The last Muslims of Giato?
Skeletal investigations of the siege of the Muslim Monte Iato by Emperor Frederick II in 1246
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Nicole Mölk BA MA
Address:
ATRIUM - Zentrum für Alte Kulturen - Langer Weg 11
University / Research Institution:
Department of Archaeologies
University of Innsbruck
Funded by / Approval date:
Tiroler Wissenschaftsfond (TWF) / 2015
Start:
01.02.2016
End:
14.03.2017
Project collaborations:
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erich Kistler (University of Innsbruck)
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph Reusser, Dr. Martin Mohr (University of Zurich, Department of Archaeology, Ietas Excavation)
Dr. Enrico Caruso (Parco archeologico di Monte Iato)
Dr. rer. nat. George McGlynn (State Collection for Anthropology and Paleoanatomy, University on Munich)
Priv.-Doz. Dr. habil. Dieter Quast M.A., (Roman-Germanic Central Museum, Research Institute for Archaeology)
Abstract:
Contrary to medieval sources and scientific consensus, the discovery of a Denarius of King Konradin of Sicily gave the first archaeological evidence for the reuse of a building complex on the Monte Iato, after the siege and supposable destruction of the settlement through Frederic II in 1246 A.D. This domestic complex contained a broad spectrum of findings, consisting of commodities and goods from Islamic North Africa, the Latin West and the Byzantine East. The evidence of a phase of renewal and renovation contradicts the historical sources, which report of the complete destruction of the settlement and the deportation of all its inhabitants to Apulia. These outcomes have the unique possibility to examine this still unknown phase of reuse on the Monte Iato and may shed a light on the circumstances of political isolation and economic regression after the fall of the West Sicilian Caliphate. It will therefore offer a new perspective on historical reality, which seems to completely contradict the official historiography from the point of view of Frederic II.
Aside of the historic-archaeological aspect, the question of ethnicity and living conditions of these last settlers will be tackled.
Therefore the already excavated human remains will be examined through Stable Isotope Probing to locate the origins of the deceased’s DNA and further anthropological examination by Dr. rer. nat. George McGlynn.
The aim of this project is to give these last settlers on the Monte Iato an identity and to create a basis for further research on the topic of the medieval Iato. In addition to it, the results of the proposed project can help to verify or falsify the archaeological evidence concerning the reuse of the settlement on the Monte Iato after 1246 and can consequently serve to review the authenticity of the historical sources.