The Cambridge Handbook to Byzantine Archaeology

This book provides an accessible overview, through 36 expansive chapters, of the major categories of evidence used in the study of Byzantine material culture.

Byzantium flourished from the 4th to 15th centuries CE and made major contributions to world history and culture. This volume, written to be accessible to scholars and general audiences alike, introduces readers to the fascinating world of Byzantine archaeology.The archaeology of Byzantium is the archaeology of an empire whose chronological bounds, broadly speaking, spanned the fourth through fifteenth century AD. The authors whose works are collected in this handbook examine methods and practice of Byzantine archaeology as well as the materials typically encountered in artifacts produced within the imperial boundaries. Byzantine archaeology is still a relatively young discipline, and, while vast in its scope and ambition, work in the field tends to be challenging to access. This volume aims to remedy this situation by providing current views of the nature of Byzantine archaeology, exploring crucial studies which elucidate salient features of the empire's people, as well as offering glimpses of how things may develop in the near future.