Garum or Grain? Crimea and the Provisioning of Constantinople (7th to 9th centuries)

IF 0.1 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Florin Curta
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Historians have relied for too long on written sources (the letters that Pope Martin I wrote from Cherson, as well as De Administrando Imperio) to assess the economic situation in the Crimea, especially in Cherson, during the so-called Dark Ages (7th to 9th centuries). Many still believe that that city could not have survived without shipments of grain from the outside, particularly from the lands along the southern coast of the Black Sea. Seals of Byzantine officials found in Cherson tell a different story, as they indicate commercial exchanges between the Crimea and Constantinople. If the peninsula participated in trade, something must have been offered in exchange for the goods coming from the Capital. The archaeological evidence strongly suggests that during the 8th and 9th centuries, the hinterland of Cherson, as well as the Kerch Peninsula (eastern Crimea) witnessed rapid economic development, largely based on the cultivation of crops. Silos found on several settlement sites, both open and fortified, suggest a surplus, which was most likely commercialized. If so, the closest markets were across the Black Sea, to the south, primarily in Constantinople. Other commodities, such as wine transported in amphorae, traveled in the opposite direction, across the Sea of Azov and into the interior of Khazaria. In exchange, the peninsula received shipments of grain, which were then re-exported to Constantinople. Far from relying on shipments of grain from the Capital, Cherson and the rest of the Crimean Peninsula in fact supplied Constantinople with food. Numerous vats for the production of fish sauce have been found in Cherson, and many were in operation before 900. A good deal of the garum served at tables in Constantinople between the 7th and the 9th century must have come from Cherson. The archaeological evidence therefore calls for a re-assessment of the economic situation in the Crimean Peninsula during the “Dark Ages”.
Garum还是Grain?克里米亚和君士坦丁堡的供给(7至9世纪)
历史学家长期以来依赖书面资料(教皇马丁一世从切尔森写的信件,以及De Administrando Imperio)来评估克里米亚的经济状况,特别是切尔森,在所谓的黑暗时代(7至9世纪)。许多人仍然认为,如果没有来自外部的粮食运输,特别是来自黑海南部海岸的粮食运输,这座城市不可能存活下来。在切尔森发现的拜占庭官员的印章讲述了一个不同的故事,因为它们表明克里米亚和君士坦丁堡之间的商业往来。如果半岛参与了贸易,那么一定有什么东西可以用来交换来自首都的货物。考古证据有力地表明,在8世纪和9世纪期间,切尔森腹地以及刻赤半岛(克里米亚东部)见证了经济的快速发展,主要基于农作物的种植。在几个定居点发现的筒仓,既有开放的,也有加固的,表明有盈余,很可能被商业化了。如果是这样的话,最近的市场是在黑海对岸的南部,主要是在君士坦丁堡。其他商品,如用双耳罐运输的葡萄酒,则沿着相反的方向,穿过亚速海进入可萨里亚内陆。作为交换,该半岛接收了谷物,然后再出口到君士坦丁堡。切尔森和克里米亚半岛的其他地区并没有依赖从首都运来的粮食,而是向君士坦丁堡提供粮食。在切尔森发现了许多生产鱼露的大桶,其中许多在公元900年之前就开始运作了。在7世纪到9世纪之间,君士坦丁堡餐桌上的大量garum一定来自切尔森。因此,考古证据要求对“黑暗时代”克里米亚半岛的经济状况进行重新评估。
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来源期刊
Studia Ceranea
Studia Ceranea HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-
CiteScore
0.20
自引率
0.00%
发文量
10
审稿时长
22 weeks
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