Medieval Rural Settlements in the Syrian Coastal Region (12th and 13th Centuries)

Balázs Major

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781784912048
• eBook ISBN:
  9781784912055
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book is the result of more than a dozen years of research in the field of the hitherto unstudied medieval settlement pattern of the Syrian coastal region in the 12th and 13th centuries. The conclusions presented in this work were reached with the combined use of several source types including medieval documents, travellers' accounts, former research, map evidence, toponymy, archive and satellite photographs, oral sources and extensive archaeological field surveys accompanied by documentation between the years 2000 and 2015. After enumerating the historical events that influenced the settlement pattern of the coast, its centres, including the towns and castles (with special regard to the smaller fortifications of the countryside that seem to have been a Frankish introduction to the area) are analysed. Following the detailed examination of the written sources and the architectural material preserved at these lesser sites, a closer look at the villages and their environment aims to draw a general picture on the density of settlements and their basic characteristics. The book also discusses communication lines and provides an assessment of the medieval population that inhabited the region in the 12th and 13th centuries. The text is accompanied by a collection of maps, plan drawings, tables and illustrations on a selected number of sites visited during the field surveys.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• List of Figures
• List of Pictures
• List of Plates
• List of Tables and Maps
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Transcription
• Summary
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Geographical Setting
• 3. Methodology
• DATABASE I.MEDIEVAL CERAMIC TYPES in the RURAL AREAS of the SYRIAN COASTAL REGION
• 4. Historical Frame
• 5. Settlement
• Map of Sites
• DATABASE IISETTLEMENTS in the SYRIAN COASTAL REGION FEATURINGin the MEDIEVAL LATIN and ARABIC DOCUMENTS
• DATABASE IIISITES VISITED between 2000 and 2015 in the SYRIAN COASTAL REGION (only sites with certain medieval remains or possible medieval habitation included)
• 6. Inhabitants
• 7. CONCLUSION
• Appendices
• Pictures
• PlatesArchitectural drawings
• Plates
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Indices