The “8th century“ has been historically and archaeologically considered a sort of watershed between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The definition of the transformations in this period is a crucial issue, especially as regards continuity and change of the economic structures in the Late Antique Mediterranean world. This international interdisciplinary conference shall bring together scholars from several disciplines, including Late Antique, Islamic, Byzantine and Medieval History, Archaeology, Archaeometry, Numismatics, Philology, and Papyrology, to assess the 8th century qua threshold from different perspectives, in order to re-evaluate the problematic of this transition in terms of continuity/disruption by combining archaeological data and textual – literary as well as documentary – sources.
Wechselnde Veranstaltungsorte
| Tuesday, October 3 |
Wednesday, October 4 |
Thursday, October 5 |
Friday, October 6 |
Saturday, October 7 |
| 18:00 – 21:00
Freie Universität Berlin Room -1.2009 |
09:30 – 17:30
Bode-Museum Gobelinsaal Evening Lecture BBAW Einsteinsaal |
09:00 – 13:00
BBAW Einsteinsaal 14:30 – 20:00 Bode-Museum Gobelinsaal |
09:00 – 13:30
BBAW Einsteinsaal 15:00 – 18:00 Bode-Museum Gobelinsaal Evening Lecture BBAW Einsteinsaal |
09:00 – 17:00
Freie Universität Berlin Room -1.2009 |
3.10.2017 | |
18:00 - 19:00 | Registration |
19:00 - 21:00 | Welcome by the organizers & Warming-up reception |
4.10.2017 | |
09:30 - 10:00 | Welcome and Introduction Cäcilia Fluck Michael Meyer Silvia Polla |
10:00 - 10:45 | An Ice Age settled upon the Roman Empire: confronting and interpreting the archaeology of a great episode in European history Richard Hodges |
10:45 - 11:15 | Coffee Break |
11:15 - 12:00 | The 8th century in Northern Italy: a time of stagnation? An archaeological perspective Sauro Gelichi |
12:00 - 12:30 | Muslim presence and economic transformations on 7th- and 8th-century Aegean islands: is there an insular model of the ‘dark centuries’? Salvatore Cosentino |
12:30 - 13:00 | Sailing in the Dark: trade networks and commercial interaction between Crete and the neighboring islands during the period of transition Natalia Poulou |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch buffet |
14:00 - 14:30 | In search of social and economic activities in the Cyclades islands in the 8th century Eugenia Gerousi-Bendermacher |
14:30 - 15:00 | Gortyn of Crete in the 8th century: the role of the Church in the transition Isabella Baldini |
15:00 - 15:30 | Out of the dark – Ephesus in the 8th century Sabine Ladstätter |
15:30 - 16:00 | Coffee Break |
16:00 - 16:30 | When the cities do not go missing Urbanism in Cyprus between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages Nikolas Bakirtzis Luca Zavagno |
16:30 - 17:00 | Reusing Ancient Buildings as Charity Centers in 8th-century Rome Gregor Kallas |
17:00 - 17:30 | The Medical Cult of SS Abbacyrus and John in Rome: how 7th-century military and spiritual disputes affected the development of medical care in 8th-century Rome and beyond Eileen Rubery |
17:30 - 18:00 | St. Nicholas sails from East to West in the 8th Century Amelia Brown |
18:00 - 19:00 | Break |
19:00 - 20:00 | Mediterranean Politics and Connectivity in the late 7th century Stefan Esders |
5.10.2017 | |
09:00 - 09:15 | Welcome address Martin Grötschel |
09:15 - 09:45 | A gentle transition? Pottery, trade and exchange in the 8th century Joanita A. C. Vroom |
09:45 - 10:30 | Pottery and Mediterranean economic exchange networks under the Arabs in the 8th century: Contrasting the Levant, North Africa and Spain Paul Reynolds |
10:30 - 11:00 | Coffee Break |
11:00 - 11:30 | The 8th-century in Africa/Ifriqiya: Archaeological perspectives Philipp von Rummel |
11:30 - 12:00 | The city of Tarragona by the 8th century: new elements of discussion Ada Lasheras Gonzáles Francesc Rodríguez Martorell |
12:00 - 13:00 | POSTER SESSION I Veronica Casali (San Marino), Silvia Donadei (Salento) Giulia Marsili & Lucia Orlandi (Bologna): The 8th century at Gortyn: pottery production and context analysis | Veronica Casali (San Marino) & Debora Pellacchia (Bologna): The 8th century at Gortyn: glass and mosaic production | Horacio Gonzalez (Wien): Byzantine amphorae in Ephesos, 7th-9th centuries. New evidences for a better understanding of the Middle Byzantine commerce |
13:00 - 14:30 | Lunch Break |
14:30 - 15:00 | Cities and markets in transformation in the early medieval Mediterranean: ceramics and trade in Syracuse in the 8th century Giuseppe Cacciaguerra |
15:00 - 15:30 | Economy and trade at Ravenna during the 8th century Enrico Cirelli |
15:30 - 16:00 | Coffee Break |
16:00 - 16:30 | Stone and the Church in the 8th century The economics of sculpted products and its transformation between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Michelle Beghelli |
16:30 - 17:00 | Changing habits and changing scenarios: visual appearance and purchasing power as mirrored by the 8th Century Mediterranean jewellery deposits Joan Pinar Gil |
17:00 - 17:30 | Illustrating an Empire: Continuity and change in Umayyad visual culture Katharina Meinecke |
18:00 - 20:00 | Offer: Guided tour of the Late Antiquity / Byzantine Collection of the Bode-Museum and the Museum of Islamic Art |
6.10.2017 | |
09:00 - 09:45 | Fire under the ashes: Byzantine resilience in the long 8th century Cécile Morrisson |
09:45 - 10:30 | Transforming spatial economic relations in the 8th Century - the largest empire of the Late Antiquity Stefan Heidemann |
10:30 - 11:00 | Coffee Break |
11:00 - 11:30 | Building up the Frontier: Micro-Regional and divergent settlement patterns across the 8th century on the Umayyad and Abbāsid thughūr Alexander Asa Eger |
11:30 - 12:00 | Further thoughts on the kommerkiaroi, trade and the “Dark Centuries” of Byzantium Federico Montinaro |
12:00 - 13:00 | POSTER SESSION II Gabriele Castiglia (Bologna): urban and rural ecclesiastical frameworks in northern Tuscany in the 8th century | Maria Paola Bulla (Naples): The Islamic Pottery Issues in Tunisia: The Transition (7th–8th Centuries) | Clare Bycroft (Oxford): Quantifying the genetic impact of the Islamic conquest of Iberia (711 CE) | Dorotheé Sack & Martin Gussone (Berlin): Resafa-Rusafat Hisham in the 8th century. Settlement Pattern of a Caliphal residence |
13:00 - 14:30 | Lunch Break |
14:30 - 15:00 | Transforming cultural practices in 8th century domestic contexts at Kilise Tepe (Turkey) Mark Jackson |
15:00 - 15:30 | An open market of Abbasid period exposed in recent excavations in Jerusalem Dorn Ben-Ami Yana Tchekhanovets |
15:30 - 16:00 | Northern Bilad al-sham in the 8th century: Changing patterns of regional orientation – the ceramic evidence Martina Müller-Wiener |
16:00 - 16:30 | Coffee Break |
16:30 - 17:00 | The Carpathian Basin during the “Transition Period”: how the Avars integrated into the changing world between Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages Gergeli Szenthe |
17:00 - 17:30 | 8th-Century emporia, sceatta and Danish kingship Morten Søvsø |
17:30 - 18:00 | Northern Emporia and the 8th-century world A view from new excavations in Ribe Søren Sindbaek |
18:00 - 19:00 | Break |
19:00 - 20:00 | Looking back at the 8th century from the 11th Christopher Wickham |
7.10.2017 | |
09:00 - 09:45 | Imperial and Regional Arabic as Mirrored in Arabic Papyri from 8th-Century Egypt Andreas Kaplony |
09:45 - 10:15 | Administering Egypt: The role of Coptic within a wider imperial context Jennifer Cromwell |
10:15 - 10:45 | Coptic Papyri illuminating the Economy of 8th-century Egypt Frederic Krueger Tonio Sebastian Richter |
10:45 - 11:30 | Coffee Break |
11:30 - 12:00 | Continuity and Change in the notarial practice of Middle Egypt after the Arab conquest Sophie Kovarik |
12:00 - 12:30 | Trade and Economic Life in Late Antique and Early Muslim Aswan Stefanie Schmidt |
12:30 - 13:00 | Economic contacts between Syria and Egypt in the Early Islamic Period Lajos Berkes |
13:00 - 14:00 | Lunch buffet |
14:00 - 14:30 | Papyrus, parchment and the beginning of the written memory of Western Europe Dario Internullo |
14:30 - 15:00 | The power of a context: Literary distortion of economic issues Pia Carolla |
15:00 - 15:30 | Coffee Break |
15:30 - 17:00 | Concluding Round Table Bernhard Palme |