Bathing by the Black Sea. (Annual meeting of the American Institute of Archaeology, San Diego, CA. 2019). (original) (raw)

2019

Abstract

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.

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