Luke A. Lavan

Late Antique Urban Topography: From Architecture to Human Space

Writing about the late antique city is dominated by topographical mapping, architectural studies and site syntheses. These approaches operate within a conception of space as the location of points within an imaginary grid. However, other notions of space exist. This paper proposes a move away from the location and description of physical remains towards a study of human spatiality. It also seeks to re-establish the study of topography at a general, rather than site-focused level. The limitations of existing approaches and the needs of late antique evidence are explored. An alternative topographical approach is suggested, based on studying ‘activity spaces’ (human activities in their total material setting) instead of simple buildings. This gives special prominence to texts, but seeks to combine all kinds of evidence. The methodological issues involved in doing this are considered. Possible implications for archaeological field practice are also explored.

The Political Topography of the Late Antique City: Activity Spaces in Practice

The political topography of the late antique city is a subject that has been largely neglected. This is largely because research has concentrated on new buildings, mainly churches, rather on than the re-use of older structures and because textual evidence has been neglected. In this article aspects of political topography are examined in terms of ‘activity spaces’. This involves studying discrete units of human activity, plus their material setting, whether this involves a specific building type or not. All source types are used to create a general narrative, which here mainly concerns cities of the East and Central Mediterranean. Emphasis is placed on changes that this approach can bring to our understanding of urban life.

COMMERCIAL SPACE IN LATE ANTIQUITY

Commercial space in the ancient city involved an integration of retail with small-scale craft production. This chapter concentrates on the evidence for a number of possible activities in shops and small workshops which functioned as points of manufacture and sale in cities. Literary sources provide some descriptions of commercial activities taking place in cities such as Rome, Carthage, Constantinople, Antioch, Emesa, Edessa, Beirut and Alexandria. According to literary sources, workshops for working and shaping glass were prohibited in towns due to the severe danger of fire. Because textiles are only preserved under unusual conditions, most of our knowledge of cloth-working and trade in Late Antiquity originates from textual, iconographic and epigraphic sources. Taverns and restaurants must have been present at most antique sites. However, no consistent definition exists for how they might be recognised in the archaeological record. Keywords: Alexandria; cloth-working; commercial space; Late Antiquity; literary sources; taverns

The Potential of Laser Scanning for the Study of Roman Buildings

This article argues that the proper study of Roman architecture is hampered by poor plans and the poor literacy of scholars in using plans. The problem is especially acute for the late antique period. In order to illustrate this, a case study of the Column of Constantine is considered, within the uncertain topographical context of Constantinople. There then follows an exposition of experimental work using laser scanning, which seeks to establish a number of simple methods by which new, more accurate plans can be rapidly produced. These new records can also provide important new information pertinent to the structural and decorative histories of Roman buildings, and the street systems in which they are set. Republican, early imperial and late antique structures from Pompeii and Ostia are examined.

Local Economies in Late Antiquity? Some thoughts

the goal of this book is to probe the significance of local exchange in the economic life of Late Antiquity by focusing on inland regions not readily exposed to sea-borne commerce. these regions found it more difficult to participate in inter-regional trade because of high transport costs involved in moving goods either by river, or especially by road, in comparison to those moved by sea. Our conference held in London in 2010 sought to bring together papers presenting evidence of either production or exchange in regions that were either entirely landlocked, or which had both coastal and inland regions which could be compared. thus, the relative significance of local versus interregional commerce might be revealed, suggesting which was more important as a motor of prosperity in different regions. the invited authors have engaged with this agenda to varying degrees. Some writers have stuck closely to evidence without speculating much about the economy; others have presented pertinent but fragmentary data sets which must be regarded as provisional; a few disagree with some of the premises of the conference, but for good solid reasons. Many have not respected a split between production and exchange, again with some justification. the papers of fentress, bessard, Evans, bonifay and Vokaer have addressed the problématique of the meeting most closely, but all papers have a great number of pertinent observations to make. In devising this conference, I intended to try to rebalance the study of the economy away from the now well-attested interregional trade in bulk agricultural goods, affecting littoral regions around the Mediterranean, which was driven either by political or commercial imperatives.1 rather, the meeting sought to showcase and explain the vitality of inland regions marginal to both processes. I personally have never been entirely convinced of the explanatory power invested either in the Mediterranean

The Agorai of Sagalassos in Late Antiquity: An Interpretive Study

This article investigates the history of the agorai and minor plazas, excavated at Sagalassos in SW Turkey, during late antiquity (A.D. 283 to ca. 650). It presents new field observations made by the author, based on a survey of stone surface markings, epigraphic context, and spoliation history, and offers an interpretive study of these spaces in terms of their function during the 4th–7th centuries A.D. An assessment of the significance of these observations for the nature of urban government in this period is also offered.

The Potential of Ceramic Building Materials in Understanding Late Antique Archaeology

AbstractThis paper outlines the potential in the study of ceramic building material (CBM) recovered from archaeological contexts, and how it can shed light on archaeological questions. It can contribute to the dating of archaeological deposits and sites. As a large artefact, which can be subsequently reused in Antiquity, it can provide important information about site formation processes. The knowledge that large quantities of this material are not locally made, and are in fact part of wider regional distribution networks, makes CBM an extremely useful means of tracing ancient trading patterns. The proportions of different CBM forms in an assemblage can help inform us about the nature of a deposit, as can traces of sooting and mortar on recovered CBM. This material also provides important evidence for reconstructing the appearance of a building or neighbourhood and its change over time. A methodology and sampling strategy, which has been developed to elucidate this information in an efficient manner, is also presented.

Distinctive Field Methods for Late Antiquity: Some Suggestions

AbstractOur understanding of late antique archaeology has now reached a point where it is possible to suggest specific field methods better adapted to the material evidence and historical problems of the period, at least for urban archaeology. We need to be more sensitive to patterns of evidential survival that are particular to this era, and especially to engage with the evidential traces provided by patterns of reuse, and by the slight relaxation of civic rules seen in the period. If we focus on stone surface archaeology, study spolia contexts, behavioural epigraphy, small-scale repairs and decorative traces, then we can obtain a great deal of information from poorly excavated sites which were previously considered archaeologically barren. This may, perhaps, reveal the futility of clearance archaeology, which is still being practised on some eastern sites.

MATERIAL SPATIALITY IN LATE ANTIQUITY: SOURCES, APPROACHES AND FIELD METHODS

Whilst architecture is limited in its ability to provide a basis for past spatial functions, it can still have an important role to play. Visual reconstruction is certainly the most obvious goal of material spatiality, but objects themselves are also freshly illuminated though contextual analysis, as is evident from recent work on Roman artefacts. One of the most widely documented transformations of Late Antiquity is the change in use often found in elite domestic space, in both urban and rural contexts. Field archaeology plays an important role in the reconstruction of the spatial configurations of artefacts. In the eastern Mediterranean the focus of research in most urban excavations is directed to the political heart of the town and its major public buildings, the remains of which are frequently still visible on the surface. Keywords: archaeology; architecture; domestic space; eastern Mediterranean; Late Antiquity; material spatiality; Roman; visual reconstruction

Political Space in Late Antiquity

Political, social and religious space in Late Antiquity differs from commercial, productive and domestic space for a number of reasons. Architecture can be a useful source, as political and religious buildings had distinctive forms, but these forms did not always relate closely to the exact function of buildings. It has long been stressed that imperial and royal palaces were residences, built in the tradition of elite domestic architecture. Praetoria combine residential and administrative activities in the headquarters of a government official. Law courts have left no stratigraphic trace. Sources are mainly literary texts or depictions. The internal evolution of fort plans has mainly been discussed as evidence of reduced unit-size and/or an increasingly defensive mentality, by Coelle, Nicasie and others. Keywords: architecture; fort plans; Late Antiquity; law courts; political space; praetoria