A Subersive Urbanism: Venice in the 9th century
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2017-03-22

How did Venice’s urban structure look like in the 9th century? Venice suffers from its own legends. The materiality of the rising Venice has been generally perceived as sites without time and space, where a fully established myth describes the origin of city. The Venetian lagoon, in fact, was the place where the noble Romans sought refuge from the barbarian hordes: they had been forced to move to unwelcoming islands among the marshes to be free and safe. In the islands the newcomers were able to rebuilt a place that - according the historic narratives - was ideologically and materially comparable to the old Roman sites.
The uncovered wood structures of the early medieval houses, for example, have been described as a poor reaction to a sudden displacement. Recent archaeological assessment, on the contrary, has shown how these buildings were confortable and perfectly designed for the lagoon environment. Clay foundations and wood structures were technically appropriate for a cold and humid setting. The choice of the lagoon itself was not forced. The settlement patterns were not extemporary, but followed precise social and economic designs. The settlement followed the movements of the lagoon and the river mouths: the first Venetians tried to occupy the more distant islets in order to control both the maritime and the riverine sailing routes. Artisanal productions (glass goblets, parchments, metal crafts) were not subsistence economies; the emporia layout of the sites allowed the circulation of raw materials, techniques and skilled people.
Venice was a proto-capitalistic site. A large part of the production (shipyard, timber industry, glass and metal productions, etc.) was made by labour forces with a status very similar to slaves. Probably, also, slaves were one of the most value goods, which the Venetians traded with the Islamic world. But slaves, dirty workshops or labour class issues are not good ingredients for the myth of the origins or for the official history of a superpower state. Venice proudly defined itself from the very beginning as a democracy and a free republic: Venetians needed a respectable and glorious past, and they made it up, reshaping also the “idea” of the early city.
The idea of the early Venice, moreover, cannot be separated from the present. Traditional archaeology, instead, has studied it as phase of the previous roman past. The archaeological study of its urbanism should it considered in the counter light of the fluid social negations that took place around a very specific environment, creating polyfocal sites, which will be cities in the following years.

Author - Calaon, Diego, Stanford University, Stanford, United States of America (Presenting author)