Project "Transformations of intercultural relations in local communities in medieval Sicily after Norman conquest in the light of archaeological research (on the example of the Altavilla Milicia region" - 2017/25/B/HS3/01699 - funded by the National Science Center
The project concerns the history of a local centre of worship established at the beginning of the Norman conquest of Sicily - a church and Italo-Greek monastery known as Santa Maria di Campogrosso or San Michele del Golfo (Oliva 2008). The monastery and church, situated on a hill dominating the nearby coastline (63 m above sea level), were a strategic point situated between Termini Imerese and Palermo on the east to the west of the island ancient Roman road Via Valeria.
The Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages Research Centre of the IAE PAS started excavations in this area in connection with a broader research programme on the role of the Normans in the formation of the cultural face of medieval Europe based on a scientific cooperation agreement with Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali ed Ambientali di Palermo.
The project's leading research problem is how intercultural relations were formed in medieval Sicily's local communities in the light of interdisciplinary research, emphasising material culture (on the example of the Altavilla Milicia area).
When the Norman rulers conquered Sicily, they found a giant cultural mosaic. From a religious point of view, they had to deal here mainly with Islamic (not only Arab) and Christian populations, then mainly Greek (Houben 1997; Loud G.A., Metcalfe A., 2002; Panarelli 2005), but also with Jewish. It forced them to base their apparatus of power on the existing organisation (Takayama 1993), using violence and the method of consensus, as did rulers in other parts of Europe at the time (Moździoch S., Wiszewski P., 2013). The idyllic picture of tolerance at the court of Norman rulers, sometimes drawn in the literature, may have taken a different shape at the local level (Palombo 2015). The project aims to address this issue from the perspective of material culture. For a while, the historical literature on the Norman, Byzantine and even Islamic periods in Sicily is vast. The archaeology of the medieval period, including the Norman period in Sicily, has been developing for a short time (Molinari 2008).
Some working hypotheses are associated with the leading research problem. The first of these concerns the time of establishment and the decline of the church and the monastery; the others concern the location and form of the monastic buildings and the functions performed by this centre.
In the literature, there are different versions of the dating of the church of Santa Maria di Campogrosso going from the 11th to the 15th century (Oliva 2008). According to Tomaso Fazello (1558), the founder of the monastery was Count Roger. The act of foundation would have taken place between the victory of the battle against the Muslims near Misilmeri (1068) and Palermo's capture (1072). According to Rocco Pirri (1630), it was the initiative of Roberto Guiscard. The oldest existing document concerning the monastery dates from 1134 (Mongitore 1734). According to architectural researchers, the church's form and construction point to 12th (V. Zoric) or even 13th century (M. Guiotto) origins.
At the end of the 13th century (documents of 1283 and 1284), the monastery was liquidated. The fate of the church itself until the 16th century is poorly known. In the 16th century, it was in ruins (Fazello 1558), and its remains were plundered by pirates (Pirri 1630). In 1583, thanks to Francesco del Pozzo's royal visitor, it was decided to desacralise and partially demolish the church. Excavations will establish the chronology of the use of the site and the buildings.
The Italo-Greek monasteries of this time did not have a spatial structure defined by rule. Of the dozens of "Basilian" monasteries founded in Sicily, mainly in its eastern part, not a single one has survived in a form dating from the Norman period. Preliminary non-invasive investigations carried out in 2015 to the south of the church have identified sites where the monastery's former walls' remains may be located. Their possible discovery by excavation will allow broader analyses of the site's material culture to answer questions about the shape of economic relations with the hinterland and long-distance contacts. The bone remains of animals will be a valuable source for studying diet, environment and chronology. The diet of the region's inhabitants and the origin of the vessels found here (tribute, trade) will be analysed through the pottery finds.
The study area, the Altavilla Milicia region, adjacent to two important cultural and economic centres of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Palermo to the west, Cefalu to the east - is a typical peripheral area. During the Norman period, there was an Arab settlement, Ayn bi-lyen (mentioned in a document of 1169 - Cusa 1868-82, p. 37), which became the economic base of the monastery of Santa Maria di Campogrosso (Oliva 2008) and its inhabitants probably the object of a Christianizing mission. According to a working hypothesis, the remains of the Arab settlement are located near the monastery in today's Portella Daino Street. This will be verified by archaeological methods (non-invasive and invasive) and by historical-topographical queries in the project. The analysis of movable relics from the settlement can indicate both the extent and direction of the investigated centre's economic and cultural contacts and assess its connection with the local - judging from the references in written sources - Islamic hinterland.
The same question is to be answered by the work results in the church cemetery discovered in 2015. Graves of robust build (monks?), possibly originating from outside Sicily, were found here. Also discovered in a secondary deposit was part of a grave stele with a fragment of Arabic inscription.
It could have come from an Arab cemetery destroyed by Christian graves, but it could also have been part of an Islamic grave made in a shared cemetery. Violence or consensus? Which method of social bonding prevailed in relations between the Islamic population and Christians? The fragments of vessels found, produced in Arab workshops, confirm the monastery's economic links and the Islamic hinterland. There were also vessels from the continent. The pottery analysis may indicate when the exchange of the Islamic population with the incoming Norman invaders began.
Along with this exchange, new manufacturing techniques and a different assortment of vessels may have emerged. Coins are also a valuable source for the history of cultural relations. Several of them have been discovered so far, including William I and William II's coins with bilingual inscriptions (Arabic and Latin). These testify that the Arabic alphabet was still an effective instrument of the rulers' policy and aimed at the still incumbent Islamic population.
The further identification of the church cemetery and the possible location of the rural population's cemetery, including the Arabic cemetery, from which the mentioned fragment of a grave stele with the Kufic inscription may come, will be of great importance. The bone remains recovered during the research will be analysed for strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen isotopes (87Sr/ 86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) to determine both the diet of the population under study and its origin. Genetic studies will also be carried out, some of the first on medieval Sicily of the Norman period. A major Anglo-Italian genetic project currently underway concerns the Byzantine and Arab periods.
The relationship between representatives of different religious factions and cultures in medieval local communities in Sicily has a rich historical literature. In contrast, research on the material culture of the Norman period (età normanna) in Sicily, and even more so of the preceding Islamic period (età islamica), has developed in recent years (Molinari 2008). Only recently has a more extensive study of Sicilian ceramics of the Arab and Norman periods been initiated. Each excavation study that provides new ceramic sources embedded in documented stratigraphic systems with an absolute chronology established through physico-chemical methods is valuable, enriching a still scarce database (Mangiaracina 2012).
The Altavilla Milicia area conducted by a Polish team from the IAE PAN in cooperation with Sicilian researchers becomes all the more important. They are a continuation of an over 50-year tradition of cooperation between archaeologists-medievalists of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (formerly IHKM) and Italian archaeologists. At that time, research was conducted mainly on the continent. Research in Sicily is a continuation of the research directions pursued by Lech Leciejewicz. They concerned the Normans' role in medieval Europe and its significance in European culture formation. They also respond to contemporary Europe's problems, as they concern the current problem of contacts between communities of different cultures and religions on a local and supra-local scale.
The excavations carried out at the Santa Maria di Campogrosso site will make it possible to determine the extent to which the monastery's functioning was linked to the immediate Arab hinterland. It will be done, among other things, by analysing the historical material discovered at the site and in the area adjacent to the monastery. The project will carry out a reconnaissance of the immediate territory in the San Michele River area and south in the Mazzamuto Grotto and Monte Cane area. In 2016, thanks to information from the local population, the Polish team managed to discover the remains of graves carved into the rocks, the chronology of which is unknown. These may be ancient or medieval structures associated with the ancient Islamic population.
The analysis of the structural details of the church of San Michele should make it possible to determine the factors that caused the construction of a building of this form. The literature on the history of Italo-Greek monasteries in Sicily is vast. With critical notes, its list can be found in work published this year by Giuseppe Reina (2016). Of the churches associated with Basilian monasteries in Calabria and Sicily, only a dozen have survived to the present day. Only a few of them have a similar plan to the church of Campogrosso. These include the church of S. Filipo di Fragala, S. Nicolo in Sciacca, Santa Maria di Terreti and San Giovanni degli Eremiti and San Giovanni Theristis. The form of the church of Santa Maria di Campogrosso shows close links with the continent's architecture, unlike other western Sicily churches at the time. If the early chronology of the studied ensemble is confirmed, it would be the second oldest church next to San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi in Palermo. There are no known remains of 'Basilian' monastic buildings in Sicily from the eleventh to twelfth centuries because they were generally demolished or rebuilt. The possible discovery of the monastery walls of Santa Maria di Campogrosso will be of great importance for understanding the beginnings of the re-Christianisation of Sicily, which initially took place through the importation of Italo-Greek monks and the foundation of monasteries.
Research in libraries, archives, and museums in Sicily on the island's cultural relations during the Middle Ages will also be an essential activity. It will allow confronting the results of archaeological research and specialised analysis with the work of historians, philologists and topographers (a scientific specialisation characteristic of the Italian humanities).
Significance of the project. The initiation of a systematic study of the Norman church of Santa Maria di Campogrosso within the planned project framework has a high chance of research success because the issue of "Norman" architecture as well as the material culture of the Norman period has gained importance after the inclusion of the Arabo-Norman heritage in the UNESCO World List in 2015 (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1487).
Apart from achieving the aforementioned scientific aims, the planned research is also intended to familiarise Polish students with the culture of medieval Sicily and promote Polish science. It is because these are the first regular excavations by Polish medieval archaeologists in that area. The medieval Sicily subject has rarely appeared in Polish medieval studies, having come into more comprehensive existence in the 21st century (Wolińska 2005; Bohm 2014). The research conducted at Altavilla Milicia by the Polish team is of great social importance and interest. http://www.siciliainformazioni.com/redazione/217057/altavilla-milicia-conclusi-scavi-alla-chiesazza-foto. The local authorities have pledged assistance in organising the museum and exhibition.
Establishing the chronology of the church and possibly uncovering the remains of a monastery, discovering the remains of an Arab settlement, determining the nature of the relationship between Christians of both rites and the Islamic population, the scientific study of vascular pottery against the background of artefacts of this type obtained during other excavations, the development of a collection of mason marks - the results of these activities will undoubtedly constitute a novelty because of the poor state of archaeological research of the Norman period.
Research concept and plan - general research plan, specific research objectives, results of preliminary research;
During the preliminary survey, a numerical terrain model was made, the site was also identified using non-invasive methods, and the results were initially verified using the excavation method. Thanks to this reconnaissance, the non-invasive works undertaken within the project's framework will concern complex problems, such as the location of cemeteries (Christian and Muslim graves), remains of monastery buildings, fragments of church architecture. Photographs taken from a drone and analysis of lidar data will be used to help detect the former Arab settlement of Ayn bi-lyen. Photo scanning and orthophoto mapping of the remains of an unknown cemetery (Roman?, Arab?) on the slopes of Monte Cane, a few kilometres north of the study site, will also be carried out. The transformation of the natural and settlement environment in the micro-region (IAE PAN, University of Palermo (Aurelio Burgio, Alessandra Canale) will be elaborated together to locate the grange of the monastery mentioned in 1134.
Documentation of the preserved and newly discovered architectural structure of the church and monastery. As part of the architectural documentation of the remains of the church, most of the necessary work (plans, 3D models) has been carried out, so the planned work in the form of photo-scanning and laser scanning will concern newly discovered stratigraphic structures in the excavations, as well as architectural elements. According to the preliminary reconnaissance, the church crypt's decompaction may provide many new fragments of architectural details. The hand scanner will be widely used for documentation purposes for future analysis. Thorough documentation of stratigraphic systems and gravesites and skeletons, together with scanning of monumental objects, is justified not only for methodological reasons but also because the Polish team has no rights to take monuments abroad. More than 100 recorded stonework marks will be made to determine the church's chronology, the origin of the raw material, and its construction technique.
Research of the archaeological site by excavation. The archaeological work carried out on the south side of the church. The results of the non-invasive research have determined the location of further excavations, which are to provide information on the relationship between the Islamic and Christian worlds (research of the secular cemetery to the west of the church, research of the Arab settlement, location and form of the monastery buildings, location and form of the defensive constructions, material culture of daily life of the settlement and the monastery). Because medieval Sicily's archaeology is currently at the beginning of its development, the publication of the data obtained with a definite stratigraphic position and chronology is essential for further research on the Islamic and Norman periods' problems.
Archival, library and museum research into the history of the site and the region. Parallel to the excavations, queries will be carried out in libraries, archives and archaeological museum storerooms (philologist, historian, archaeologist from Poland and Italy). The queries will result in historical and philological studies of written and toponomastic sources concerning intercultural relations and the origins of Norman power in medieval Sicily and, in this context, also the role of Italo-Greek monasteries (especially in the Altavilla Milicia region).
Multidisciplinary analyses of sources acquired through non-invasive and invasive research. Isotopic analyses of human skeletal remains will be carried out to determine the type of diet and whether the people buried at the church came from other distant regions or were born and grew up locally. Animal bone samples will also be analysed to determine the isotopic background. Radiocarbon analyses of both mortar samples of the church walls and bone remains will also be carried out to determine the chronology. Selected fragments of pottery will be subjected to specialist analyses (see below) to determine their origin.
Synthetic compilation of research results and making them available in electronic and printed form. The final product will be a database of the results of the non-invasive research and excavation, which will be available on a web portal dedicated to the project, as well as a synthetic study presented in the form of an electronic publication on the said web portal and after separate funding is obtained, a printed publication connected with a possible exhibition.
Methodology - the way of research implementation, methods, techniques and research tools, methods of analysis and elaboration of results, equipment and apparatus used in the research;
The first stage of studies will recognise the site's recognition and its nearest surroundings by non-invasive methods such as magnetic, electrical resistivity, and geo-radar. Maps of changes of values of magnetic field components, maps of the distribution of apparent resistivity of ground and pseudo-3D visualisations and two-dimensional plans of geophysical data will be made. This work will determine the extent of the site, the monastery buildings' locations, the Arab settlement, the Arab and Christian cemeteries, graves and architectural elements. It will provide a source basis for reconstructing the former landscape.
Documentation of the preserved and newly discovered architectural substance of the church and monastery and excavations results will be carried out. In addition to classic tachymetric measurements, photo scanning will be used as the basic method for three-dimensional documentation. For this purpose, the software Agisoft Photoscan Professional in an educational version will be purchased for 3D documentation and measurement. Since working with 3D models in this program requires suitable hardware, it will be purchased with project funds according to the software manufacturer's requirements: http://www.agisoft.com/downloads/system-requirements/. Photo-scanning will be carried out with the existing photographic equipment, and complimentary laser scanning with the FARO Freestyle 3D scanner (monuments, objects) and the FARO Focus 3D scanner (architecture) borrowed free of charge.
The excavation method research will provide information on the stratigraphy and chronology of the site and obtain material for laboratory analyses. The exploration of the burial pits will be carried out with anthropologist Prof. Rosaria di Salvo (Palermo). The excavation team will consist of archaeologists of the IAE PAN and students from various Polish universities. Appropriate excavation equipment will be purchased to carry out the research.
Simultaneously with the excavations, queries will be carried out in libraries, museums and archives concerning the history of the site and the region. These will be searches in Sicilian and continental archives, e.g. in Palermo - Archivio Capitolare, Archivio di Stato, Biblioteca Comunale; in Catania: Archivio Capitolare, Archivio Diocesano; in Agrigento: Archivio Capitolare. Polish scholars will carry the searches - a historian and a philologist - and Italian scholars - a historian and a topographer.
The queries will result in historical and philological studies of written and toponomastic sources concerning intercultural relations at the beginning of Norman rule in medieval Sicily and, in this context, the role of Italo-Greek monasteries (especially in the Altavilla Milicia region).
The skeletal remains recovered during the study will be subjected to strontium, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses (87Sr/ 86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N) determine the diet of the population studied and its origin. The Marek Krąpc's laboratory will carry out the dating of mortar samples, and bone remains in Kraków. Selected ceramic fragments will be analysed for their origin using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
The excavations' results will be presented on an ongoing basis on a website with a database accessible to the general public (primary data) and a detailed database accessible by password). The public data will be provided in Polish, Italian and English. An IT specialist will design the website and database. Quick access to information is essential because of the local community's expectations and the importance of future Polish-Sicilian scientific cooperation in this field.