No. LV (2024)
Articles

Reading the Subtext – Site Location and Settlement Systems in Roman Moesia

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  • Lina Diers
Lina Diers
Department of Historical Archaeology Austrian Archaeological Institute – Austrian Academy of Sciences
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC2455027D

Published 26.12.2024

Keywords

  • Moesia (Superior),
  • site location,
  • settlement development,
  • settlement systems,
  • Scupi,
  • Ratiaria,
  • Naissus,
  • Horreum Margi
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Diers, L. (2024). Reading the Subtext – Site Location and Settlement Systems in Roman Moesia. Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies, (LV), 27–58. https://doi.org/10.2298/BALC2455027D

Copyright (c) 2024 Balcanica - Annual of the Institute for Balkan Studies

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This paper argues that there is a political, social, economic or even historical sub-stratum to the location and development of settlement that is significant to the diachronic understanding of settlement systems but may easily get neglected in favour of discussions of settlement hierarchy or single events in settlement history. Hence, it postulates that the factors for initial site location may not be the same as the factors for further settle- ment development, and that said substratum should be explored to fully grasp the reasons behind settlement dynamics. In doing so, it focuses on two categories of sites – so-called bridge-sites at significant geographical locations and legionary garrisons turned colonies. Settlements used as examples are Horreum Margi, Naissus, Scupi, and Ratiaria in Moesia Superior.
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