Suchergebnisse

The town of Ravenna, in northern Italy, today contains eight buildings listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, all dating between the fifth and the sixth centuries - a time when it was one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean. The Roman town underwent a major transformation at the beginning of the fifth century, from a small Roman 'Municipium' to an Imperial capital. This role called for new buildings of power, housing the Imperial Court and the related bureaucratic body, a Bishop's Palace and other monuments suche as the Circus. In addition this walls, churches and others community zones were created; all following late antique models such as Milan, the previous capital, and of course Constantinople. An expansion of Ravenna's infrastructures was also necessary, in particular new roads and sewer system, a port, warehouses, and aqueducts. From the fifth century to the Early Medieval period Ravenna flourished as one of the main centres of North Italy and during this period its archbishop played an important role in the religion, politics and economy of the region. This paper seeks to illustrate the archaeological evidence related to the 'longue durée' of the urban centre of Ravenna as a fulcrum of power and control.

The town of Ravenna, in northern Italy, today contains eight buildings listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, all dating between the fiflh and the sixth centuries - a time when it was one of the most important cities of the Mediterranean. The Roman town under­went a major tranformation at the beginning of the fifth century, from a small Roman 'Municipium' to an Imperial capital. This role called far new buildings of power, housing the Imperial Court and the related bureaucratic body, a Bishop's Palace and other monu­ments such as the Circus. In addition city-walls, churches and others community zones were created; all following late antique models such as Milan, the previous capital, and of course Constantinople. An expansion ef Ravenna's infrastructures was also necessary, in particular new roads and sewer system, a port, warehouses, and aqueducts. From the fifth century to the Early Medieval period Ravenna flourished as one of the main centres of North Italy and during this period its archbishop played an important role in the religion, politics and economy of the region. This paper seeks to illustrate the archaeological evidence related lo the 'langue durée' of the urban center of Ravenna as a fulcrum of power and control.

Here we present the Compendium Isotoporum Medii Aevi (CIMA), an open-access database gathering more than 50,000 isotopic measurements for bioarchaeological samples located within Europe and its margins, and dating between 500 and 1500 CE. This multi-isotope (δ(13)C, δ(15)N, δ(34)S, δ(18)O, and (87)Sr/(86)Sr) archive of measurements on human, animal, and plant archaeological remains also includes a variety of supporting information that offer, for instance, a taxonomic characterization of the samples, their location, and chronology, in addition to data on social, religious, and political contexts. Such a dataset can be used to identify data gaps for future research and to address multiple research questions, including those related with studies on medieval human lifeways (i.e. human subsistence, spatial mobility), characterization of paleo-environmental and -climatic conditions, and on plant and animal agricultural management practices. Brief examples of such applications are given here and we also discuss how the integration of large volumes of isotopic data with other types of archaeological and historical data can improve our knowledge of medieval Europe.

Spanning the period between the 2nd and 9th centuries, this volume collects 45 papers dealing with the Adriatic area that aim to create a new dataset for the historical reconstruction of processes related to forms of settlement, aspects of production, and trade and the movement of pottery and other craft products between its two coasts