Ghazali monastery. This presentation utilizes analyses of ¹³C and ¹⁵N values from femoral collagen to assess the nature of dietary practices adopted by the lay and monastic communities at Ghazali. The results of isotopic analyses suggest a variable though broadly similar diet for both lay and monastic groups, bringing into question the extent of dietary limitations adopted by monks, access to foodstuffs and dietary practices in desertic medieval Sudan.