Byzantine Influences on the Urban Development of the Early Medieval Bulgarian Capitals Pliska and Preslav: A Comparative Study Based on Geophysical, Archaeological, and Historical Sources
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Requested lectures |
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| Description | The task of the presentation is to interpret and integrate archaeological, historical, and remote sensing data—including fresh results from large-scale geophysical prospection campaigns—about Pliska and Preslav, two metropolises of early medieval Bulgaria, and to situate both within the context of Middle Byzantine urbanism. According to the accepted scholarship, large parts of both cities would have been covered only by loosely scattered buildings. However, recent geophysical surveys reveal dense settlement structures comparable with urban sites in Byzantium. The results of these surveys promise to shed new light not only on the functioning of these cities, but also on the economic and socio-cultural lives of their inhabitants.? Using statistics, spatial analysis, and comparative study, it will be possible to model the settlement structure of both sites within their broader European and Byzantine context. |