Session: #375

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
2. From Limes to regions: the archaeology of borders, connections and roads
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
CANCELLED Center vs Periphery. Interdisciplinary Analysis of Cultural Complexity in Georgia and the Caucasus Region
Content:
The Caucasus sits at the crossroads between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and throughout history, the region has been both a peripheral area for dominating Empires and a strategic place for trade, communication and acquisition of natural resources. Its strategic position has made control of the area a vital issue for Empires from the Early Bronze Age to the Modern period. Therefore the study of the archaeology of Caucasus requires an in-depth knowledge of social processes and cultures that developed and flourished within the region and the tightly connecting neighbourhood cultures that surrounded it throughout its history. In recent years, the archaeology of the Caucasus has grown at a swift pace. Everyday discoveries are changing our perception of Caucasus cultures by providing new data on different aspects of material culture, also thanks to the application of new technologies and methods. This session focuses on bringing together interdisciplinary methodologies, and researchers focused on the study of the Caucasus as a border area between empire and as an independent polity. We welcome papers presenting innovative approaches to the study of artefacts and ecofacts concerning the concepts of ‘border area’, connectivity and skill transfer, as shown in the archaeological record. The session's primary goal is to bring together specialists from different fields (i.e., pottery, architecture, metallurgy, landscape, archaeobotany, palaeoecology, archaeozoology, geoarchaeology) that focuses on the diachronic study of this region through the analysis of material culture. We believe that the exchange of recent findings and opinions can lead to a deeper understanding of the complexity of the archaeological record as found in the Caucasus. Due to the organisers’ interests, we are focusing on Georgian archaeology in the periods ranging from the Bronze Age to the end of Middle Ages; however, all contributions on the region are more than welcome.
Keywords:
Georgia, The Caucasus, Material culture, Interdisciplinary Studies, cultural exchange
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:

Organisers

Main organiser:
Agnieszka Kaliszewska (Poland) 1
Co-organisers:
Marta Lorenzon (Finland) 2
Rafał Bieńkowski (Poland) 1
Jacek Hamburg (Georgia) 3
Monika Badura (Poland) 4
Affiliations:
1. Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences
2. University of Helsinki
3. Krukowski Georgian-Polish Interdisciplinary Research Cente
4. University of Gdansk, Faculty of Biology, Dept. Plant Ecology, Laboratory of Palaeoecology and Archaeobotany