THE ECONOMICS OF CHAOS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 30/03/2021

Main social and economic developments of the Late Roman period provide the clue to the decline of the Roman Empire and to the transition between the ancient world and the Middle Ages. This interregional transition, starting with the Migration period can be best understood in terms of the replacement, of an ”ancient” by a ”medieval” style of society. The economics of the Late Rome brought about consistent rise of incomes per capita for the general populace in the period. Another important element was that incomes in the newer provinces, particularly Trans-Alpine Europe, and the barbarian areas beyond the limes probably increased relatively  more  than  those  in  the  older  center  of  the  Empire.  The  first  trend,  a  general  rise  in  per  capita  incomes,  undercuts  a  majority of previous explanations of Rome’s fall. The second characteristic, changes in relative incomes among regions provide a positive implication as to the expected adaptation of the Roman state. In  this  study  we  focus  on  living  conditions,  agriculture  and  economy  of  non-Roman  populations  inhabiting  Central  Europe,  es-pecially  Silesia,  SW  Poland  during  the  Migration  Period  (phase  D1,  ca.  360/370-400/410  AD,  to  phase  D3,  CA.  450-490  AD).  The populations inhabiting Silesia in the IV-V century AD probably constituted a multi-ethnic conglomerate. The archaeological record of this period is highly incomplete for many reasons. Newly discovered cemetery in Tyniec upon Ślęza offers a unique op-portunity to study dietary practice, mobility, living conditions, economy and cultural hybridization among barbarian world outside of Roman limes. The site seems to be associated with the so-called post-Chernyakhov horizon, i.e. the waves of refugees from the Huns.


Author(s): Gralak, Tomasz (University of Wrocław) - Pokutta, Dalia (Department of Archaeology, Archaeological Research Lab-oratory, Stockholm University)