Lara Fabian | University of California, Los Angeles (original) (raw)
Papers by Lara Fabian
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. III: Frontier-Zone Processes and Transimperial Exchange, 2023
Of the riches and power of this country, this is no slight proof, that when Pompey imposed upon T... more Of the riches and power of this country, this is no slight proof, that when Pompey imposed upon Tigranes, the father of Artavasdes, the payment of 6,000 talents of silver, he immediately distributed the money among the Roman army, to each soldier 50 drachmae, 1,000 to a centurion, and a talent to a Hipparch and a Chiliarch," trans. H. L. Jones. 12 There are of course problems with envisioning a fixed system of such roads, see Weaverdyck,
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
This caused some tension when Roman citizenship was extended far beyond the borders of the city... more This caused some tension when Roman citizenship was extended far beyond the borders of the city and its territory, prompting Cicero to develop his theory of dual fatherlands (De legibus 2. 5). Ma 2003; Malkin 2011. The debates about whether Republican Rome was itself a polis is a question that has occupied historians ever since, as Woolf (2020, 325) points out concerning the first century , without clear resolution. Compare this pattern of urbanism and its centrality to identity-formation to that in South Asia
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
These arrangements are known from epigraphic evidence in North Africa, where imperial holdings... more These arrangements are known from epigraphic evidence in North Africa, where imperial holdings were particularly extensive (Kehoe 1988). Rathbone 1993, 84. E.g., taxes connected to the the kat' ethnoi records, von Reden 2007, 104-107 for discussion and bibliography. On which in general, Clarysse and Thompson 2006. These include payment for the upkeep of the navy, a land transportation surcharge, and a harbor fee (Gabrielsen 2013, 72). On customs duties in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt generally, see Sijpesteijn 1987.
Electrum 28, 2021
The early relationships between the polities of Armenia and K'art'li in the South Caucasus and th... more The early relationships between the polities of Armenia and K'art'li in the South Caucasus and their neighbours in the North Caucasus is a central, but underappreciated, factor in the development of the South Caucasus' social and political world in the Hellenistic period. Typically, only military aspects of these interactions are considered (e.g., Alan raids and control thereof). Hazy evidence of cross-Caucasus marriage alliances preserved in both the Armenian and Georgian historiographic traditions, however, hints at a far wider sphere of interaction, despite the inherent challenges in gleaning historical reality from these medieval accounts. This paper contextualizes two stories of cross-Caucasus marriage related to foundational dynastic figures in the Armenian and Georgian traditions, Artašēs and P'arnavaz respectively, within a wider body of evidence for and thought about North-South Caucasus interaction. Taken as a whole, this consideration argues that North-South relationships should be seen as integral to the political development of the South Caucasus.
Common Dwelling Place of all the Gods, 2021
Commagene lay at the southwestern edge of a vast mountainous space that we might understand as th... more Commagene lay at the southwestern edge of a vast mountainous space that we might understand as the Taurus-Zagros-Caucasus highland belt, stretching from the Southeastern Taurus Mountains of Eastern Anatolia into Iran, and north from the Zagros to the Greater Caucasus. In the northeastern section of this belt, the South Caucasus Kura polities of Caucasian Albania (Gr Ἀλβανία) and Kʻartʻli (Caucasian Iberia [Gr Ἰβηρία; Geo ქართლი]) grew at roughly the same time as Commagene. Albania was to the east, in the Kura lowlands and Caucasus piedmont near the Caspian, and Kʻartʻli to the west, near the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi Rivers.
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies: Vol. I: Contexts, 2020
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies: Vol. I: Contexts, 2020
From Albania to Arrān: The East Caucasus between the Ancient and Islamic Worlds (ca. 330 BCE–1000 CE), 2020
![Research paper thumbnail of Фабиан Л. 2020. “Стеклянные сосуды из памятников Восточного Кавказа V в. до н.э. - IV в. н.э.” [Glass vessels from the monuments of the east Caucasus, 5th c. BCE–4th c. CE]. In Археологическое наследие Кавказа. XXXI Крупновские чтения, edited by М. C. Гаджиев, 281–283. Мавраевь.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/98815246/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Археологическое наследие Кавказа: актуальные проблемы изучения и сохранения. XXXI Крупновские чтения, 2020
Historische Anthropologie 27.1, 2019
This paper uses the framework of numismatic practice—socially contextualized coin use—to explore ... more This paper uses the framework of numismatic practice—socially contextualized coin use—to explore how “money” developed meaning in the ancient Caucasus. Traditional approaches to monetization at the edges of ancient imperial space view the expansion of coinage as an outgrowth of imperial programs. In contrast, this exploration demonstrates that coins were used to construct and maintain diverse and overlapping regimes of value, shaped by regional priorities rather than imported norms. Within this system, the use of coins in mortuary contexts became an especially durable social practice.
Landscape Archaeology in Southern Caucasia: Finding Common Ground in Diverse Environments. Edited by W. Anderson, K. Hopper, and A. Robinson. (OREA), 2018
Running across the isthmus that separates the Near East from the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus Mo... more Running across the isthmus that separates the Near East from the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus Mountains dominate both the physical and imagined landscapes of the surrounding regions, shaping the lives of those in their shadow. Perceptions about mountains and mountain peoples have long undergirded the study of the South Caucasus, but recent developments in the study of landscape offer new avenues for considering interactions between humans and mountains. Of particular interest are the affordances that the rugged topography offers those moving around the zone, since mountains both constrain motion but also offer opportunities to those who know them well. This paper examines broad-scale movement possibilities through the South Caucasus, using Least Cost Path (LCP) networks to model mo- vement corridors and to consider the experiential interaction between people and mountainous zones. These analyses provide insights into the relative ease or dif culty of pursuing particular routes. When used in conjunction with other sources of archaeological and historical data, the LCP networks help to tease out the various choices available to local residents and external actors as they navigated the challenging topography.
Azərbaycanda arxeoloji tədqiqatlar 2015-2016, 2018
Expedition Magazine, 2017
Sinews of Empire: Proceedings of the Networks of the Roman Near East Conference. Edited by Håkon Fiane Teigen and Eivind Heldaas Seland (Oxbow), 2017
Networks provide a rich framework for studying numismatics, enabling an examination of coins that... more Networks provide a rich framework for studying numismatics, enabling an
examination of coins that accounts for both the physical networks across which they travelled as well as the metaphorical networks within which they were used. This paper applies network approaches to discuss numismatic data from the northern South Caucasus in the Hellenistic and Roman-Arsacid periods. The zone was, at the time, a multifaceted frontier between the Mediterranean and Iranian empires and the Eurasian steppe, which led to profoundly complex material and cultural exchanges.
Here, an analysis of the hypothetical routes through the South Caucasus that brought coins into and around the zone is combined with a study of actual coin distribution patterns of over 4700 coins with established provenance. This allows for the identification of ‘numismatic networks’ that represent particular adoptions of numismatic practice in the imperial borderlands. Two of these networks are discussed in detail, spatially related to the polities of Caucasian Iberia and Caucasian Albania. The contrasts between coin use practices in the two zones demonstrate that, although coins came to circulate in the territory through interactions with neighbouring empires, numismatic practice was shaped more by local priorities than simply by imperial proximities.
American Numismatics Society Magazine 14.4 (2015): 14-27
Book Reviews by Lara Fabian
Conference Presentations by Lara Fabian
Исследования на территории Восточного Кавказа давно доказали, что стеклянные предметы (бусы, сосу... more Исследования на территории Восточного Кавказа давно доказали, что стеклянные предметы (бусы, сосуды) представлены здесь уже в античный период и получили широкое распространение к началу IV в. н.э. (см.: Nuriyev, 1981). Недавние работы демонстрируют роль Южного Кавказа как центра сасанидского стеклянного производства (Simpson, 2015). Предлагаемая статья, рассматривая доказательства, связанные со стеклянными сосудами античного периода, преследует две цели: определить (1) фазы распространения стеклянных сосудов и их технологии на Восточном Кавказе и (2) пути их проникновения. Эти факторы, наряду с сырьевой базой, обусловили возникновение и развитие местного стеклоделия в сасанидском периоде.
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. III: Frontier-Zone Processes and Transimperial Exchange, 2023
Of the riches and power of this country, this is no slight proof, that when Pompey imposed upon T... more Of the riches and power of this country, this is no slight proof, that when Pompey imposed upon Tigranes, the father of Artavasdes, the payment of 6,000 talents of silver, he immediately distributed the money among the Roman army, to each soldier 50 drachmae, 1,000 to a centurion, and a talent to a Hipparch and a Chiliarch," trans. H. L. Jones. 12 There are of course problems with envisioning a fixed system of such roads, see Weaverdyck,
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
This caused some tension when Roman citizenship was extended far beyond the borders of the city... more This caused some tension when Roman citizenship was extended far beyond the borders of the city and its territory, prompting Cicero to develop his theory of dual fatherlands (De legibus 2. 5). Ma 2003; Malkin 2011. The debates about whether Republican Rome was itself a polis is a question that has occupied historians ever since, as Woolf (2020, 325) points out concerning the first century , without clear resolution. Compare this pattern of urbanism and its centrality to identity-formation to that in South Asia
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies. Vol. II: Local, Regional, and Imperial Economies, 2022
These arrangements are known from epigraphic evidence in North Africa, where imperial holdings... more These arrangements are known from epigraphic evidence in North Africa, where imperial holdings were particularly extensive (Kehoe 1988). Rathbone 1993, 84. E.g., taxes connected to the the kat' ethnoi records, von Reden 2007, 104-107 for discussion and bibliography. On which in general, Clarysse and Thompson 2006. These include payment for the upkeep of the navy, a land transportation surcharge, and a harbor fee (Gabrielsen 2013, 72). On customs duties in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt generally, see Sijpesteijn 1987.
Electrum 28, 2021
The early relationships between the polities of Armenia and K'art'li in the South Caucasus and th... more The early relationships between the polities of Armenia and K'art'li in the South Caucasus and their neighbours in the North Caucasus is a central, but underappreciated, factor in the development of the South Caucasus' social and political world in the Hellenistic period. Typically, only military aspects of these interactions are considered (e.g., Alan raids and control thereof). Hazy evidence of cross-Caucasus marriage alliances preserved in both the Armenian and Georgian historiographic traditions, however, hints at a far wider sphere of interaction, despite the inherent challenges in gleaning historical reality from these medieval accounts. This paper contextualizes two stories of cross-Caucasus marriage related to foundational dynastic figures in the Armenian and Georgian traditions, Artašēs and P'arnavaz respectively, within a wider body of evidence for and thought about North-South Caucasus interaction. Taken as a whole, this consideration argues that North-South relationships should be seen as integral to the political development of the South Caucasus.
Common Dwelling Place of all the Gods, 2021
Commagene lay at the southwestern edge of a vast mountainous space that we might understand as th... more Commagene lay at the southwestern edge of a vast mountainous space that we might understand as the Taurus-Zagros-Caucasus highland belt, stretching from the Southeastern Taurus Mountains of Eastern Anatolia into Iran, and north from the Zagros to the Greater Caucasus. In the northeastern section of this belt, the South Caucasus Kura polities of Caucasian Albania (Gr Ἀλβανία) and Kʻartʻli (Caucasian Iberia [Gr Ἰβηρία; Geo ქართლი]) grew at roughly the same time as Commagene. Albania was to the east, in the Kura lowlands and Caucasus piedmont near the Caspian, and Kʻartʻli to the west, near the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi Rivers.
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies: Vol. I: Contexts, 2020
Handbook of Ancient Afro-Eurasian Economies: Vol. I: Contexts, 2020
From Albania to Arrān: The East Caucasus between the Ancient and Islamic Worlds (ca. 330 BCE–1000 CE), 2020
Археологическое наследие Кавказа: актуальные проблемы изучения и сохранения. XXXI Крупновские чтения, 2020
Historische Anthropologie 27.1, 2019
This paper uses the framework of numismatic practice—socially contextualized coin use—to explore ... more This paper uses the framework of numismatic practice—socially contextualized coin use—to explore how “money” developed meaning in the ancient Caucasus. Traditional approaches to monetization at the edges of ancient imperial space view the expansion of coinage as an outgrowth of imperial programs. In contrast, this exploration demonstrates that coins were used to construct and maintain diverse and overlapping regimes of value, shaped by regional priorities rather than imported norms. Within this system, the use of coins in mortuary contexts became an especially durable social practice.
Landscape Archaeology in Southern Caucasia: Finding Common Ground in Diverse Environments. Edited by W. Anderson, K. Hopper, and A. Robinson. (OREA), 2018
Running across the isthmus that separates the Near East from the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus Mo... more Running across the isthmus that separates the Near East from the Eurasian Steppe, the Caucasus Mountains dominate both the physical and imagined landscapes of the surrounding regions, shaping the lives of those in their shadow. Perceptions about mountains and mountain peoples have long undergirded the study of the South Caucasus, but recent developments in the study of landscape offer new avenues for considering interactions between humans and mountains. Of particular interest are the affordances that the rugged topography offers those moving around the zone, since mountains both constrain motion but also offer opportunities to those who know them well. This paper examines broad-scale movement possibilities through the South Caucasus, using Least Cost Path (LCP) networks to model mo- vement corridors and to consider the experiential interaction between people and mountainous zones. These analyses provide insights into the relative ease or dif culty of pursuing particular routes. When used in conjunction with other sources of archaeological and historical data, the LCP networks help to tease out the various choices available to local residents and external actors as they navigated the challenging topography.
Azərbaycanda arxeoloji tədqiqatlar 2015-2016, 2018
Expedition Magazine, 2017
Sinews of Empire: Proceedings of the Networks of the Roman Near East Conference. Edited by Håkon Fiane Teigen and Eivind Heldaas Seland (Oxbow), 2017
Networks provide a rich framework for studying numismatics, enabling an examination of coins that... more Networks provide a rich framework for studying numismatics, enabling an
examination of coins that accounts for both the physical networks across which they travelled as well as the metaphorical networks within which they were used. This paper applies network approaches to discuss numismatic data from the northern South Caucasus in the Hellenistic and Roman-Arsacid periods. The zone was, at the time, a multifaceted frontier between the Mediterranean and Iranian empires and the Eurasian steppe, which led to profoundly complex material and cultural exchanges.
Here, an analysis of the hypothetical routes through the South Caucasus that brought coins into and around the zone is combined with a study of actual coin distribution patterns of over 4700 coins with established provenance. This allows for the identification of ‘numismatic networks’ that represent particular adoptions of numismatic practice in the imperial borderlands. Two of these networks are discussed in detail, spatially related to the polities of Caucasian Iberia and Caucasian Albania. The contrasts between coin use practices in the two zones demonstrate that, although coins came to circulate in the territory through interactions with neighbouring empires, numismatic practice was shaped more by local priorities than simply by imperial proximities.
American Numismatics Society Magazine 14.4 (2015): 14-27
Исследования на территории Восточного Кавказа давно доказали, что стеклянные предметы (бусы, сосу... more Исследования на территории Восточного Кавказа давно доказали, что стеклянные предметы (бусы, сосуды) представлены здесь уже в античный период и получили широкое распространение к началу IV в. н.э. (см.: Nuriyev, 1981). Недавние работы демонстрируют роль Южного Кавказа как центра сасанидского стеклянного производства (Simpson, 2015). Предлагаемая статья, рассматривая доказательства, связанные со стеклянными сосудами античного периода, преследует две цели: определить (1) фазы распространения стеклянных сосудов и их технологии на Восточном Кавказе и (2) пути их проникновения. Эти факторы, наряду с сырьевой базой, обусловили возникновение и развитие местного стеклоделия в сасанидском периоде.
Taking a wide-angle view on the South Caucasus in the late Hellenistic and Roman-Parthian periods... more Taking a wide-angle view on the South Caucasus in the late Hellenistic and Roman-Parthian periods, this paper uses material evidence to discuss numismatic developments across the region, and by extension, issues of monetary economy. At question is whether (and in what ways) the expansion of Mediterranean and Iranian imperial entities into the region brought along economic integration into the monetary spheres of these powers.
Rather than looking at patterns of diffusion of various coin types, this paper approaches numismatic data contextually. First, I present a statistical interrogation of hoard structure applied to large hoards from the region and period (e.g., from Eki, Sepieti, Gerzeul, Sarnakunk, Khinsli, Gabala, etc.), as well as more moderately sized hoards (e.g., from Mtskheta Railway, Garni, Garadonlu, Artashat, Nuydi, Bori, etc). And second, I discuss the archaeological context of coin finds more broadly.
Based on the available data, which reflects over a century of scientific interest into the question of coinage in the territory, a picture of considerable diversity emerges. The differential patterns of numismatic expansion and exploitation suggests economic integration that was uneven both temporally and spatially, with ramifications for understanding the spread and depth of imperial ‘influence’ along this northern edge of both Mediterranean and Iranian powers.
Relationships between ancient populations in the South Caucasus and their steppe neighbors played... more Relationships between ancient populations in the South Caucasus and their steppe neighbors played a central role in shaping regional organization and history. However, these ties, ephemeral in both the textual and archaeological records, have been easy to overlook in favor of better-attested engagements with imperial powers to the south and west. When the relationships between the South Caucasus and steppe is discussed, it tends to be framed as fundamentally antagonistic – i.e., in the form of raiding parties and military incursions – in a contemporary continuation of tropes inherited from classical authors.
This paper considers specifically Armenia’s northern neighbors along the Kura River, the territories that consolidated into the polities of Iberia and Albania over the Hellenistic period. It traces a longue durée story of interaction between the residents and political authorities along the Kura and their mobile pastoralist neighbors, known over time by the ethnonyms Scythian, Sarmatian, and Alan (among others). Approaching the question from both a textual and material perspective, I consider descriptions of geography, dynamics of movement, and material flows north-south across the Greater Caucasus range, as well as along seldom-acknowledged Circumcaspian pathways. Although interpretation of the material evidence is hampered by the current state of archaeological confusion about steppe groups, it is nevertheless possible to see a range of models of interaction, which taken together demonstrate the depth and complexity of the relationships with the steppe.
On the basis of this material, I argue that the South Caucasus should not be understood as the stage for a bipolar meeting of Iranian and Mediterranean cultural forces, but rather as a multipolar site of negotiation between the steppe, and the empires of the Iranian, Near Eastern, and Mediterranean worlds.
Bathing facilities of various types became increasingly common along the northern and eastern sho... more Bathing facilities of various types became increasingly common along the northern and eastern shores of the Black Sea and the Caucasian interior over the course of the first centuries CE—a period of intensified interaction between Roman soldiers, regional political authorities, and local residents. The presence of bathhouses at Roman and Late Roman forts along the coast, like that at Gonio, as well as in the inland reaches controlled by the dynasts of Caucasian Iberia and Armenia, at sites like Armazi and Artashat, testifies to the range of technological and cultural transfers afoot in the region. A careful study of these structures can therefore give clues about the paths of connectivity along which these transformations flowed. The incorporation of this material into studies of the broader ancient Mediterranean world, however, has been limited. The sites, many excavated in the Soviet period in territories of the former USSR, are published in scattered and difficult-to-access archaeological reports, and are largely unfamiliar to researchers working on other parts of the ancient world.
This paper provides a regional consideration of bathing facilities from the Caucasus and North Pontic through the fourth century CE. Starting with an overview of sites, I present a preliminary typology that situates the structures within broader Circumpontic and Anatolian traditions. Then, an analysis of the organization of space, the construction methods, and the decorative programs highlights the variety of structures present in the area, as well as the development of regional traits unfamiliar outside of the Pontic space. Finally, the paper considers briefly the afterlife of bathhouse culture and water infrastructure in the region.
The diversity of bathhouse forms and the rather rapid development of local typological characteristics suggest that the habit of bathing in the Caucasus and North Pontic was not simply an import of Roman technicians, limited in scope to the Roman army or citizens. Rather, this architectural form became a participant in the constitution of local identities in the period. Although the region was never fully incorporated nor unambiguously integrated into the Roman Empire, local residents adopted and adapted material culture and socio-political practices from their neighbors, with long-reaching ramifications for life in the North Pontic and Caucasus.
Following the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, a pair of polities arose near the southern slope... more Following the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, a pair of polities arose near the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains: Caucasian Iberia, centered along the upper Kura river in what is today central Georgia, and Caucasian Albania, along the lower Kura in contemporary Azerbaijan. Although often dismissed as peripheral to the affairs of antiquity, this broader territory was actually a central in a different way, sitting along the intersection of zones of influence, interest, and control of Mediterranean, Iranian, and Steppe powers. Local residents along the Kura adopted and adapted material culture and socio-political practices from these neighbors, but they were neither fully incorporated, nor unambiguously integrated into any of them.
Drawing on both material and textual sources, this paper situates the Kura region within its local and Eurasian context, focusing on the diversity of approaches that political authorities developed to grapple with their complex geopolitical realities. The discussion highlights the flexibility of the region, tracing the structural characteristics that facilitated the diverse interactions, and arguing that relationships between sedentary and pastoralist elements of local societies played a key role in its resilience.
This examination of the Kura polities raises two conceptual concerns emanating from region’s ‘borderland’ character. The first is that we must challenge frameworks for studying antiquity that link interaction with integration, and develop a more rigorous articulation of the relationship between these concepts. The second is a reflection on the conspicuous absence of this region from even very recent research on the Hellenistic period, which raises important questions about how we define the ‘edges’ of our own scholarly sphere.
Каждый изучающий историю древней Албании знает о давних разногласиях относительно границ древнего... more Каждый изучающий историю древней Албании знает о давних разногласиях относительно границ древнего государства. Эти разногласия, заложенные еще в 19 веке, продолжаются и по настоящее время. В следующей презентации я обсуждаю географию: но на самом деле не историческую географию. Вместо этого я собираюсь обсудить другой способ, как мы можем использовать географию и топографию, чтобы понять движение через регион. В частности, я собираюсь использовать Географические информационные системы и методы компьютерного моделирования, чтобы обсудить движение человека в ландшафте Кавказа и предложить гипотезу о том, как люди использовали этот ландшафт.
This paper presents a network-based analysis of coin hoards from the Caucasus and neighboring ter... more This paper presents a network-based analysis of coin hoards from the Caucasus and neighboring territories. Located at the interstice of Mediterranean and Iranian empires, this area was home in antiquity to the competing polities of Colchis, Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania, Armenia, and Atropatene. Numismatic scholarship on this zone has generally studied coin circulation as a proxy for interaction between these polities and the ‘West’ or the ‘East.’
By investigating the patterns co-hoarding of the various currencies circulating in the area, this work calls attention to overlapping spheres of use rather than to discrete zones of diffusion. Furthermore, a structural consideration of hoard composition teases out variations in local numismatic practice, demonstrating the flexibility of the ‘numismatic habit’ as it was adopted and adapted to serve the needs of local residents.
The Lerik in Antiquity Archaeological Project (LAAP) considers life at the crossroads of Achaemen... more The Lerik in Antiquity Archaeological Project (LAAP) considers life at the crossroads of Achaemenid, Seleucid, Roman, Arsacid, and Sarmatian networks of influence in the rugged Talish mountains of Azerbaijan. Begun in northern Lerik in 2016, this collaborative Azerbaijani-American project builds on research initiated in 2012 at the Piboz Tepe necropolis, which was conducted under the auspices of the Lerik-Gürdəsər Project of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS). Since 2011, over 130 graves have been uncovered at the site, largely corresponding to the 5th c BCE- 2nd c CE but continuing into later periods. This paper provides a brief overview of the work of the Lerik-Gürdəsər Project as well as a discussion of the new phase of collaborative research.
The 2016 season, directed jointly by researchers from the ANAS and the University of Pennsylvania, saw the continuation of work at Piboz Tepe, including the osteological examination of burials and petographic analysis of ceramics from the tombs. In conjunction with the work at the necropolis itself, targeted test trenches examined possible settlement locations related to the necropolis. One zone of test excavation uncovered burnt remains of a structural collapse possibly congruent with a period of the necropolis’ use, which will be the subject of future research.
The season also included a survey of the valley system surrounding Piboz Tepe and adjacent valleys within a 25 sq.km survey zone. The survey aims to reach a better understanding of land-use patterns across the steep, rugged territory. It included mapping of previously-registered archaeological sites, and also used extensive and intensive investigative methods as well as remote sensing to identify unrecorded archaeological remains.
Exploration in the zone examines an often-ignored archaeological landscape: a low-density highland region situated at the interstices of empires. We focus on the choices made by these highland-dwellers, whose mortuary assemblages indicate interaction with their imperial neighbors, but whose precise place within larger systems of interaction remains unclear. While many archaeological investigations of empires focus the manifestations of imperial power in imperial centers, our research explores ‘empire’ beyond imperial control-- arguing that it is impossible to understand the ancient empires without understanding the spaces between them.
The South Caucasus is often described as a ‘crossroads’—a critical link connecting the Eurasian S... more The South Caucasus is often described as a ‘crossroads’—a critical link connecting the Eurasian Steppe to the Near East, or the Pontic world to the Iranian one. In the ancient period as today, the region sat at a key juncture between a several spheres of interaction, and no doubt played an important role in linking these zones. However, evidence for the ancient routes that residents and travelers actually used to move through the region’s diverse landscapes is scarce.
This paper explores the use of GIS to analyze the mechanics and patterns of network connectivity among the Iberian, Albanian, and Armenian polities in the South Caucasus during the 3rd c. BCE-3rd c CE (Hellenistic and Roman/Parthian periods). Drawing on geospatial data including topography, satellite imagery, historical and ethnographic accounts of regional mobility, and data from archaeological survey, I generate speculative ‘route maps’ for the South Caucasus.
While not intended to be predictive, these maps highlight areas of the landscape that seem to have attracted travel. Ultimately, I argue that landscape archaeology plays a critical role in explaining the differing strategies of these three polities as they articulated their positions on the tumultuous edge of empires.
The South Caucasus, corresponding roughly to modern Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, sits on a cr... more The South Caucasus, corresponding roughly to modern Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, sits on a critical juncture between the Near East, Anatolia and the Eurasian Steppes. It has long found itself on the fractious edge of empires—and by virtue of this, is at the center of a unique set of local and long-distance networks connecting it to its neighbors to the east, west and north.
Beginning in the Hellenistic period and continuing into through the arrival of first the Arsacids and later the Romans, the South Caucasus became increasingly integrated into the wider Near Eastern and Mediterranean spheres, although this process was both highly local and persistently variable. One valuable body of data for exploring the process within the polities of the South Caucasus (most importantly Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania and Armenia) comes from numismatics, which spread throughout the region in the 3rd century BCE. The coins in circulation come from Hellenistic authorities, the Roman and Arsacid empires, and also local mints.
This paper begins with a database of over 130 coin hoards from the South Caucasus, which are examined geospatially to create a ‘monetary topography’ of fiscal interactions in the region. To better understand the contours of this topography, the project then integrates the ‘monetary topographies’ with a GIS-based predicative modeling of land routes in the territory, which shaped how the coins entered into and circulated through the zone. From this analysis, a number of ‘numismatic communities’ emerge, marked by different coin use patterns and networks of interaction. These communities give us new possibilities for thinking about the mediation between local and imperial interests in the fluid borderlands of the South Caucasus.
The Sarmatians are an enigmatic and poorly defined mobile pastoral (nomadic) group that is said t... more The Sarmatians are an enigmatic and poorly defined mobile pastoral (nomadic) group that is said to have come to prominence ca. 200 BCE- 200 CE, spanning the Eurasian Steppe from Central Asia to the western Pontic basin. Long known from Greek and Latin textual sources, archaeological investigations in the northern Black Sea region in the 19th century began to uncover material culture that was attributed to this group. Investigations continued during the 20th century, when the search for a Sarmatian homeland and questions of Sarmatian migration were of particular interest, particularly among Soviet scientists.
Over the course of the last 150 years, then, a considerable body of archaeological data has been connected to Sarmatian peoples, primarily from funerary contexts. Nevertheless, serious questions remain about the nature of the ‘Sarmatian cultural horizon,’ and indeed about the appropriateness of applying the historical ethnonym ‘Sarmatian’ to the varied populations commonly grouped under the term.
This paper first explores the historical construction of the Sarmatian ethnos, looking at the treatment of the group in ancient textual sources as well as the history of scholarship on the subject. While I focus on the western Sarmatians of the Pontic realm and Caucasus, I also draw on parallels from the study of related Central Asian groups. This comparison demonstrates a number of cross-cultural tropes both in the ancient representations of mobile pastoral groups and the modern scholarly treatments of these communities that have had profound consequences for our historical reconstructions of mobile pastoralists.
I then briefly consider evidence mustered in support of a ‘Sarmatian’ presence in the Caucasus, looking particularly at material from the eastern South Caucasus (modern Azerbaijan). Considering both literary and archaeological data and drawing on parallels from the circumpontic sphere, it is possible to identify the presence of new groups in the region around the 1st c. BCE whose material culture finds broad North Pontic parallels.
However, I argue that our understanding of these mobile-pastoralist communities requires a more sophisticated theoretical lens, moving beyond migratory hypotheses and suspect ethnonyms. I offer the South Caucasus as a case study of how it is possible to think about the mobile pastoralists as one part of a wider ‘borderland system’ that developed at the intersection of the Roman, Parthian and Steppe worlds.
Two parallel mountain ranges, the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, have always shaped movement throug... more Two parallel mountain ranges, the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, have always shaped movement through South Caucasus, a vital node on east-west trade networks and a space perpetually on the edge of empires. From the beginning of organized travel across this area in the first centuries of our era, then during the period of the Silk Road, and even today (when the commodity of interest is Caspian Sea oil), the mountainous landscape of the South Caucasus has presented a challenge to outside powers seeking regional control.
Using a range of geographical sources from the Classical and Medieval periods written by both internal and external actors, this paper discusses spatial understandings of the region. Our first extant geographic descriptions of the region come from Greco-Latin sources written under the Roman Empire. Slightly later descriptions are preserved in the Peutinger Table, the works of Movses Khorenatsi, the Islamic geographers, and the Georgian Chronicles.
These sources preserve a rich corpus for considering the geographic imaginary, as well as the topographic reality, of the South Caucasus. A comparative assessment shows that the earliest representations both reflected international perceptions of this far-away borderland, while also shaping the actions of imperial powers. In this way, the traces of cartographic understandings encoded in these texts demonstrate the inseparability of the imaginary and reality in the sphere of ancient geography. They also center the critical role, both ideologically and practically, of the unique mountainous landscape of the South Caucasus.
In this paper, I use two case studies from the numismatic history of the northern South Caucasus ... more In this paper, I use two case studies from the numismatic history of the northern South Caucasus to look at how new heuristic and quantitative tools for examining large datasets can help us answer historical questions about the region, and come up with more refined avenues for future exploration. I use a database that I have compiled of approximately 7000 coins (both stray finds and hoards), predominantly from the territory of modern eastern Georgia, which I use both in geospatial and network analyses. I argue that these techniques are not simply tools for data recording or display, but are rather powerful tools for helping lacunose archaeological data tell a rich story.
My first case study looks at coins from the first centuries CE- during the activities of the Roman and Arsacid Parthian empires on the edges of the Caucasus. I first consider the composition of about 120 coin hoards from this period, demonstrating a greater co-occurrence of issues from different minting powers in these hoards than is true either before or after, suggesting a greater degree of bilateral economic relationships in the period.
I then consider geospatial relationships between these coin finds and probable routes through the landscape. I show that, although Roman and Parthian coins are often found together in hoards and clearly have overlapping circulations, their physical distribution in the landscape varies. I do this by comparing the findspots of about 2000 coins (from both hoards and stray finds) to ‘travel-attracting’ landscape routes generated iteratively in GIS. I find that the Roman coins and Parthian coins appear at statistically significantly different mean distances from the ‘travel-attracting’ routes. This suggests that the coins issued by the two great powers of the world at this time were involved in different patterns of use. I offer several hypotheses for what these might have been, which include different vectors of distribution, or different types of coin use.
The second case study uses a network analysis of around 1600 Sasanian coins mostly from the 6th-7th centuries CE. These coins, all from hoards recovered from eastern Georgia, allow me to look at the network of mints that supplied coins to the Caucasus. Network analysis provides a tool for quantifying relationships between the coin hoards and their supplying mints. I argue that, despite the presence of local mints and minting in the Caucasus, and despite what we know about the tumultuous 7th century history of the region, the numismatic evidence points to significant economic integration with the Sasanian heartland throughout this period, and I suggest that the coins minted regionally might have been more important to the political economy, rather than the financial circulation preserved in these hoards.
In concluding, I discuss the dialogue between types of data and methods of analysis in these case studies. I suggest that coins can and should be used for much more than just dating. But the only to bring them into these larger conversations is by finding analytic tools that enable us to productively examine the data for patterns or anomalies. In the case of the South Caucasus, this work yields a productive set of observations about coin behavior, and sparks concrete directions for future research.
The Roman-period history of eastern South Caucasia remains very poorly understood from both archa... more The Roman-period history of eastern South Caucasia remains very poorly understood from both archaeological and textual perspectives. The only known kingdom from the region in this period, Caucasian Albania, has been at the center of a highly politicized and heated discourse about ethnic identity and national boundaries in the modern South Caucasus, thus discouraging nuanced archaeological scholarship both in the Soviet period and more recently.
However, a growing body of archaeological material combined with more sophisticated models of Roman borderland interactions provide a compelling argument for revisiting the region. In the liminal space between the Roman and Parthian empires, local material cultural reflects the overlapping and intersecting identities and agendas of residents, regional authorities and outside actors. Interestingly, this picture of diversity is echoed also in textual references and representations produced by Hellenized and Romanized authors, which, from the early days on, stress the region’s flexible diversity.
In stark contrast to modern totalizing conceptions of Caucasian Albania, then, this paper argues that both archaeological and textual evidence for the period in question suggest profound regional complexity and fragmentation and a wide variety of mediatory strategies.
Recent seasons of excavation at the regional Iron Age center of Oǧlanqala, Azerbaijan, have uncov... more Recent seasons of excavation at the regional Iron Age center of Oǧlanqala, Azerbaijan, have uncovered increasing evidence of interaction with Late Hellenistic and Roman centers during Oǧlanqala period II (ca. 200 B.C.E.–100 C.E.). In particular, a pithos burial containing Roman coinage and glassware as well as several pits yielding a seemingly Roman-inspired red-slipped ware suggest more sustained contact with the Roman world than previously believed. This paper juxtaposes these Roman traces with contemporaneous local and regional architectural trends. In contrast to the Roman character of the small-finds assemblages, regional architectural patterns show affinity to eastern models.
Rather than considering the “Roman” elements from Oǧlanqala as intrusive, injected into a physical landscape framed by Arsacid Parthia to the east, this paper frames both the Arsacid and Roman material within the wider context of the ever-tumultuous South Caucasus. In the liminal space at the edge of the powers of Rome and Parthia, the material cultural remains reflect the overlapping and intersecting identities and agendas of local residents, regional authorities, and outside actors passing through the strategic node of the Şǝrur Plain.
