Neglected Barbarians

Description

Although barbarians in history is a topic of perennial interest, most studies have addressed a small number of groups for which continuous narratives can be constructed, such as the Franks, Goths, and Anglo-Saxons. This volume examines groups less accessible in the literary and archaeological evidence. Scholars from thirteen countries examine the history and archaeology of groups for whom literary evidence is too scant to contribute to current theoretical debates about ethnicity. Ranging from the Baltic and northern Caucasus to Spain and North Africa and over a time period from 300 to 900, the essays address three main themes. Why is a given barbarian group neglected? How much can we know about a group and in what ways can we bring up this information? What sorts of future research are necessary to extend or fill out our understanding? Some papers treat these questions organically. Others use case studies to establish what we know and how we can advance. Drawing on those separate lines of research, the conclusion proposes an alternative reading of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, viewed not from the ‘centre’ of the privileged but from the ‘periphery’ of the neglected groups. Neglected Barbarians covers a longer time span than similar studies of this kind, while its frequent use of the newest archaeological evidence has no parallel in any book so far published in any language. Front matter (“Contents”, “Acknowledgements”, “List of Illustrations”), p. i Free Access Introduction, p. 1 Florin Curta https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5082 The Backcountry Balts (Aesti) and the ‘Northern Gold’ in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, p. 13 Audronė Bliujienė https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5083 The Mysterious Barbarians of Mazuria: The Riddle of the Olsztyn Group, p. 31 Wojciech Nowakowski https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5084 The Antes: Eastern ‘Brothers’ of the Sclavenes?, p. 53 Bartłomiej Szymon Szmoniewski https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5085 Bosporus, the Tetraxite Goths, and the Northern Caucasus Region during the Second Half of the Fifth and the Sixth Centuries, p. 83 Igor O. Gavritukhin, Michel Kazanski https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5086 A Hun-Age Burial with Male Skeleton and Horse Bones Found in Budapest, p. 137 Margit Nagy https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5087 A Fifth-Century Burial from Old Buda (Budapest), p. 177 Ágnes B. Tóth https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5088 Where Did All the Gepids Go? A Sixth- to Seventh-Century Cemetery in Bratei (Romania), p. 209 Radu Harhoiu https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5089 Gepids in the Balkans: A Survey of the Archaeological Evidence, p. 245 Anna Kharalambieva https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5090 Bohemian Barbarians: Bohemia in Late Antiquity, p. 263 Jaroslav Jiřík https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5091 The Herules: Fragments of a History, p. 319 Roland Steinacher https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5092 The Justinianic Herules: From Allied Barbarians to Roman Provincials, p. 361 Alexander Sarantis https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5093 Still Waiting for the Barbarians? The Making of the Slavs in ‘Dark-Age’ Greece, p. 403 Florin Curta https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5094 Astures, Cantabri, and Vascones: The Peoples of the Spanish North during the Late and Post-Roman Period, p. 479 Santiago Castellanos https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5095 Suevic Coins and Suevic Kings (418–456): The Visigothic Connection, p. 503 Fernando López Sánchez https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5096 Hidden Tracks: On the Vandal’s Paths to an African Kingdom, p. 537 Guido M. Berndt https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5097 The Frexes: Late Roman Barbarians in the Shadow of the Vandal Kingdom, p. 571 Philipp von Rummel https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5098 Afterword: Neglecting the Barbarian, p. 605 Peter Heather https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5099 Maps and Plates, p. 632 https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SEM-EB.3.5100 Back matter (“List of Contributors”), p. 625