Ports and Landing Places at the Balkan Coasts of the Byzantine Empire (4th-12th Century). Monuments and Technology, Economy and Communication

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Falko Daim
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: from 2012 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 219422380

The continuation project Ports and Landing Places at the Balkan Coasts of the Byzantine Empire (4th-12th Cent.). Monuments and Technology, Economy and Communication is based on the work done during the first phase of the SPP-1630, a systematic collection of ports and landing places of the Byzantine Balkan coasts for the period of 300-1204 documented through historical and archaeological evidence. In addition to a database with more than 460 entries so far, a combination of historical-geographical methods with instruments of geo-analysis and network theory was developed, which allows reconstructions of maritime transport systems. On this basis, the second phase of the project will include the updating of data and the further development of analytical tools as well as an in-depth study of the development of medieval ports and transport systems in regional and comparative perspective. In particular, the following questions will be scrutinized: The importance of landing sites and port facilities in the respective urban topography and dynamics of coastal towns and their development in the context of the discussion of decay or continuity of late antique urbanism. The question of the respective scope, intensity and impact of over-regional maritime connections and their reach into the hinterland. The analysis of changes in local and regional settlement systems and route networks. An answer to these questions requires thorough local and regional studies to detect relevant factors and interdependencies. In addition to the in-depth analysis of harbour towns and settlement systems in three selected regions (northern Adriatic Sea, Peloponnese, Danube estuary), their wider connections within the Mediterranean will be surveyed. Different levels of analysis (local/regional/national) will be connected and recorded in their interaction. A second focus is on the comparative analysis with findings of similar projects both within and outside of the SPP. Also here, three spatial levels are integrated: within the Byzantine Mediterranean (M. Veikou, Univ. Cyprus). Through exchange and joint interpretation of data, a comprehensive typology of maritime settlements for the entire Middle Byzantine Empire will be created. A similar objective is pursued by Ch. Loveluck (Nottingham Univ.) in his project that includes the North Sea, the Atlantic coasts of France and the Iberian Peninsula. In cooperation with him, local and regional settlement systems in coastal and near-coastal areas across early medieval Europe will be compared. A global perspective of comparison is provided by the project of S.M. Sindbæk (Univ. Aarhus), which studies the emergence and development of early medieval trading centres in Northern Europe, in the Indian Ocean and in the Adriatic Sea. Results and research questions of the first phase of the project will thus be deepened and interpreted also beyond the Byzantine world in an context of pre-modern history of transport.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1630: Harbours from the Roman Iron Age until the Middle Ages - Archaeology and History of Regional and Supra-regional Traffic Systems
• International Connection: Austria
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Ewald Kislinger; Professor Dr. Andreas Külzer