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BEYOND BUTRINT: THE ‘MURSI SURVEY’, 2008

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2016

Richard Hodges ,
Erika Carr ,
Alessandro Sebastiani  and
Emanuele Vaccaro
Richard Hodges*
Affiliation:
The American University of Rome
Erika Carr
Affiliation:
The American University of Rome
Alessandro Sebastiani
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Emanuele Vaccaro
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Landscape Archaeology and Remote Sensing, University of Siena
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

This article provides a short report on a survey of the region to the east of the ancient city of Butrint, in south-west Albania. Centred on the modern villages of Mursi and Xarra, the field survey provides information on over 80 sites (including standing monuments). Previous surveys close to Butrint have brought to light the impact of Roman Imperial colonisation on its hinterland. This new survey confirms that the density of Imperial Roman sites extends well to the east of Butrint. As in the previous surveys, pre-Roman and post-Roman sites are remarkably scarce. As a result, taking the results of the Butrint Foundation's archaeological excavations in Butrint to show the urban history of the place from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period, the authors challenge the central theme of urban continuity and impact upon Mediterranean landscapes posited by Horden and Purcell, in The Corrupting Sea (2000). Instead, the hinterland of Butrint, on the evidence of this and previous field surveys, appears to have had intense engagement with the town in the Early Roman period following the creation of the Roman colony. Significant engagement with Butrint continued in Late Antiquity, but subsequently in the Byzantine period, as before the creation of the colony, the relationship between the town and its hinterland was limited and has left a modest impact upon the archaeological record.

Πέρα από το Βουθρωτό: η τοπογράφηση Mursi, 2008

Το παρόν άρθρο συνιστά σύντομη επισκόπηση της έρευνας πεδίου στη γεωγραφική περιοχή ανατολικά της αρχαίας πόλης του Βουθρωτού, στη νοτιο-δυτική Αλβανία. Επικεντρωμένη στα χωριά Mursi και Xarrë, η έρευνα πεδίου παρέχει πληροφορίες για πάνω από 80 αρχαιολογικούς χώρους (συμπεριλαμβανομένων όσων μνημείων έχουν επιβιώσει). Προηγούμενες έρευνες κοντά στο Βουθρωτό έφεραν στο φως την επιρροή του Ρωμαϊκού Αυτοκρατορικού αποικισμού στην ενδοχώρα της νοτιοδυτικής Αλβανίας. Η υπό παρουσίαση νέα έρευνα επιβεβαιώνει ότι η πυκνότητα των Αυτοκρατορικών Ρωμαϊκών αρχαιολογικών χώρων εκτείνεται σε μεγάλο βαθμό έως τα ανατολικά του Βουθρωτού. Κατά συνέπεια, αφορμώμενοι από τα αποτελέσματα των αρχαιολογικών ανασκαφών στο Βουθρωτό, που διενεργούνται από το Ίδρυμα Βουθρωτού, οι συγγραφείς του εν λόγω άρθρου αμφισβητούν το κεντρικό επιχείρημα της αστικής συνέχειας και επιρροής στα Μεσογειακά τοπία, που παρουσίασαν οι Horden και Purcell στη μονογραφία τους The Corrupting Sea (2000). Αντιθέτως, με βάση τα δεδομένα αυτής της έρευνας και των προηγούμενων ερευνών πεδίου, η ενδοχώρα του Βουθρωτού δείχνει να αλληλεπιδρά έντονα με το άστυ κατά τη διάρκεια της πρώιμης Ρωμαϊκής περιόδου που ακολούθησε την ίδρυση της Ρωμαϊκής αποικίας. Η έντονη αλληλεπίδραση της ενδοχώρας με το Βουθρωτό εξακολούθησε να υφίσταται κατά την ύστερη αρχαιότητα. Εντούτοις, αργότερα, κατά τη διάρκεια της Βυζαντινής περιόδου, όπως πριν από την ίδρυση της αποικίας, η σχέση μεταξύ άστεως και ενδοχώρας περιορίστηκε και, ως εκ τούτου, κατέλιπε ταπεινό στίγμα στο αρχαιολογικό ιστορικό της περιοχής.

Μετάφραση: Μαρία Γ. Χανθού

Type
Articles
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 111 , November 2016 , pp. 269 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2016 

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