Mountain and Sea: Settlement and Economy in Late Antique Lycia, Isauria and North Central Anatolia Kristina Terpoy Lincoln College DPhil History Mountain and Sea: Settlement and Economy in Late Antique Lycia, Isauria and North Central Anatolia Kristina Terpoy Lincoln College DPhil History Hilary Term 2018 Abstract This thesis is an interdisciplinary comparative analysis of the socio-economic developments of three regions in Anatolia: Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia in the late antique period (c. AD 330-600s). I present the most up-to-date picture of late antique settlement in these regions by collating recent evidence, particularly amphorae and settlement remains, derived from research conducted in these regions over the past few decades. From this picture, I analyse what the location of settlement and archeological remains within sites may reveal concerning the ways in which settlements participated in local, region and interregional exchange networks. As these three regions share the common geographic features of bordering major maritime areas and encompassing mountainous interiors, I examine how geography may have impacted the location of settlement and the movement of goods and people. By integrating areas located on opposite Anatolian coastlines, I examine how differing maritime networks may have impacted settlement development. This tripartite comparison attempts to establish northern Anatolia alongside its southern counterpart in the discourse of late antique economy and settlement development. Alongside this regional analysis, I discuss methodological considerations, such as the ways in which the current state of research and various research methods impact our analysis and interpretation of late antique settlement development. This study reveals that sub-regions within Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia developed in diverse ways and that the ways in which each region participated in wider exchange differed. I argue that overarching narratives of development, such as ‘prosperity’ and ‘decline’ do not accurately reflect the development of these regions. In sum, this thesis contributes an up- to-date analysis of the settlement development of Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia to the wider discourse of late antique regional development, which engages and challenges discourse surrounding the economic development of these regions in Late Antiquity. Mountain and Sea: Settlement and Economy in Late Antique Lycia, Isauria and North Central Anatolia Kristina Terpoy Lincoln College DPhil History Hilary Term 2018 Abstract This thesis is an interdisciplinary comparative study of the socio-economic development of three regions in Anatolia in the late antique period: Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia (c. AD 330-600s). I present an up-to-date picture of late antique settlement within these regions so as to analyse what the location of settlement and archaeological remains of sites may reveal concerning the economies of these regions in this period. I examine the ways in which the settlements located within Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia may have participated in local, regional and interregional economic exchange by analysing evidence for the cultivation, production and distribution of natural resources within these regions. I analyse the archaeological evidence for late antique settlement in various sub-regions within Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia – coastal, interior, northern, southern, eastern and western geographic zones – in order to investigate similarities and differences in the location and development of settlement across these regions. In addition, I integrate an analysis of northern Anatolia in order to expand scholarly attention to this understudied region and compare the ways in which geographically opposite regions of Anatolia developed in the late antique period. As Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia encompass mountainous interiors and border major maritime zones, the eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas respectively, I consider how geography may have impacted the production of goods, the movement of commodities and the economic relationship between interior and coastal settlement. I examine how differing maritime networks may have played a role in the development of settlement in these regions and the exchange of goods. As the foundation of Constantinople has been cited as a major factor in the development of the eastern Mediterranean and maritime exchange in this period, I investigate if and how the foundation of the capital may have impacted the economies of Lycia and Isauria. Similarly, I examine if and how the presence of Constantinople impacted the economy of the Black Sea zone and by extension, north central Anatolian settlement. Alongside this analysis, I engage with and challenge discourse surrounding ‘prosperity’ and ‘decline’ that has shaped modern conceptions of the late antique economy and the regional development of the Mediterranean in this period. Over the course of the past few decades, research has revealed evidence for growing rural settlement in particular areas of the Mediterranean, such as the Near East, the Aegean and areas of Anatolia in the late antique period. This evidence has been interpreted as demonstrating an economic complex and prosperous eastern Mediterranean, a narrative that has become well-established and normalised in current scholarship. Recent research, particularly the work of Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell (2006), has drawn attention to the need to consider micro-regions in regional study. As a result, the application of over-arching narratives to describe the economic development of regions should be approached with caution. Therefore, I ask how Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia fit into this wider discourse of late antique development and whether or not we have the evidence to determine economic ‘prosperity’ or ‘decline’ in the available primary sources. I argue that previous research methodologies have impacted our conception of the economic development of the eastern Mediterranean and that generalising narratives of development do not accurately reflect the settlement and economic development of Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia. A micro and macro geographic analysis reveals that the development of sub-regions was diverse and that the ways in which settlements may have participated in different scales of exchange varied. In sum, this thesis contributes a more nuanced analysis of the settlement development of Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia to the wider discourse of late antique settlement, and challenges previous conceptions of the economies of these regions. By integrating a northern and southern Anatolian tri-partite comparison, this thesis also expands attention to the north of Anatolia and aims to establish this region alongside its southern counterpart in the scholarly discourse of the late antique economy. As literary sources concerning late antique Anatolia are minimal, archaeological evidence, particularly amphorae and settlement remains, forms the basis of evidence in this thesis. In order to analyse the settlement and economic development of Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia, I have collated and examined recent evidence for late antique settlement in these regions that has derived from the past few decades of research. Amphorae, clay transport vessels, were utilised to transport staple goods such as oil, wine and fish sauce, and are therefore proxy indicators of the movement of goods across long-distances. The identification of a possible site of amphorae production suggests that surplus agricultural production was achieved, with surplus product packaged and shipped abroad. The identification of amphorae at a site suggests that there was a demand for the product carried within the amphorae (if content can be confidently determined), which illuminate the potential supply and demand of areas across the empire. As a result, examining amphorae production and consumption in Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia may shed light on the supply and demand of goods of settlements within these regions and the ways in which settlements within these regions were directly or indirectly connected to exchange. As products travelled on local and regional levels as well and not necessarily in clay vessels, other natural resources that may have provided an economic resource of settlements, such as forest resources (timber), marine products and grain are considered also. Archaeological evidence of late antique settlement remains in Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia form the second type of evidence considered in this thesis. Evidence of settlement activity and buildings works (construction of buildings, repairs, renovation) is examined in order to discern the potential economic capabilities of inhabitants in the late antique period. In order to place the development of a settlement in its relative context, I examine evidence for settlement activity chronologically – comparing evidence of building works (construction, renovation, repair) across centuries – and geographically when possible – comparing evidence of settlement development micro-regionally. This way, the development of a settlement and the potential economic activity of its inhabitants may be elucidated in context. Archaeological research has increased in Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia in the past few decades thus making a regional comparison viable. However, there are challenges when collating, synthesising and interpreting archaeological evidence that derives from these unique regions. Archaeological research has tended to focus on western and southern Anatolia, resulting in a discrepancy in information available for the three regions under study. Differences in research method (survey versus excavation), location of research, variation in the information available (quantified versus qualified data), issues of chronology and publication methods impact the way in which primary sources are interpreted. Therefore, methodological considerations are discussed in-depth throughout this thesis. Nevertheless, from the combination of amphorae evidence and settlement remains, a picture of the late antique settlement development of Lycia, Isauria and north central Anatolia begins to appear. In Section I, the evidence of late antique amphorae and settlement remains of Lycia and Isauria are examined. In this section, I first investigate what differences in the consumption and production of amphorae between the two regions may reveal concerning their participation in wider economic exchange. I argue that while Isauria contributed staple products to the wider eastern Mediterranean economy, Lycia’s economy may have been based principally in facilitating maritime traffic and less so on agricultural export of staple goods. Following on from this analysis, I examine the available evidence of late antique settlement in each region, which bring the diversity of development within these regions to the fore. In the case of Lycia, my analysis demonstrates that previous theories of coastal prosperity do not accurately reflect the development of the entire Lycian coastline and that only restricted areas of coastal settlement were loci of substantial investment in Late Antiquity. Moreover, changes in the building activity of inland settlement suggests that there is greater discrepancy in the development of various sub-regions of the region than previously recognised. That is, Roman period urban centres, particularly those in the area of the Xanthus valley, do not appear to invest in substantial building works in this period. Whether or not a lack of investment in urban centres is due to a dispersal of settlement to rural areas in this period or a possible migration of inhabitants to particular coastal areas remains an open question. Nevertheless, differences in the evidence of the density of settlement and construction works within Lycia demonstrates that one overarching narrative of development does not encompass the nuances of development in the region in this period. In addition, a reassessment of primary sources suggests that very little information is currently available for us to draw secure conclusions regarding the economy of Lycia and the potential export of staple agricultural products from the region. In the case of Isauria, my analysis reveals that similar to the Lycian case, the location and development of settlement in sub-regions is diverse. Analysis of the available archaeological evidence of late antique settlement suggests that settlement was predominately concentrated in the eastern coastal/near-coastal area of the region - the area where amphorae production has been discovered. Notably, there is a lack of recognisable settlement in western and southern coastal/near-coastal areas of the region and these sub- regions do not appear to be home to settlement of substantial late antique investment. Interior settlement appears dispersed as well. Whether or not this picture of Isaurian settlement is a consequence of the geographical focus of research, is possible. When the evidence of amphorae and settlement remains of Lycia and Isauria are compared, the differences in the late antique economy of each region are elucidated. Although agricultural production likely played a fundamental role in the economy of each region, the utilisation of such goods in each region’s economy may have been significantly different – Isauria principally contributed staple goods to wider economic networks, while Lyica’s role may have been less so on export, and more so on facilitating maritime exchange. In Section II, I turn attention to the area of north central Anatolia under investigation. As there is a discrepancy in the amount of information available for northern Anatolia, the amphorae and settlement remains of this region are treated separately. First, evidence of amphorae production and consumption in north central Anatolia is analysed, with particular focus on the recent discovery of the kiln site on the