From October 2015 to March 2016 I undertook six months of research at the British School at Rome, thanks to the generosity of Mrs Janet and the late Dr William Gale, which contributed towards both my doctoral dissertation and additional projects. My time at the BSR was streamlined and made more pleasant by the extraordinary staff; by the extensive resources, particularly the library; and by the stimulating, resident academic community.
My research focuses on the viticulture and wine production of antiquity, and, in particular, the productive methods, products and agricultural structures used during the Roman and late antique periods. Previously, this has involved the excavation and analysis of a vinicultural installation at the site of Antiochia ad Cragum, within modern Turkey, and ground surveys of the wine presses found across the island of Delos, Greece. Immediately before arriving at the BSR, I completed a field survey of chronologically widespread vinicultural installations in Athens, including ancient remains scattered across the modern city and the sixteenth-century winery found within the Archbishop's Palace on the Areios Pagos — an important cross-chronological, ethnographic component of my work.
While the pace of scholarly research into ancient viticulture is accelerating, certain regions and chronologies are often overlooked or neglected. The sites of Antiochia ad Cragum and Delos thus form the centrepiece of the present project, utilizing the material culture of the late Roman and early Christian periods. The archaeological data and interpretation of the installation at Antiochia ad Cragum will be published for the first time within my doctoral dissertation, along with semi-published and unpublished viticultural structures from Delos. Many agricultural remains went unrecognized or were interpreted incorrectly during early excavations, and thus the present project also serves to reassess and remedy errors in historical scholarship.
Research was divided into three general areas during my time at the BSR: fleshing out and completing thesis chapters regarding the material culture at Antiochia ad Cragum and within the broader region of Rough Cilicia; analysing and integrating data collected from Delos to form a new case-study; and investigating the potential for new Italian sites to add to the present project or form future projects. The extensive library of the BSR was particularly useful to supplement the data from Antiochia ad Cragum, to provide a comprehensive historical and archaeological backbone, and to contextualize interpretation within the contemporary socio-political, cultural and economic climate. It was the material from Delos, however, that provided the most interesting results during my residency. For the first time on Delos, archaeological survey results allowed quantifiable calculations to be made regarding early Christian viticulture. These also relate the utilization and extent of agricultural land and quantities of wine produced to how it was used, both in domestic and ritual contexts, along with the possibility of surplus export. The quantities revealed now call for an investigation into the place and significance of such an industry within the local and regional Church economy. The impact of these conclusions more generally demands a re-evaluation of existing theories regarding population size and character on Delos from the third to the sixth centuries ce. Our outdated understanding of the early Christian community on the island is being reshaped by the present interpretation, which also lends further support to the notion of a vitally important viticultural industry within the early Christian eastern Mediterranean.
The opportunity to investigate Italian sites was also facilitated by the BSR. This included the re-examination of a number of Pompeiian insulae, in one of which was discovered a previously unrecognized (or unseen) viticultural element. The interpretation of this insula must now be corrected to accurately reflect the in situ evidence; in this case, that both mechanical pressing and the treading of grapes occurred.
The support of the BSR, and time spent amongst new friends and colleagues there, has not only increased the quality and depth of my research, but also illuminated fresh perspectives that only come from residency in such an intellectually stimulating, interdisciplinary environment.
