International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Hristian Talevski
Public Scientific Institution Institute of Old Slavic Culture, 
Prilep, Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; 
[e-mail]
Early Byzantine Domestic Architecture and Infrastructure from Stobi
During the recent extensive archaeological excavations at Stobi, the remains of the early 
Byzantine settlement were discovered almost everywhere. Although some of the considered modest 
households have taken part in past preliminary studies, the justification for their review in this paper 
is to determine their relation with the earlier urban system and their role in the overall evolution of 
this provincial capital. Stobi is a very fine example, a model for the processes of transformation of 
a late Roman Balkan city into an early Byzantine settlement, as an outcome of the general complex 
context of events. This study is an attempt to investigate the attitude of the inner population of 
this early Byzantine settlement to the monuments from the earlier stages of development. Also, an 
attempt is made to link the early Byzantine domestic buildings to the cultural, historical and socio-
economic framework of the period, seen through the aspects of a functional settlement complex, 
with people as the main carrier of all activities within it. At the same time, this is the layout in which, 
in the future, should be incorporated the very few movable finds excavated inside these buildings, 
as the only scientific approach to answering questions considering the evident decline in the living 
conditions quality. In a situation of climate change, depopulation, earthquakes and constant barbarian 
raids, no one, not even the state was power enough and in a position to fund and provide effective 
social organization. Before the end, everything comes down to self-supporting and survival through 
decentralization and local management of defense and production. The results from the excavations 
made in the multi-functional complex with residential destination use in Stobi present a clear image 
of decay, disintegration, ruralisation, rustification and general reorganization of the settlements, 
made by, and for the needs of the local community during its struggle for survival. As a basis of 
this study is used the synthesized elaboration of the architectural environment and infrastructure, 
and an analysis of the construction system (building constructions, materials, and techniques) 
of the walls, floors and roof constructions. There is an analysis of other immovable architectural 
and infrastructural elements, contents, and furniture, such as openings in the walls (entrances, 
corridors, and windows); fireplaces and kilns; stairs, storeys, and basements; porches; yards and 
their barriers; water and drainage systems and the fortification. The functional characteristics of 
some rooms inside the buildings will be presented, based on the available archaeological data and 
additional views on the possibility for typological classification of the domestic buildings will be 
given. At the end, the last surviving inhabitants of the generally abandoned residence quarters were 
slain in one final blow to the early Byzantine settlement life on this site. The crucial arguments that 
support the elaboration of the abandonment thesis are the well-documented layers of windblown 
dust or sand found on the floor levels in the almost all excavated residences. Additional evidence is 
found in the absence of movable finds inside and the multiple reuse of the building materials. This 
is also evident in the documented scattered parts and even fully preserved human skeletons on the 
site. There is very little exact information`s for the continuous dwelling occupation after this event. 
The situation of long and slow decay of abandoned houses makes it difficult the determination of 
the exact time of the final settlement abandonment.

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