Frontiers Inside Roman Sicily: Culture, Economy and Society between Late Antiquity and the Early Byzantine Period

Descripción del proyecto

Detección de los cambios trascendentales en la Sicilia romana y bizantina

A pesar de los prejuicios históricos, Sicilia experimentó un importante desarrollo socioeconómico y cultural durante la Antigüedad tardía y los primeros periodos bizantinos y llegó a convertirse en un centro crucial del Mediterráneo. Las excavaciones arqueológicas aportaron valiosos datos sobre la complejidad de la sociedad, la economía y las rutas comerciales de esta época. Sin embargo, persisten retos en nuestra comprensión, lo que hace necesario un nuevo planteamiento multidisciplinario. El equipo del proyecto FIRS, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, investiga cuatro lugares fundamentales del oeste de Sicilia: los asentamientos rurales de Campanaio y Castagna, junto con las ciudades portuarias de Palermo y Lilybaeum (Marsala). Analizará la cantidad de cultura material desenterrada durante las excavaciones. Además, se examinará detenidamente la distribución de los artefactos a nivel microrregional para estudiar los factores que influyen en los cambios de las pautas comerciales, el comportamiento social y las prácticas culturales.

Objetivo

The Late Antique and Early Byzantine periods are crucial ones for the understanding of Sicily's socio-economic and cultural evolution
from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Recent research has shown that the island still played its centuries-old role then as a
Mediterranean linchpin, and this realization has awakened scholars' interest for a period that has been dogged by an adverse
historical bias (one of perceived ‘decline and decadence’) for a long time. A raft of new data from archaeological excavations and field
surveys have sketched the outlines of the nuanced complexities of Sicilian society and its vibrant economy at this period, and its
integration into multiple Mediterranean trade routes. Despite some progress overall, delay in the publication of old excavations, the
paucity of syntheses available, and the difficulty in accessing existing datasets, are a hindrance to resolving some key problems about
this important transitional phase in Sicilian history. For this reason, many scholars believe that a new multidisciplinary analysis of the
period is essential. The FIRS project therefore focuses on four key sites in western Sicily, investigated during the second half of the
20th century but largely unpublished. These comprise the rural settlements of Campanaio and Castagna and the port cities of
Palermo and Lilybaeum (Marsala). By analysing the quantity of material culture from the excavations and exploring the distribution of
artefacts at a micro-regional scale, we aim to investigate the many and various causes that triggered changes in trading patterns,
social behaviour, and cultural practices between the 5th and the 7th centuries AD. The expected results will undoubtedly affect the
international scientific community dealing with similar issues in other Mediterranean regions. They will also positively impact Sicilian
society and the local economy, promoting an awareness of important but often neglected aspects of the Sicilian Cultural Heritage.