Butrint 5: life and death at a Mediterranean port : the non-ceramic finds from the Triconch Palace

378 Pages·19.365 MB·English

by  William Bowden.

BUTRINT 5
LIFE AND DEATH AT A MEDITERRANEAN PORT
THE NON-CERAMIC FINDS FROM THE TRICONCH PALACE
Butrint Archaeological Monograph Series:
1. Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994–1999
Richard Hodges, William Bowden and Kosta Lako
2. Roman Butrint: An Assessment
Inge Lyse Hansen and Richard Hodges
3. Butrint 3: Excavations at the Triconch Palace
William Bowden and Richard Hodges
4. Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town
Inge Lyse Hansen, Richard Hodges and Sarah Leppard
5. Butrint 5: Life and Death at a Mediterranean Port. The Non-ceramic Finds from the Triconch Palace
William Bowden
6. Excavations on the Vrina Plain
Volume 1: The Lost Roman and Byzantine Suburb
Simon Greenslade
Volume 2: The Finds
Simon Greenslade
Volume 3: The Roman and Late Antique Pottery from the Vrina Plain Excavations
Paul Reynolds
Butrint Archaeological Monographs
BUTRINT 5
LIFE AND DEATH AT A
MEDITERRANEAN PORT
THE NON-CERAMIC FINDS
FROM THE TRICONCH PALACE
William Bowden

With contributions by
J. Beatrice, T. Fenton, D. Foran, J. Giorgi, C. Isaac, S. Jennings, L. Jenny,
Z. Knapp, A. Livarda, J. Mitchell, T. S. N. Moorhead, M. Mutolo, P. Papadopoulou,
A. Powell, C. Rauzi, P. De Rijk, K. Stark, J. Wankmiller and J. Westoby
OXBOW BOOKS FOR THE BUTRINT FOUNDATION
Oxford & Philadelphia
Published in the United Kingdom in 2020 by
OXBOW BOOKS
The Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
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© Oxbow Books, William Bowden and the individual authors 2020
Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-897-8
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-898-5 (epub)
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number:2019954227
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Front cover: Bone handle (4th to 5th century) from the Triconch Palace (James Barclay-Brown)
Back cover: (top) Gold tetarteron of Basil II (Martin Smith); (middle) Ivory artefact with cross
terminal (c. 5th century) (James Barclay-Brown); (bottom) Copper alloy amulet (5th to 7th century)
(James Barclay-Brown)
For Sally Bowden

Contents
Preface and acknowledgements – William Bowden and Richard Hodges ....................................................xi
1. Introduction – William Bowden ..............................................................................................................1
Summary of the excavated sequence .....................................................................................................1
The archaeological sequence and the material evidence .....................................................................14
2. An investigation of the subsistence base at Butrint: the archaeobotanical evidence ...........................15
Alexandra Livarda and John Giorgi
Sampling and processing methods .........................................................................................................15
Results ....................................................................................................................................................15
Discussion...............................................................................................................................................21
Concluding remarks................................................................................................................................23
3. The faunal remains – William Bowden, Zoe Knapp, Adrienne Powell, and James Westoby ..............25
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................25
Methods ................................................................................................................................................25
The assemblage ....................................................................................................................................26
The Roman/late antique period (Phases 1 to 10): 3rd century to early 7th century ............................27
Age structure and husbandry practices at the late antique Triconch Palace and
Merchant’s House areas ....................................................................................................................31
The medieval period (Phases 12 to 15): early 10th century to 15th century and later........................35
Age structure and husbandry practices at the medieval Triconch Palace and Merchant’s
House areas .......................................................................................................................................38
Discussion .............................................................................................................................................39
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................41
4. The human skeletons from the Triconch Palace and the Merchant’s House
– Jared Beatrice, Todd Fenton, Carolyn Hurst, Lindsey Jenny, Jane Wankmiller,
Michael Mutolo, Christina Rauzi, and David Foran .......................................................................42
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 42
Demographic profile: the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House skeletons ......................................42
The spatial arrangement of the skeletons .............................................................................................48
Skeletal palaeopathology ...................................................................................................................... 55
Discussion: living conditions at late antique and medieval Butrint.....................................................62
Conclusion: life and death at late antique and medieval Butrint .........................................................66
5. Metalworking at the Triconch Palace and the analysis of slags and waste – Patrice de Rijk .............68
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 68
Iron working ......................................................................................................................................... 68
Copper alloy working ........................................................................................................................... 74
viii Contents
Silica-rich slag .......................................................................................................................................75
Other finds .............................................................................................................................................76
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................76
6. The ancient and early medieval coins from the Triconch Palace c. 2nd century BC to c. AD 600
– T. Sam N. Moorhead ......................................................................................................................78
Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................78
The condition of the coins .....................................................................................................................78
Coins per period ....................................................................................................................................78
Deposition of coins ................................................................................................................................83
Mints ......................................................................................................................................................85
Discussion by period .............................................................................................................................87
Possible hoards ......................................................................................................................................93
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................93
7. The middle and late Byzantine, medieval and early modern coins – Pagona Papadopoulou .............95
Byzantine coins (9th to 13th century) ...................................................................................................95
Non-Byzantine coins (late 10th to 12th century) ................................................................................101
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................103
8. The small finds – John Mitchell ..........................................................................................................106
Introduction .........................................................................................................................................106
1. Silver artefacts .................................................................................................................................108
2. Copper alloy artefacts ......................................................................................................................109
3. Iron artefacts ....................................................................................................................................161
4. The iron nails ...................................................................................................................................172
5. Lead artefacts ..................................................................................................................................174
6. Glass artefacts. .................................................................................................................................178
7. Stone artefacts .................................................................................................................................180
8. Ceramic artefacts .............................................................................................................................201
9. Worked ivory and bone ...................................................................................................................208
9. The vessel glass from the Triconch Palace: a catalogue
– Sarah Jennings, with additional contributions from William Bowden and Karen Stark .............218
Introduction .........................................................................................................................................218
The glass as deposited .........................................................................................................................219
The catalogue .......................................................................................................................................220
10. The Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House as lived environments in late antiquity
– William Bowden ............................................................................................................................246
The domus and Triconch Palace (pre-AD 425: Phases 1 to 4) ...........................................................246
The 5th-century domestic occupation (AD 425–500: Phases 5 to 6) .................................................248
The ‘ruralisation’ of the Triconch Palace? (AD 500–50: Phases 7 to 8) ............................................250
Blacksmiths and burials (AD 550–650: Phases 9–10) ........................................................................253
Living and dying in later 6th-century Butrint .....................................................................................255
The Triconch Palace and the archaeology of late antiquity ................................................................256
Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................259
11. Living and dying at the Triconch Palace in the Middle Ages – William Bowden .............................260
Abandonment (mid-7th to early 10th century: Phase 11) ...................................................................260
Urban renewal, soldiers and stock rearing? (10th to 12th century: Phases 12 to 13a) ......................261
Diminishing activity and the severing of the channel link (c. 12th to 14th century:
Phases 13b to 14a) ...........................................................................................................................264
A small Venetian garrison? (c. later 14th to 16th century: Phases 14b to 15) ....................................266
Contents ix
Appendices
4.1. The human skeletal remains: supplementary material – Jared Beatrice .....................................269
4.2. Summary of the human skeletal remains from the Baptistery – Jared Beatrice .........................273
6.1. Catalogue of coins from the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House, up to c. AD 600
– T. Sam N. Moorhead .................................................................................................................275
6.2. Excavated coins by context and period – T. Sam N. Moorhead ..................................................299
7.1. Catalogue of coins from the Triconch Palace and Merchant’s House 9th to 17th century
– Pagona Papadopoulou .............................................................................................................320
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................................327
Index .............................................................................................................................................................340
Colour Plates .................................................................................................................................................351