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The fall, crisis or transformation? Correlation of the late antique settlement pattern changes with environment and climate fluctuations in the north-eastern Adriatic region based on results of geoarchaeological and palaeoclimatic research
By collecting and analyzing diverse proxies indicative of environmental changes in the North-Eastern Adriatic dating to Antiquity/late Antiquity, and detecting settlement pattern changes and intra-site readaptations occurring in the region, the project's aim is to reconstruct the interactions between environment and society within the framework of the complex and diverse set of processes that invested the Roman world from the 3rd and into the 8th c. AD through geo- and archaeological studies of selected sites. In fact, climatic and environmental changes that have been detected throughout the Mediterranean region for the given time-frame, are now recognised as regionally specific and, while intertwined with the socio-economic patterns of the late Roman world, their effects are highly dependent on local ecology and adaptation capacities of each region. While for both the Eastern and Western Mediterranean numerous studies allow the creation of regionally specific and supra-regional paleoclimatic models interpreted through human-environment relationship, for south-eastern Europe and the Adriatic region sufficient data is still lacking and this should start to be collected
micro-regionally. Preliminary data from terrestrial proxies and slope sediment analysis has in fact evidenced a succession of dry and humid periods for the area in question, but these need to be further explored. Similarly, models of late Antique settlement pattern modifications and intra-settlement developments have been regionally only loosely established, thus hindering regional interpretations and comparisons with the wider Adriatic and Mediterranean world, as well as a more informed correlation with other data sets. By implementing a combined geoarchaeological methodology which, on the one hand, aims to collect environmental data through the analysis of lacustrine sediments and on the other to gain knowledge on settlements' development by focusing on several carefully chosen archaeological sites, the project wishes to overcome the aforementioned limitations and data lack. The area chosen for the implementation of the project comprises Istria, the Kvarner region and northern Dalmatia. The selected fresh water reservoirs (Vrana lake on Cres island, Fruga pond on Rab island and Velo Blato lake on Pag island) are representative for the region under scrutiny and are deemed, on the bases of previous research, to hold relevant paleoenvironmental data. Selected samples obtained from columns of bottom sediments (two per reservoir) will be analysed with a number of geological methods and laboratory analyses. These will allow to build a paleoclimatic model which will test the preliminarily proposed dry and humid interval succession, providing also other proxies useful for environmental reconstruction. Different analytical methods will also be applied to the study of selected archaeological sites, which include Tar - Stancija Blek (Istria), Podšilo (Lopar, island of Rab), Plemići bay (Ražanac) and Danilo. These all are, in fact, typologically different multi-period settlements with a strong economic and productive vocation, each developing specific traits throughout the tackled period. Also, all sites hold, along with archaeological data, evidence useful for environmental reconstruction. Thus, through geophysical and remote sensing surveys site extensions will be reconstructed and ideal trial trench locations will be chosen, while excavations will allow, among others, the collection of samples for laboratory analysis (plant macro-remains analysis, geochemistry and C14 dating). The planned activities will thus allow to determine internal and inter-site variability within the given timeframe by defining structural and use-specific changes within the settlement and to identify local responses to changing conditions through the reconstruction of economic capacities and adaptations. Such data will then be more easily and precisely correlated with
results obtained through lake drillings sample analysis. Thus, the project results are aimed at building a robust framework of environmental proxies which will test the proposed paleoclimatic model providing also other datasets, which will then be correlated with the model of settlement modification and economic adaptations which will be reconstructed through the analysis of selected archaeological indicators.
Details
- Project's acronym:
- Upadek, kryzys czy transformacja?
- Financial Program Name:
- OPUS
- Organization:
- Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN) (National Science Centre)
- Agreement:
- UMO-2020/37/B/HS3/024 z dnia 2021-01-26
- Realisation period:
- 2021-01-26 - 2025-01-25
- Research team leader:
- dr hab Welc Andrzej Fabian
- Team members:
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- Co-Investigator Paula Androić Gračanin
- Co-Investigator dr Ana Konestra
- Realised in:
- Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw
- Project's value:
- 741 480.00 PLN
- Request type:
- National Research Programmes
- Domestic:
- International project
- Verified by:
- No verification
Papers associated with that project
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total: 9
Catalog Projects
Year 2024
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Petrophysical analyses of rock construction materials from the Roman rural settlement in Podšilo bay on Rab island (NE Adriatic, Croatia)
PublicationThis article presents the results of petrophysical analyses of limestones and sandstones used for the construction of the wall structures of a Roman rural settlement located in Podšilo Bay on Rab Island (Croatia). An on-site analysis of the walls indicated the use of different lithotypes, which is an uncommon case in the area. So far, no petrophysical properties of the applied materials have been tested, and their provenance...
Year 2023
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An Island of Connectedness: Intra-Insular and Inter-Regional Communications of Rab Island (North-East Adriatic, Kvarner Gulf), Croatia
PublicationDrawing from archaeological data on Prehistoric and Roman settlement patterns, and respective sepulchral features, just as on later historic and cartographic sources, in this contribution it will be shown how movement along with mobility influenced on and were an integral part of settlement dynamics on the island of Rab (NE Adriatic, Croatia). The employed approach sees the practice of movement as dependent on specific social...
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Applying ground penetrating radar to tracking of ancient architectural transformations: the case of the monastery St. Peter on the Island of Rab (Croatia)
PublicationThe ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method has been used for many years in archaeological research. However, thismethod is still not widely used in studies of past architecture. The biggest problem with the implementation of the GPRmethod at such sites is usually connected with extensive debris layers, plant cover and standing relics of walls and otherfeatures that restrict the available measurement area. Despite of these, properly...
Year 2022
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An insight into craft activities in rural areas of Dalmatia province - first data on iron working at the Roman settlement in Lopar (Island of Rab)
PublicationWithin multidisciplinary research carried out at Podšilo bay in Lopar on the island of Rab (north-eastern Adriatic), on the bases of movable finds and, possibly, geophysical measurements, evidence of ironworking has been detected within a Roman rural site where ceramic building materials production was ascertained before. Preliminary analyses of several samples of slug, iron objects and nearby collected minerals support the...
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Preliminary typology and contextual analysis of Roman and late antique cooking wares from the Roman rural settlement at Podšilo bay on the island of Rab (north–eastern Adriatic, Croatia)
PublicationThe paper presents a preliminary typology of coarse cooking ware from the Roman/late antique layers of the rural settlement at Podšilo bay on the island of Rab. The vessels have been associated with several basic shapes and divided by types, while fabrics have been described macroscopically. Analogies and a contextual analysis were used to propose dating and to assess provenience for well-known ware classes or to define areas...
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Rural Landscapes of Roman (northern) Liburnia: Diachronic Development of Organisation and the Economy in Extra-Urban Territories in the Light of Recent Archaeological Research
PublicationThe archaeology of Roman rural landscapes in the province of Dalmatia, and especially northern Liburnia, has until recently focused on single-site or single-monument analyses, allowing for only geographically patchy and chronologically limited conclusions. Considering the results of recent research in the wider Kvarner and sub-Velebit area, the paper discusses issues of Roman extra-urban territorial organization, the formation...
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Turre cum capellis suis – identification of an earlier phase of the Holy Cross church at Tar – Stancija Blek (Tar-Vabriga – Torre-Abrega, Istria)
PublicationThe paper reports the results of the first campaign of excavations at the Church of the Holy Cross near Stancija Blek (Tar-Vabriga – Torre-Abrega municipality, Istria), which is close to the multiphase settlement of Old Tar. A trial trench behind the rear wall of the church and along its southern perimetral wall revealed an earlier building and one grave. Though the uncovered remains are scanty, several distinct architectural...
Year 2021
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Burialscapes of Rab Island (North East Adriatic): The Role of Sepulchral Evidence in the Reconstruction of Roman and Late Antique Rural Settlement Pattern
PublicationOn the bases of archaeological and documentary data an overview of the burial evidence of Roman and late Antique date on the island of Rab (North East Adriatic, Croatia) is brought forth, spatially analysed and interpreted within the so-far defined rural settlement pattern. While aiding in the definition of burial practices and their diachronic changes, data derived from such evidence and interpreted from a social perspective,...
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The site at the cape Zidine in Lopar in the context of coastal residential and commercial complexes of Rab Island
PublicationSince 2013, the “Archaeological topography of the island of Rab” project has approached the island’s archaeology holistically and interdisciplinary, tackling all periods and archaeological evidence present on the island. Nevertheless, mostly due to a large amount of new data, a significant segment of research is devoted to Roman residential and production complexes, located either in the island’s fields or along the coast. Thus,...
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