Delta Living: The Influence of Rivers, Wetlands, and Coastal Features on Archaic Settlement Patterns around Histria (15 min)

Presenters

Iulian Bîrzescu, Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology, Romanian Academy, Bucharest; Adam Rabinowitz, University of Texas; and Alfred Vespremeanu Stroe, University of Bucharest

Abstract

A common feature of many of the settlements established by Miletus in the Black Sea region in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E. was their location near river deltas or in marshy coastal areas. These wetland environments mirrored the delta setting of the metropolis, and settlers in Milesian colonies seem to have risen to the challenges posed by sedimentation and flooding. Histria, at the south edge of the Danube delta, offers a valuable case-study for Milesian colonial approaches. A traditional interpretation, in which the early Greek settlers were restricted primarily to the urban center on the coast and ventured into the interior only to trade with indigenous settlements, has begun to be challenged by new research incorporating geomorphological and geoarchaeological perspectives. This research shed light on the rapidly evolving coastal landscape and suggested that Histria was established in a largely empty territory, in the interior of which Greek agricultural settlements had already begun to appear within a generation or two of the colony’s foundation.

This paper revisits the first century of Greek activity at Histria from the perspective of landscape and settlement dynamics. Applying a small-world framework to an area of a radius of about 15–20 km around the urban center, we reconsider the dating, geomorphological setting, and function of sites located along the coast near wetlands (Vadu, Histria Pod) or at river mouths (Istria), and sites further inland along small river-valleys (Tariverde, Săcele, Nuntași, Istria Sat, and Sinoe). The interaction of Histria with these sites and with both Greek and non-Greek settlements at the edges of this area is considered in terms of both social and environmental factors. Particular emphasis is placed on the active role of the landscape in shaping settlement choices and on the settlers’ attention to coastal navigation, inland routes of communication, and the exploitation of natural resources.