The zooarchaeology of economic change and urban decline in the late antique Balkans (c. AD 300-700)

古代末期社会和经济变革的时间、速度和规模是激烈辩论的主题。观点从灾难论者(Gibbon 1781；Ward-Perkins 2006)到延续论者(Pirenne 1925；Brown 1971)，强调后罗马时代的衰落(Gibbon 1781；Ward-Perkins 2006)，通过重大地区差异的论点(Wickham 2006)。移民、冲突、气候和疾病都被认为是这一时期变化的关键刺激因素。最近，动物考古学通过显示这一时期对畜牧业的投资减少和经济衰退，帮助细致入微地了解了罗马西方晚期的古代经济变化。在罗马东部地区，这一方法尚未系统地应用于这一问题，因为罗马东部地区的历史发展与此截然不同。我将通过对古代巴尔干半岛晚期(公元300-700年)进行深入的动物考古研究来解决这一差距，以评估该地区经济变化和城市衰落的时间、速度和规模。该项目有三个方面。在每一项中，都将根据历史和/或考古证明的移民、冲突、疾病和气候变化的事件来跟踪趋势，以评估这些因素的影响。SPECIES比率可以揭示文化和经济趋势。我将使用巴尔干地区现有的出版和存档数据，通过三个方面的分析，审查物种比例在空间和时间上变化的证据。我将评估牛/羊(需要广泛的牧场)与猪(更适合于小规模的家养)的比率--猪的增加可能意味着畜牧业规模的缩小，并从以市场为导向转向国内生产。我将回顾一下马肉消费的证据；在罗马社会，吃河马是很少见的，因此可能意味着文化变革和/或对边际资源的利用。我将评估野生动物资源的使用-野生动物：家畜比率的增加将表明牲畜在饮食中的贡献减少，并可能减少总体肉类消费，这表明资源短缺。动物大小可以表明畜牧业投资的变化，为更广泛的经济发展提供一个指标。罗马经济鼓励优化粮食生产以获取利润，对畜牧业的投资导致牲畜规模的增加(Valenzuela-Lamas&Albarella 2017)。在西方，由于古代晚期经济收缩而导致的投资减少扭转了这一趋势(Ward-Perkins 2006；Rizzetto等人)。2017年；萨尔瓦多2018年)。我会研究一下这种情况是否也发生在东方。我将在现有数据的支持下，从巴尔干地区的关键地点(如锡尔米纳、Mediana、Serdica)收集动物骨骼的生物特征数据，以跟踪大小的变化。URBAN微型动物群。聚落为小型哺乳动物提供了生态位，一些共生物种(例如黑鼠)依靠密集的聚落以及通过人类迁徙和贸易进行的扩散(Armitage 1994；McCormick 2003)。微型动物可以重建聚落环境和连通性，城市的衰落和贸易的减少预计将特别减少老鼠的频率。这在意大利(萨尔瓦多2018年)可以看到，但在英国(我的硕士论文)更明显，反映了不同的历史。对巴尔干半岛数据的初步审查显示了类似的模式，尽管时间较晚。我将通过回顾现有数据，研究塞尔维亚和保加利亚以前浮选地点的微型动物，并在第四C维米纳基姆(塞尔维亚)和第四-第七C斯托比(前南斯拉夫的马其顿共和国)进行新的浮选，追踪微型动物分布的变化。古代末期的社会和经济变化是一个相当大的公共利益和当代意义的主题，正如最近关于移民主张的高调辩论所看到的那样，移民是罗马帝国衰落的基础。

The timing, pace and scale of social and economic change at the end of Antiquity is the subject of intense debate. Perspectives range from catastrophist, emphasising post-Roman decline (Gibbon 1781; Ward-Perkins 2006), to continuitist, suggesting longer-term stability (Pirenne 1925; Brown 1971), via arguments for significant regional variation (Wickham 2006). Migration, conflict, climate and disease are all cited as key stimuli for change in this period.Recently, zooarchaeology has helped to nuance understanding of late antique economic change in the Roman West, by showing reduced investment in animal husbandry and economic decline in this period. This approach has yet to be applied systematically to this issue in regions of the Roman East, with its very different set of historical developments. I will address this gap via in-depth zooarchaeological study of the late antique Balkans (c. AD 300-700), in order to assess the timing, pace and scale of economic change and urban decline in this region.The project has three strands. In each, trends will be tracked against historically and/or archaeologically attested episodes of migration, conflict, disease and climatic change, to assess the impact of these factors.SPECIES RATIOS can reveal cultural and economic trends. I will review evidence for spatial and temporal variation in species ratios using existing published and archived data from across the Balkans, with analysis in three areas. I will assess ratio of cattle/sheep (requiring extensive pasture) to pig (more suitable for small-scale, domestic husbandry) - increase in pig may suggest reduced scale of husbandry, and change from market-oriented to domestic production. I will review evidence for horsemeat consumption; hippophagy was rare in Roman society, so may suggest cultural change and/or use of marginal resources. I will assess use of wild animal resources - increase in wild:domestic ratio would indicate reduced dietary contribution of livestock, and likely reduced overall meat consumption, suggesting resource shortages.LIVESTOCK SIZE can show changing investment in animal husbandry, providing a proxy for wider economic developments. The Roman economy incentivised optimised food production for profit, with investment in husbandry leading to livestock size increase (Valenzuela-Lamas & Albarella 2017). In the West, reduced investment due to economic contraction in late Antiquity reversed this trend (Ward-Perkins 2006; Rizzetto et al. 2017; Salvadori 2018). I will examine whether this also occurred in the East. I will collect biometric data from animal bones at key Balkan sites (e.g. Sirmium, Mediana, Serdica), supported by existing data, in order to track size change.URBAN MICROFAUNA. Settlements provide ecological niches for small mammals, with some commensal species (e.g. black rat) reliant on dense settlement and dispersal via human migration and trade (Armitage 1994; McCormick 2003). Microfauna allow reconstruction of settlement environment and connectivity, with urban decline and reduced trade expected to reduce frequency of rats in particular. This is seen in Italy (Salvadori 2018) but much more markedly in England (my MA dissertation), reflecting differing histories. Preliminary review of Balkan data suggests a similar pattern, albeit later. I will track changing distribution of microfauna by reviewing existing data, studying microfauna from previous flotation at sites in Serbia and Bulgaria, and conducting new flotation at 4th C Viminacium (Serbia) and 4th-7th C Stobi ((FYR) Macedonia).Social and economic change at the end of Antiquity is a subject of considerable public interest and contemporary relevance, as seen in recent high-profile debate over claims for migration as fundamental to the decline of the Roman Empire.