Not the End of the World? Post-Classical Decline and Recovery in Rural Anatolia

Between the foundation of Constantinople as capital of the eastern half of the Roman Empire in 330 CE and its sack by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 CE, the Byzantine Empire underwent a full cycle from political-economic stability, through rural insecurity and agrarian decline, and back to renewed prosperity. These stages plausibly correspond to the phases of over-extension (K), subsequent release (Ω) and recovery (α) of the Adaptive Cycle in Socio-Ecological Systems. Here we track and partly quantify the consequences of those changes in different regions of Anatolia, firstly for rural settlement (via regional archaeological surveys) and secondly for land cover (via pollen analysis). We also examine the impact of climate changes on the agrarian system. While individual histories vary, the archaeological record shows a major demographic decline between ca .650 and ca. 900 CE in central and southwestern Anatolia, which was then a frontier zone between Byzantine and Arab armies. In these regions, and also in northwest Anatolia, century-scale trends in pollen indicate a substantial decline in the production of cereal and tree crops, and a smaller decline in pastoral activity. During the subsequent recovery (α) phase after 900 CE there was strong regional differentiation, with central Anatolia moving to a new economic system based on agro-pastoralism, while lowland areas of northern and western Anatolia returned to the cultivation of commercial crops such as olive trees. The extent of recovery in the agrarian economy was broadly predictable by the magnitude of its preceding decline, but the trajectories of recovery varied between different regions

Diversity in pig husbandry from the Classical-Hellenistic to the Byzantine periods: an integrated dental analysis of Düzen Tepe and Sagalassos assemblages (Turkey)

Ethnographical, historical and archaeological evidence suggests that a great diversity in pig husbandry may have existed in the past. However, such diversity remains difficult to document from traditional zooarchaeological methods and its study may necessitate the implementation of combined methodological approaches. An integrated dental analysis, combining kill-off patterns, traditional and geometric morphometrics, linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), microwear and stable isotope (δ18O,δ13C, δ15N) data, has been performed on assemblages from the neighbouring sites of Düzen Tepe and Sagalassos (SW Turkey) dated to Classical-Hellenistic to Byzantine time periods. Results indicate a diachronic evolution in slaughter practices, and a gradual decrease in pig mean size from the Early-Middle Imperial to the Byzantine. The seasonality of physiological stressing events remains the same, although their intensity varies through time. During the Early Byzantine period (CE 450–700), pig demographic management is characterized by two birth seasons, and a great diversity in diet and scale of management occurred, from free-ranging pigs – whether or not given food supplement - to closely confined wellwatered and more omnivorous pigs

Archaeology, Hydrogeology and Geomythology in the Stymphalos Valley

This paper uses the results of recent excavations of the city of Stymphalos and environmental studies on the floor of the Stymphalos polje to examine the role of both the lake and springs in the history of the classical city. Associated with Artemis and famed for Herakles' sixth labour (killing of the Stymphalian birds), the city has a rich (geo)mythology. While this narrative has been associated solely with the lake, it is argued here that this geomythology was part of the city's relationship to environmental unpredictability and the relationship between water supply and water loss. Seen in this context, the construction of the fountain-house above the contemporary lakeshore is symbolic of the importance of springs to the foundation and sustainability of the classical city during both the Greek and Roman Periods. Through these archaeological and environmental analyses, we seek to illustrate the complimentary, but complex nature of archaeological, hydrogeological and palaeoenvironmental data that intersect in the geomythological landscapes of Mediterranean antiquity