Archaeology and Urban Settlement in Late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia
Euchaïta-Avkat-Beyözü and its Environment

Analyses the evolution of a provincial Byzantine urban settlement based on the results of an interdisciplinary collaborative project.

John Haldon (Edited by), Hugh Elton (Edited by), James Newhard (Edited by)

9781108457224, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 July 2021

407 pages
24.4 x 17 x 2.1 cm, 0.648 kg

‘This impressive study adds to the various recent publications that, after too many years of text-conditioned interpretations, finally demonstrate how Byzantine archaeology and material remains can contribute strongly and decisively to the complex and frequently misunderstood history of the later first millennium.’ Paul Arthur, Medieval Archaeology

The site of medieval Euchaïta, on the northern edge of the central Anatolian plateau, was the centre of the cult of St Theodore Tiro ('the Recruit'). Unlike most excavated or surveyed urban centres of the Byzantine period, Euchaïta was never a major metropolis, cultural centre or extensive urban site, although it had a military function from the seventh to ninth centuries. Its significance lies precisely in the fact that as a small provincial town, something of a backwater, it was probably more typical of the 'average' provincial Anatolian urban settlement, yet almost nothing is known about such sites. This volume represents the results of a collaborative project that integrates archaeological survey work with other disciplines in a unified approach to the region both to enhance understanding of the history of Byzantine provincial society and to illustrate the application of innovative approaches to field survey.

1. Physical and historical introduction Hugh Elton
2. Geology, geomorphology and paleoenvironments Warren J. Eastwood and Hakan Yi?itba??o?lu
3. The survey: methods of survey, data collection and management, and artificial planning James M. L. Newhard
4. Travel and communication Sarah Craft
5. The countryside Peter Bikoulis
6. The ceramics, agricultural resources and food Joanita Vroom
7. The archaeology of the city and its hinterland Hugh Elton
8. Euchaïta: from late Roman and Byzantine town to Ottoman village John Haldon
Appendix 1. Remote sensing and geophysical prospection Meg Watters
Appendix 2. The coins Alan Stahl
Appendix 3. Assigning function to survey data using heuristic geospatial modelling James M. L. Newhard, N. S. Levine and O. Adams
Appendix 4. Epigraphy Pawel Nowakowski and Frank Trombley.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Archaeological theory [HDA], Archaeology [HD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], Humanities [H]