THE POTENTIAL OF QUANTIFIED SURFACE DATA IN UNDERSTANDING THE RURAL LANDSCAPES OF MIDDLE BYZANTINE KOMANA

Abstract

The Middle Byzantine period in Anatolia is considered a recovery period after two centuries of instability at the end of the Early Byzantine period. From the late ninth through the twelfth centuries, building small churches became a trend as rural settlements and monastic communities expanded across the countryside. During extensive surveys at Komana, near Tokat in Turkey, a number of churches were identified in rural contexts through scattered architectural fragments, especially brickwork typical of the Middle Byzantine period. These sites were later revisited for intensive collection in an attempt, firstly, to test whether identification of Middle Byzantine churches through qualitative data could be verified and, secondly, to improve our understanding of site types and their extent in the rural landscapes of Middle Byzantine Komana. In this article, the results of the intensive surveys will be discussed in the context of the new trends of the Middle Byzantine period.