Beyond Byzantium – Beyond Literary Evidence: The North-Western Periphery of the Byzantine Commonwealth According to Archaeological Data: Eastern Poland in Context

Until recently Byzantine studies were mostly the preserve of specialists in history, theology, art history, disciplines based mostly on evidence from literary sources. This was a major disadvantage for research in the reception of Byzantine Empire in East-Central, Eastern and Northern Europe where literacy is of a much later date than in Greece, Italy or Armenia. In the last two decades this field of research opened up more to archaeological material, and to cooperation with earth sciences, assisted by cutting-edge analytical techniques. Our perspective on the traditional sources for Byzantine history has changed as well. For instance, seals are no longer analysed only for their insights into the history of the alphabet and abstruse forms of abbreviation. They have been recognized as an invaluable source on social history. This wind of change is most apparent in the Late Antique / Early Byzantine Period but is felt in studies of the 9th–12th century as well. This tendency coincided with the ‘rediscovery’ of Byzantium by archaeologists of East-Central Europe and a proliferation of projects focused on the heritage of Basileia ton Rhomaion in their countries. The recent progress of medieval archaeology observed in Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland now makes our region of Europe—in the Middle Ages on the periphery of the interest of Constantinople —a gateway to Byzantium (F. Curta). In this context the study of the medieval Polish-Rus’ borderlands (10th–13th century) is more important than before. Today, this area lies on the eastern periphery of Poland and of the European Union. It is ironic that the backwardness of this region is an advantage for archaeological research. For instance, the low level of urbanization facilitates the collection of pollen sample, which is of key importance for Humans and Environment studies. In my presentation, I report on the progress of research in Polish-Rus’ borderlands, and on the contribution made by interdisciplinary and international archaeological projects currently underway to our understanding of the role played by Byzantium in the making of medieval Europe.