Human mobility in Byzantine Cyprus: A case study from the Hill of Agios Georgios, Nicosia

Abstract

The current paper explores human mobility in Byzantine Cyprus, using the site of the Hill of Agios Georgios in Nicosia as a case study. The analysis of mobility is based on strontium isotopic data, with the aim of identifying non-local individuals and estimating their frequency in different periods of use of the site (Early Christian and Late Byzantine/Frankish). As a complementary line of evidence, dental calculus microdebris analysis was conducted to explore the potential existence of imported plants as well as any differences in the diet and environment between local and non-local individuals. The isotopic results identified one individual who likely originated outside Cyprus and several more, the number of which differs pending on the bioavailable baseline used, who were non-local to the burial site. These non-local individuals temporally span both periods under study but they are more common in the Late Byzantine/Frankish assemblage, which is in agreement with historical data pointing to elevated mobility throughout Byzantine times but more so in the later periods. From the analysis of dental calculus microremains, we only retrieved identifiable starches from individuals of non-local origin; thus, these were difficult to interpret. A small amount of starch from the millet tribe, however, allowed us to make important considerations regarding the interpretation of dental calculus data in periods of time and locations where human mobility was high.