The design of our project (FIG 2) identified three sources of evidence, a rescue excavation at Mazara in the south west, a multi-period cluster of sites at Castronovo in the centre and human remains from 22 previously excavated cemeteries across the island (FIG 3). Samples were studied by the partner universities in 11 work packages each representing a specific programme of analysis, together leading to new accounts of early medieval agriculture, trade and demography.
Results
At Castronovo, on Monte Kassar, the combined team redefined Sicily's best preserved Byzantine fortress, locating buildings inside its 90ha enclosure and re-interpreting the site as a military camp for mobile forces. At Casale San Pietro on the Platani river below Monte Kassar, an area excavation revealed a multi-phased stone built waystation, and finds of a seal box, a touchstone, a stylus and glass jetons suggested a place of administrative control. To the west of this complex, multiple field surveys mapped an extensive occupation that peaked in the Byzantine and Islamic periods.
New farming methods attributed to Muslims were detected on the slopes of Monte Kassar, where spring water was canalised to fountains in the town and watered terraces and drove mills before discharging into the River Platani. These discoveries were assisted by on-site collaboration with researchers from the ERC Project TERRACE. The church of San Vitale was discovered to be converted from a Norman keep.
Plant analysis showed that new varieties of flax and beans had been introduced in the Byzantine period, while exotic plants such as aubergine, melon, spinach and cotton were identified in Islamic Mazara and represent the most ancient finds in Europe. Through organic residue analysis we discovered that wine was exported from Islamic Palermo. Examining the traces of food surviving in the walls of cooking pots revealed pork fat, dairy products and wine in Islamic-period Castronovo, in contrast to contemporary urban Palermo.
Faunal analysis showed that Muslims increased the size of sheep by selective breeding. The predicted Islamic veto of pork was confined to urban sites (Palermo, Mazara), while at the rural site of Castronovo, pigs were farmed. Chickens were reared for meat in the Islamic period, but were later focused on egg production, with raised levels of nitrogen indicating a more intensive husbandry (fed on scraps).
External trade in the middle ages was mapped by tracking the petrology of amphorae identifying the sources of grit in their fabrics. Amphora finds in 7th–9th-century levels filled an important gap in the record of overseas trade which experienced substantial transformations, but with an overall continuity.
In the Sicilian cemeteries the religions of individuals were distinguished by their burial rites, and 151 of them were dated by C14. Christian burial continued through periods of Islamic governance and vice versa. Both Islamic and pre-Islamic people shared genetic affinities with modern Near Eastern, North African and sub-Saharan African populations. European genetic affinities were noted only in Swabian Segesta, where Christian and Islamic burials had few ancestries in common, implying that intermarriage did not occur. Dietary differences within a region did not correlate with faith or biological sex, but differences between regions across Sicily were noted, reflecting the varied baseline faunal values.
Dissemination
One monograph and thirty four scientific papers were published in the life of the project, with completed research awaiting publication in a further two monographs and ten articles. 66 presentations relating to the project were delivered to conferences or public meetings between 2016 and 2023. We were invited by the British Ambassador to Italy to a party in Palermo to celebrate the Queen's birthday (FIG 4). Towards the end of the project we created a Legacy website, containing a virtual museum, accounts of our results and how they were obtained, films and artworks and a virtual tour of Castronovo (see
http://sicily-in-transition.org(si apre in una nuova finestra)). This was aimed at schools, students and lovers of archaeology and Sicily everywhere.
