Dating Roman Karanis (20 min)

Presenters

Laura Motta, University of Michigan; Frits Heinrich, Vrije Universiteit Brussel; and Tyler Johnson, University of Michigan

Abstract

The late occupation and abandonment of Karanis, a Greco-Roman settlement in the Fayum Oasis, Egypt, is still a matter of debate one century after its excavation. C14 analysis on botanical specimens from domestic contexts conserved at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University of Michigan, provides the first reliable absolute chronology for the site. The radiocarbon dates show the settlement was still inhabited well beyond the middle of the fifth century C.E., the time of the abandonment suggested by the first excavators. Most of the radiocarbon dates span from the beginning of the fifth century to the second half of the sixth century C.E., with evidence of structures still being renovated at this time. The latest samples reach into the middle of the seventh century, placing the final abandonment of the site in a period of dramatic political transitions and environmental change with important implications for the Fayum region and beyond.

  AIA-2I