{"title":"Christian Topography in the Late Antique Town: Recent Results and Open Questions","authors":"Gisella Cantino Wataghin","doi":"10.1163/22134522-90000010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/22134522-90000010","url":null,"abstract":"The study of Christian topography has become increasingly subtle in its appreciation of both textual and archaeological evidence. Despite this, the model established in the 1980s, of an intra-mural episcopal church and extra-mural cemetery churches, seems still to be valid. However, this picture remains provisional; it must not be assumed where evidence is poor. There remain many questions open to investigation. Excavations conducted to a high standard may go some way to resolving these. Nevertheless, urban data remains fragmentary, so historical discussions must remain at the level of models.","PeriodicalId":123587,"journal":{"name":"Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology","volume":"84 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124958548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Some Aspects of the Transformation of the Roman Domus between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages","authors":"Barbara Polci","doi":"10.1163/22134522-90000005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/22134522-90000005","url":null,"abstract":"This essay concerns some aspects of the transformation of the Late Roman domus into the Early Medieval house and focuses on the spaces designed for reception and entertainment. First, I will consider the use and the development of the reception areas of wealthy houses, and their relationship with the growth in private patronage in Late Antiquity. Second, I will examine the transformation of this late antique model of elite housing into the new type of upper-class dwellings that emerged in Early Medieval Italy. In particular, I will focus on the transferral of reception halls and banqueting chambers to the upper story, and on the social and architectonic implications of this feature.","PeriodicalId":123587,"journal":{"name":"Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology","volume":"259 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115666044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Archaeology and Late Antique Social Structures","authors":"J. Sodini","doi":"10.1163/22134522-90000003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/22134522-90000003","url":null,"abstract":"The archaeological remains of late antique sites can be interpreted in terms of what they can tell us about ancient social structures. This is more straightforward when examining the social structures of the upper classes, who possessed the attributes that allow them to be recognised as such. These attributes occur on a Mediterranean-wide basis and include lavishly decorated residences (in both urban and rural environments), monumental funerary structures within churches, splendid garments, precious table wares and implements, and the insignia of rank in the form of jewellery such as gold brooches, fibulae, or belt buckles. The middle class is also traceable in the cities (mostly in the form of craftsmen) and in the countryside, where small landowners and peasants could share similar lifestyles, marked in some regions (such as the Near East and Asia Minor) by conspicuous levels of wealth. However, the lives of these middle classes could change abruptly, casting them into poverty and consequently making them difficult to trace archaeologically. Nonetheless, judicious interpretation of the material remains in tandem with the evidence of documentary and epigraphic sources allows us to make some suggestions as to the social structures of Late Antiquity.","PeriodicalId":123587,"journal":{"name":"Theory and Practice in Late Antique Archaeology","volume":"84 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130494941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}