Archaeology
The impact of the Mongol conquests on earthen cities in Central Asia
The conquest campaigns of the Mongol Empire took place in the first half of the thirteenth century, deposing the Persianate Khwarazmian Empire and seizing its territories from Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf and the Caucasus.
Historical accounts, such as those by Rashid al-Din (AD 1247–1318) and Ata Malik Juvaini (AD 1226–1283), describe scenes of mass destruction and violence, massacring and enslaving populations.
Based on these descriptions, the destruction has been long been suggested to be the cause of the depopulation of the region’s earthen-built cities. However, a new study by Dr Katie Campbell from King’s College at the University of Cambridge, now suggests that the depopulation rather than the destruction, is the primary reason for urban abandonment, as the remaining populations lacked the manpower and resources to maintain the earthen structures and supporting irrigation systems.
Archaeological evidence in Central Asia has found little supporting evidence of the direct destruction by the Mongols that supports the described historical narrative; however, convincing examples can be found elsewhere in parts of Russia and Eastern Europe.
Instead, previous excavations report a trend of architectural abandonment and desolation, contradicting the Mongol destruction accounts.
According to the study, abandonment events can be tracked from the 12th to the 14th century at the sites of Merv and Otrar following the Mongol conquest, with evidence of renovations, and occasionally, destruction. It is probable that the economic, political, and environmental stresses caused by the Mongol disruptions exacerbated pre-existing issues and hastened urban decline in cities which were already struggling.
According to Dr Campbell, “Both archaeological and ethnographic evidence demonstrate the importance of maintenance to earthen-built cities, and the potential for significant disruption to urban infrastructure, especially architecture and irrigation, which would occur from a decrease in population.”
“The specific properties of earthen architecture, especially the availability and affordability of mud as a building material, led to low-level reuse, and a widespread pattern of the eventual movement of cities after it was no longer possible to maintain them,” added Dr Campbell.
With the extensive economic and population disruptions caused by the conquests, the cities no longer had a sizeable population to undertake their basic maintenance, initiating the deterioration of the urban fabric that was difficult or impossible to reverse. This likely meant that earthen buildings, and sometimes entire cities, were abandoned and rebuilt across the region.
Dr Campbell said: “As the result of the archaeological findings and accompanying historical patterns, I argue that textual sources describing the destruction and desolation of cities by the Mongols should be considered within the context of patterns of construction and maintenance, which had persisted in these earthen cities for centuries.”
“Although it is likely that the Mongols caused some damage to the urban fabric, they did not literally destroy entire cities. Nonetheless, they did cause a crisis of urbanism in Central Asia, predominantly because they disrupted cycles of maintenance by sending the urban population into flight,” added Dr Campbell.
The result was a series of destroyed medieval cities that were likely destroyed by natural erosion rather than by the Mongol attacks.
https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia_00118_1
Header Image: Otrar – Image Credit : Mikhail Gurulev – CC BY 4.0
Excavations at the Roman fort of Vindolanda have uncovered a possible phallus carving near Hadrian’s Wall.
Vindolanda (translated as “white field” or “white moor”) was a Roman auxiliary fort that guarded a major highway called the Stanegate.
No less than nine forts were built of timber or stone at Vindolanda from between AD 85 to AD 370, creating one of the most complex archaeological sites in Britain and a unique cultural legacy of frontier life.
Today, Vindolanda is an ongoing active archaeological site, with previous excavations uncovering thousands of perfectly preserved shoes, textiles, wooden objects, and the Vindolanda tablets (the oldest surviving documents in Britain that date from the 1st and 2nd century AD).
During the latest season of excavations, a possible phallus symbol has been uncovered in the last remaining turfed area within the boundaries of the fort. The symbol is carved into a stone slab and could be a depiction of a fascinus, used to invoke divine protection.
Phallic imagery can be found across the Roman world in sculptures, mosaics, frescoes, and portable objects such as pendants or bulla.
The Roman’s believed that the phallus was the embodiment of a masculine generative power, and was one of the tokens of the safety of the state (sacra Romana) that gave protection and good fortune.
Along the corridor of Hadrian’s Wall, there are 59 known phalli which consist of incised, relief, or sculpture phalli. Each architectural type of phalli have been grouped into one of nine morphological traits: the rocket, the hammer, the kinky-winky, the splitcock, the pointer, the double-dong, running hard, the beast, and the lucky dip.
Header Image Credit : Dr Rob Collins, FSA (via Twitter)
Sources : Vindolanda Trust
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
An analysis of carbonised papyrus from the Roman town of Herculaneum has revealed the burial place of Plato.
Plato (427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period and taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato’s most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals.
The scroll is one of many examples recovered at Herculaneum, a Roman town in the present-day comune of Ercolano in South-West Italy.
Along with the nearby city of Pompeii, Herculaneum was destroyed during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, burying the town under thick layers of ash and pumice.
Image Credit : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Numerous scrolls and parchments made from papyrus were carbonised under the intense heat, however, as part of an ongoing project by archaeologists, a scroll containing the History of the Academy of Philodemus of Gadara (110-40 BC) has been partially deciphered.
The team used modern imaging techniques such as infrared, ultraviolet optical imaging, molecular and elemental imaging, thermal imaging, tomography, and optical microscopy digital.
Approximately 1,000 words have been identified (around 30% of the text entirety) which includes new details about Plato, the development of his Platonic Academy, and information that identifies his place of burial.
Archaeologists already knew that Plato was buried somewhere in the Platonic School in Athens, however, this latest revelation has pinpointed his burial to a private garden near the so-called Museion or sacellum sacred to the Muses.
Furthermore, the text has revealed that Plato was sold as a slave following the conquest of the island of Aegina by the Spartans sometime around 404 BC to 399 BC.
Header Image Credit : CNR – Image Credit : iStock
Sources : CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerchenrc
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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