Studies on Medieval Sicily are currently renewed by research undertaken by different teams from v... more Studies on Medieval Sicily are currently renewed by research undertaken by different teams from various regions of Europe (Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria, Poland). Post-roman Sicily is a sort of palimpsest of Mediterranean dynamics in which continuity, transformation, innovation and resilience were connected to a wider frame of political change: role in the Byzantine State, Islamic conquest, Norman domain and the emergence of Swabian.
The challenge of approaching Medieval Sicily with this proposal is to analyse and interpret the materiality of these many 'transitions' on archaeological records.
This session aims to show the main results of those ongoing archaeological and historical works at medieval suburbia and rural sites of Sicily. It is thus intended to update traditional views regarding the evolution of this territory from Late Antique to the Middle Ages by bringing into consideration new data recovered from archaeological excavations undertaken in several sites across Sicily, new information coming from the review of written accounts and new reflections from contrasting both material and documentary records.
In particular, the session will address the following topics:
- Dynamics of rural settlement patterns.
- Suburbium between countryside and city.
- Landscape of power: churches, monasteries and palaces.
- Material culture and economic trajectories beyond the cities.
This session will be therefore a necessary space of discussion between the different European scholars currently engaged in the study of Medieval Sicily in order to compare data, results, methods and new theories.
From the 9th to 14th centuries AD, Sicily experienced a series of rapid and quite radical changes... more From the 9th to 14th centuries AD, Sicily experienced a series of rapid and quite radical changes in political regime, but the impact of these regime changes on the lives of the people that experienced them remains largely elusive within the historical narrative. We use a multi-faceted lipid residue approach to give direct chemical evidence of the use of 248 everyday domestic ceramic containers from Islamic and post-Islamic contexts in western Sicily to aid our understanding of daily habits throughout this period of political change. A range of commodities was successfully identified, including animal fats, vegetable products, fruit products (potentially including wine) and plant resins. The study highlights the complexity of residues in early medieval Mediterranean society as, in many cases, mixtures of commodities were observed reflecting sequential cooking events and/or the complex mixtures reflective of medieval recipes. However, overall, there were no clear changes in the compo...
Sicily, during the 9th-12thcentury AD, thrived politically, economically, and culturally under Is... more Sicily, during the 9th-12thcentury AD, thrived politically, economically, and culturally under Islamic political rule and the capital of Palermo stood as a cultural and political centre in the Mediterranean Islamic world. However, to what extent the lifeways of the people that experienced these regimes were impacted during this time is not well understood, particularly those from lesser studied rural contexts. This paper presents the first organic residue analysis of 134 cooking pots and other domestic containers dating to the 9th-12thcentury in order to gain new insights into the culinary practices during this significant period. Ceramics from three sites in the urban capital of Palermo and from the rural town of Casale San Pietro were analysed and compared. The multi-faceted organic residue analysis identified a range of commodities including animal products, vegetables, beeswax, pine and fruit products in the ceramics, with a complex mixing of resources observed in many cases, ac...
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
A number of associated features and artefacts in the workshops at Portmahomack (Ross-shire) can b... more A number of associated features and artefacts in the workshops at Portmahomack (Ross-shire) can be related to the preservation and finishing of hides, and it is argued that this included the preparation of parchment for the production of manuscripts. The archaeological correlates of making parchment and methods for distinguishing it from other types of leather-working are discussed.
Il testo che segue riguarda la nostra ricerca archeologica sulla Sicilia bizantina, islamica e no... more Il testo che segue riguarda la nostra ricerca archeologica sulla Sicilia bizantina, islamica e normanno-sveva e in particolare riporta le ultime scoperte a Castronovo di Sicilia, che includono il riconoscimento di una chiesa del XII-XIII secolo sul Monte Kassar, la continuazione dello scavo a Casale San Pietro e una sintesi delle nuove ricognizioni nelle sue vicinanze. Quest’ultimo sito rimane il focus principale del Progetto ERC sictransit, ma in questa sede diamo anche conto dei primi risultati di un’indagine piu ampia, che include una grossa quantita di reperti che provengono da tutta la Sicilia da siti scavati in precedenza (Fig 1). Questi reperti consistino in ceramiche, metalli e vetri assieme a resti umani, animali e vegetali, che vengono analizzati nei laboratori delle universita partner del progetto: York, Roma e Lecce. I principali metodi scientifici applicati sono: analisi tipologiche, petrografiche e del contenuto organico delle ceramiche da cucina e da trasporto; degli ...
Il progetto Sicily in Transition e nato dalla collaborazione delle Universita di York e di Roma T... more Il progetto Sicily in Transition e nato dalla collaborazione delle Universita di York e di Roma Tor Vergata, con il pieno ap-poggio della Soprintendenza ai BB. CC. AA di Palermo. La finalita della nostra ricerca e quella di analizzare, attraverso il registro archeologico, in quale modo i mutamenti di regime politico hanno influenzato organizzazione, composizione e stili di vita delle popolazioni soggette. L’arco di tempo considerato va dal VI al XIII secolo, periodo nel quale la Sicilia ha visto diverse dominazioni: quella bizantina, islamica, normanna e sveva. Sicily in Transition prevede di analizzare con metodi in parte nuovi, in parte piu tradizionali, sia insiemi di reperti (ecofatti e manufatti) prodotti da precedenti scavi, sia di acquisire dati attraverso nuove indagini. In particolare gli scriventi hanno scelto di indagare un’area molto promettente della Sicilia centrale: il territorio di Castronovo di Sicilia. Qui, in due campagne di ricerca durate ciascuna quattro settima...
La citta di Castronovo di Sicilia (PA) e i suoi dintorni sono attualmente oggetto di ricerche arc... more La citta di Castronovo di Sicilia (PA) e i suoi dintorni sono attualmente oggetto di ricerche archeologiche condotte dalle universita di York, Roma e Lecce in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza per i Beni culturali e ambientali di Palermo e con il sostegno del Comune di Castronovo. Quattro diversi insediamenti sono stati indagati per mezzo di prospezioni e scavi. Sul Monte Kassar, interpretabile, allo stato attuale delle ricerche, come una fortezza bizantina dell’ VIII–IX secolo, nel 2015 sono state individuate strutture con funzione abitativa all’interno e in appoggio alle fortificazioni, mentre nel 2016 sono stati scavati i resti di una “casaforte” (la cosiddetta “casermetta"). Sul Colle San Vitale, i ruderi delle strutture medievali ancora in piedi sono stati oggetto di una prospezione di alta precisione, come anche la citta vecchia di Castronovo, dove anche sono stati individuate e cartografate le acque sotterranee e un sistema di irrigazione. Infine, a Casale San Pietro,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021
Significance As a high-value luxury commodity, wine has been transported across the Mediterranean... more Significance As a high-value luxury commodity, wine has been transported across the Mediterranean since the Bronze Age. The wine trade was potentially disrupted during political and religious change brought about by Islamization in the Early Medieval period; wine consumption is prohibited in Islamic scripture. Utilizing a quantitative criterion based on the relative amounts of two fruit acids in transport amphorae, we show that wine was exported from Sicily beyond the arrival of Islam in the ninth century, including to Christian regions of the central Mediterranean. This finding is significant for understanding how regime change affected trade in the Middle Ages. We also outline a robust analytical approach for detecting wine in archaeological ceramics that will be useful elucidating viniculture more broadly.
Studies on Medieval Sicily are currently renewed by research undertaken by different teams from v... more Studies on Medieval Sicily are currently renewed by research undertaken by different teams from various regions of Europe (Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria, Poland). Post-roman Sicily is a sort of palimpsest of Mediterranean dynamics in which continuity, transformation, innovation and resilience were connected to a wider frame of political change: role in the Byzantine State, Islamic conquest, Norman domain and the emergence of Swabian.
The challenge of approaching Medieval Sicily with this proposal is to analyse and interpret the materiality of these many 'transitions' on archaeological records.
This session aims to show the main results of those ongoing archaeological and historical works at medieval suburbia and rural sites of Sicily. It is thus intended to update traditional views regarding the evolution of this territory from Late Antique to the Middle Ages by bringing into consideration new data recovered from archaeological excavations undertaken in several sites across Sicily, new information coming from the review of written accounts and new reflections from contrasting both material and documentary records.
In particular, the session will address the following topics:
- Dynamics of rural settlement patterns.
- Suburbium between countryside and city.
- Landscape of power: churches, monasteries and palaces.
- Material culture and economic trajectories beyond the cities.
This session will be therefore a necessary space of discussion between the different European scholars currently engaged in the study of Medieval Sicily in order to compare data, results, methods and new theories.
From the 9th to 14th centuries AD, Sicily experienced a series of rapid and quite radical changes... more From the 9th to 14th centuries AD, Sicily experienced a series of rapid and quite radical changes in political regime, but the impact of these regime changes on the lives of the people that experienced them remains largely elusive within the historical narrative. We use a multi-faceted lipid residue approach to give direct chemical evidence of the use of 248 everyday domestic ceramic containers from Islamic and post-Islamic contexts in western Sicily to aid our understanding of daily habits throughout this period of political change. A range of commodities was successfully identified, including animal fats, vegetable products, fruit products (potentially including wine) and plant resins. The study highlights the complexity of residues in early medieval Mediterranean society as, in many cases, mixtures of commodities were observed reflecting sequential cooking events and/or the complex mixtures reflective of medieval recipes. However, overall, there were no clear changes in the compo...
Sicily, during the 9th-12thcentury AD, thrived politically, economically, and culturally under Is... more Sicily, during the 9th-12thcentury AD, thrived politically, economically, and culturally under Islamic political rule and the capital of Palermo stood as a cultural and political centre in the Mediterranean Islamic world. However, to what extent the lifeways of the people that experienced these regimes were impacted during this time is not well understood, particularly those from lesser studied rural contexts. This paper presents the first organic residue analysis of 134 cooking pots and other domestic containers dating to the 9th-12thcentury in order to gain new insights into the culinary practices during this significant period. Ceramics from three sites in the urban capital of Palermo and from the rural town of Casale San Pietro were analysed and compared. The multi-faceted organic residue analysis identified a range of commodities including animal products, vegetables, beeswax, pine and fruit products in the ceramics, with a complex mixing of resources observed in many cases, ac...
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
A number of associated features and artefacts in the workshops at Portmahomack (Ross-shire) can b... more A number of associated features and artefacts in the workshops at Portmahomack (Ross-shire) can be related to the preservation and finishing of hides, and it is argued that this included the preparation of parchment for the production of manuscripts. The archaeological correlates of making parchment and methods for distinguishing it from other types of leather-working are discussed.
Il testo che segue riguarda la nostra ricerca archeologica sulla Sicilia bizantina, islamica e no... more Il testo che segue riguarda la nostra ricerca archeologica sulla Sicilia bizantina, islamica e normanno-sveva e in particolare riporta le ultime scoperte a Castronovo di Sicilia, che includono il riconoscimento di una chiesa del XII-XIII secolo sul Monte Kassar, la continuazione dello scavo a Casale San Pietro e una sintesi delle nuove ricognizioni nelle sue vicinanze. Quest’ultimo sito rimane il focus principale del Progetto ERC sictransit, ma in questa sede diamo anche conto dei primi risultati di un’indagine piu ampia, che include una grossa quantita di reperti che provengono da tutta la Sicilia da siti scavati in precedenza (Fig 1). Questi reperti consistino in ceramiche, metalli e vetri assieme a resti umani, animali e vegetali, che vengono analizzati nei laboratori delle universita partner del progetto: York, Roma e Lecce. I principali metodi scientifici applicati sono: analisi tipologiche, petrografiche e del contenuto organico delle ceramiche da cucina e da trasporto; degli ...
Il progetto Sicily in Transition e nato dalla collaborazione delle Universita di York e di Roma T... more Il progetto Sicily in Transition e nato dalla collaborazione delle Universita di York e di Roma Tor Vergata, con il pieno ap-poggio della Soprintendenza ai BB. CC. AA di Palermo. La finalita della nostra ricerca e quella di analizzare, attraverso il registro archeologico, in quale modo i mutamenti di regime politico hanno influenzato organizzazione, composizione e stili di vita delle popolazioni soggette. L’arco di tempo considerato va dal VI al XIII secolo, periodo nel quale la Sicilia ha visto diverse dominazioni: quella bizantina, islamica, normanna e sveva. Sicily in Transition prevede di analizzare con metodi in parte nuovi, in parte piu tradizionali, sia insiemi di reperti (ecofatti e manufatti) prodotti da precedenti scavi, sia di acquisire dati attraverso nuove indagini. In particolare gli scriventi hanno scelto di indagare un’area molto promettente della Sicilia centrale: il territorio di Castronovo di Sicilia. Qui, in due campagne di ricerca durate ciascuna quattro settima...
La citta di Castronovo di Sicilia (PA) e i suoi dintorni sono attualmente oggetto di ricerche arc... more La citta di Castronovo di Sicilia (PA) e i suoi dintorni sono attualmente oggetto di ricerche archeologiche condotte dalle universita di York, Roma e Lecce in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza per i Beni culturali e ambientali di Palermo e con il sostegno del Comune di Castronovo. Quattro diversi insediamenti sono stati indagati per mezzo di prospezioni e scavi. Sul Monte Kassar, interpretabile, allo stato attuale delle ricerche, come una fortezza bizantina dell’ VIII–IX secolo, nel 2015 sono state individuate strutture con funzione abitativa all’interno e in appoggio alle fortificazioni, mentre nel 2016 sono stati scavati i resti di una “casaforte” (la cosiddetta “casermetta"). Sul Colle San Vitale, i ruderi delle strutture medievali ancora in piedi sono stati oggetto di una prospezione di alta precisione, come anche la citta vecchia di Castronovo, dove anche sono stati individuate e cartografate le acque sotterranee e un sistema di irrigazione. Infine, a Casale San Pietro,...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021
Significance As a high-value luxury commodity, wine has been transported across the Mediterranean... more Significance As a high-value luxury commodity, wine has been transported across the Mediterranean since the Bronze Age. The wine trade was potentially disrupted during political and religious change brought about by Islamization in the Early Medieval period; wine consumption is prohibited in Islamic scripture. Utilizing a quantitative criterion based on the relative amounts of two fruit acids in transport amphorae, we show that wine was exported from Sicily beyond the arrival of Islam in the ninth century, including to Christian regions of the central Mediterranean. This finding is significant for understanding how regime change affected trade in the Middle Ages. We also outline a robust analytical approach for detecting wine in archaeological ceramics that will be useful elucidating viniculture more broadly.
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Talks by Martin Carver
The challenge of approaching Medieval Sicily with this proposal is to analyse and interpret the materiality of these many 'transitions' on archaeological records.
This session aims to show the main results of those ongoing archaeological and historical works at medieval suburbia and rural sites of Sicily. It is thus intended to update traditional views regarding the evolution of this territory from Late Antique to the Middle Ages by bringing into consideration new data recovered from archaeological excavations undertaken in several sites across Sicily, new information coming from the review of written accounts and new reflections from contrasting both material and documentary records.
In particular, the session will address the following topics:
- Dynamics of rural settlement patterns.
- Suburbium between countryside and city.
- Landscape of power: churches, monasteries and palaces.
- Material culture and economic trajectories beyond the cities.
This session will be therefore a necessary space of discussion between the different European scholars currently engaged in the study of Medieval Sicily in order to compare data, results, methods and new theories.
Papers by Martin Carver
The challenge of approaching Medieval Sicily with this proposal is to analyse and interpret the materiality of these many 'transitions' on archaeological records.
This session aims to show the main results of those ongoing archaeological and historical works at medieval suburbia and rural sites of Sicily. It is thus intended to update traditional views regarding the evolution of this territory from Late Antique to the Middle Ages by bringing into consideration new data recovered from archaeological excavations undertaken in several sites across Sicily, new information coming from the review of written accounts and new reflections from contrasting both material and documentary records.
In particular, the session will address the following topics:
- Dynamics of rural settlement patterns.
- Suburbium between countryside and city.
- Landscape of power: churches, monasteries and palaces.
- Material culture and economic trajectories beyond the cities.
This session will be therefore a necessary space of discussion between the different European scholars currently engaged in the study of Medieval Sicily in order to compare data, results, methods and new theories.