AbstractsAnthropology

This dissertation analyzes changing rural settlement patterns in the Lower Danubian Plain from the Late Iron Age through Late Antiquity in order to elucidate the role played by garrison settlements in the economic strategies of peasants living near the Roman frontier. The military cordon on the northern frontier has been seen both as a stimulus to provincial economic development and as an oppressive burden preventing growth in its vicinity with no consensus forthcoming. I approach the question from the perspective of the rural producers, using the landscapes in which they chose to live as evidence for common goals and conditions. In order to isolate the role of garrison settlements from other features in the landscape, I employ a novel method of comparative multivariate logistic regression analysis. This allows me to test different hypothesized relationships against known settlement patterns while controlling for other influences on location. The result is a quantitative measure of how well each hypothesis fits empirical data.The first chapter reviews the state of the question on Roman peasant economies, frontier economies and the military community. Having concluded that current interpretations based on documentary and artifactual evidence have failed to settle the issue of military-rural relations, I propose the quantitative analysis of archaeological landscapes as a promising way forward. Here, landscape refers to the embodied perception of a meaningful environment. Each settlement anchors the movements of the people who live there, so the locations of ancient settlements, combined with modern topographic and climatological data provide a foundation for the reconstruction of landscapes as experienced by their ancient inhabitants. I finish the chapter by describing a method of comparative modeling using logistic regression analysis for hypothesis testing. The goal of most locational analysis of this sort is a single mathematical model that predicts or explains settlement location using environmental variables. I suggest that multiple models be created using variables that have been constructed according to competing hypotheses and the goodness of fit between each model and known data be compared to the others. The model with the closest fit contains the variable that best reflects ancient reality. In this way, it is possible to assess the empirical support for each hypothesis and to select the best one.The second chapter discusses the Lower Danubian Plain in modern Bulgaria, ancient Moesia Inferior. This frontier zone has not figured prominently in discussions of Roman frontier society. This is unfortunate because the area has a unique history of conquest that sets it apart from other, better-known frontiers: unlike the frontier in Western Europe, it was not heavily garrisoned until relatively late and, after the beginning of the fourth century, it was quite close to the imperial capital at Constantinople. In this chapter, I describe the natural environment of the study area in the middle of the Danubian Plain and…