Description

This book examines the development of a fortified landscape in the North African region of Thugga (present-day Tunisia) through the construction of forts, fortifications, city walls and watchtowers in the 6th and 7th centuries. The urban agglomeration of the study area included numerous towns, village settlements and agricultural homesteads as well as imperial estates and was one of the richest regions of Roman North Africa. The book shows the role and possible uses of the various fortifications in the transformation of the Late Antique settlement system and the resulting adaptation strategies. It also examines the construction processes and material resources of the individual fortifications on the basis of spolia in order to understand the selection and decision-making processes during their construction. This is the first book to show how Byzantine fortifications in a North African region were embedded in a landscape archaeological study. This approach can be applied to other regions of Byzantine North Africa and should serve as a model for future archaeological research projects in the contemporary Maghreb.