International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Nemanja Marković
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Archaeozoology of Caričin Grad: Preliminary Results and Potential
Caričin Grad are believed to be the site of the once important regional centre of Justiniana 
Prima, the city built by Emperor Justinian I (527-565) to honor his birthplace. Since it lasted a very 
short time, only 80 years, and the area has remained uninhabited until today, the site has yielded 
well-preserved monuments and material culture remains. Current research on early Byzantine site 
of Caričin Grad is aimed at the reconstruction of food supply, economic importance of animals 
in everyday life and changes in the strategy of exploitation of animals. This research represents 
pioneer work in the field of early Byzantine archaeozoology in the central Balkans. Animal remains 
comes from three locations in the city: the complex of the South-Eastern corner tower of the 
Lower Town, the intramural housing in the Lower Town and the intramural housing in the Upper 
Town. The main part of the material originated from the occupation layers which are dated in the 
second half of the 6
th
century. Preliminary archaeozoological results indicated differences in animal 
exploitation strategies in Caričin Grad between the first half and the second half of the 6
th
century. 
Also, these changes are visible between different parts of the Upper and Lower Town from the 
same chronological phases. The city was affected during the second half of the 6
th
century by the 
process of economic degradation. The transformation is also evident through the animal remains. 
This phenomenon is commonly known as the “ruralization” of Illyricum. These modifications are 
well documented through the changes in architecture and other findings.
Henriette Kroll
Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany; 
[e-mail]
The Enemy within: A Collection of Commensals from Caričin Grad
Of all the wars the Byzantines had to fight there was one which proved impossible to win: The 
war against animal pests. These enemies remain undefeated until today and still cause considerable 
economic damage. For the Byzantine Period, there are no reliable estimations of the crop loss animal 
pests caused but it certainly was no less substantial than it is today. Unsurprisingly, the Byzantine 
farming handbook 
Geoponika
dedicates one of its 20 Books to animal pest control. The Byzantine 
economy relied on long distance grain shippings and on a subsistence strategy based strongly on the 
storage of staples. These distribution systems entailed new challenges to pest control because they 
offered the animals plenty of food, shelter, and a means of transportation when populations were 
under pressure. The inability of the Early Byzantine economic system to counter these challenges 
appropriately and to contain this everyday threat had devastating consequences: The Justinianic 
Plague was spread by a flea carried by a major commensal, the Black rat.

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The state of research in this field, however, is still weak. Little is known about the commensal 
faunas in Byzantine cities and storage facilities and the measures the Byzantines took to keep them at 
bay. In 2015, the vestibule of a 
horreum
was excavated on the North Plateau of the Early Byzantine city 
Caričin Grad and extensive sieving was carried out. The occupation level dating to the earlier decades 
of the city’s short existence yielded a considerable amount of rodent bones. Their archaeozoological 
analysis sheds a unique light on the commensal fauna scurrying in and around a Byzantine granary, 
among them a high share of Black Rats – an ominous animal in times of the Plague.
The paper aims to assess the damage potential of the commensal fauna and to better understand 
the colonization process of the newly erected city by these opportunist species.