Ανάλυση και αξιολόγηση του αρχαιολογικού τοπίου της βυζαντινής περιόδου στο Παπίκιο όρος

Abstract

Archaeological landscapes constitute the cultural, social, ecological and economical heritage of the local population. The mountainous area of South-eastern Rhodope, from the Byzantine times till the seventies, includes a significant palimpsest characterized by multiplicity, complicacy and density of natural and cultural elements. The purpose of this paper is the analysis and the evaluation of the archaeological landscape of the area of Mt Papikion in South eastern Rhodope during the Byzantine period. Information and data were collected and analyzed. The consecutive but with different cultural identities producers of landscape, acted in an incessant historical and ecological outline. The ruins located in the area indicate the existence of a renowned centre of Byzantine monasticism which is mentioned in the ancient sources from as early as the 11th century. The monks and later the Pomaks (part of the Muslim minority in Greece as recognized by the Lausanne Treaty in 1923) preserved basic landscape‟s structures, by adapting them at their cultural reality. Since the seventies new stakeholders in combination with social changes have had their impact on the landscape. Due to extensive afforestations and to the loss of traditional practices of woodland management, landscape is more homogenized. Historical, demographical, social, natural and economic changes affect the evolution of the landscape, so it should be mapped, registered and evaluated before its complete disappearance. The archaeological landscape of the area is a significant source of knowledge of the culture and the traditional environmental know-how