Book Description

The collection of texts of this volume, which is the fruit of the homonymous lectures cycle, aims at exploring the role of humble utilitarian objects in the daily life of the Byzantines, as they constitute, among other things, indicators of economic and social stratification and behaviour. The book is divided into three sections. In the first, the objects are examined in connection with their archaeological context, highlighting their two-way relationship, while also referring to the excavation and the surface survey. The second section focuses on the objects themselves and their representative categories based on their material (clay, metal) or their use (reading, clothing, blessings). In the last section, the written sources of the Byzantine era are the basis for drawing up information about the objects and in general on practices of everyday life, with reference to different social groups. Through the triptych: objects – space – written sources, the first ones interact with the rest, in order to show the different ways of approaching them and the need for interdisciplinary research. The book does not aspire to offer an exhaustive view on the subject and to thoroughly address all the different categories of objects. However, through specific case-studies, it aims to show that these objects are important vectors of information for history, as well as centripetal power to the ever-increasing interest of the modern scientific community in the study of Byzantine material culture.