This project aims to reconsider urban transformations as a consequence of urban networks between the 7th and 9th centuries CE by collating and reviewing published and unpublished archaeological data from a selection of sites. Its goal is to answer two sets of intertwined questions:

1. Urban transformations. How did the urban space develop between the 7th and 9th centuries? How were the different components that shape cities transformed? What were the causes behind these transformations?

2. Urban networks. How were cities integrated in the regional, interregional, and empire-wide urban network? To what extent were urban transformations the results of urban networks? How did the urban networks of the 7th-9th century compare with that of earlier periods?

The aim is to answer these questions by applying analytical analyses to a set of artefacts to investigate their production centres and taking as case studies a number of cities and anchorage points along the northern and eastern Black Sea coasts. In doing this, artefacts will be used to undermine the longstanding stereotype of 7th-9th-century cities as isolated 'islands’' and demonstrate their inclusion in regional and empire-wide urban networks and long-distance trade, and explore how cities evolved thanks to their interconnectivity.

PI: Emanuele Ettore Intagliata