EAA2021: Abstract

Abstract is part of session #511:

Title & Content

Title:
Rethinking Mediterranean Connectedness
Content:
For many decades, the Mediterranean has been understood as a world of utmost connectedness through the ages with the sea, landscape and food linking societies. In the last decade, scientific approaches have not only underlined the extent of this connectedness, but also added complexity to our image of the past Mediterranean. Dimensions of human mobility and trade over large distances have become obvious as well as their inherent transformative dynamics. Now, Globalization Studies are forcing us to rethink connectedness and emphasize the duality of dis:connection which means that connection and disconnection always condition each other and that thinking about connection needs to take into account corresponding disconnections.
In my presentation, I will first provide an overview of recently published scientific datasets which have brought to light novel insights into the scales and diversity of mobility of humans and goods in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. I will then take this as a basis to conceptualize dis:connection and appropriate the related field of debate in Globalization Studies for archaeological thinking. Finally, I will rethink current interpretations of scientific dataset within a framework of dis:connectedness.
Keywords:
Bronze Age, Mediterranean, Bioarchaeology, Globalization, Connectedness, Mobility
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authors

Main authors:
Philipp W. Stockhammer1,2
Co-author:
Affiliations:
1 LMU Munich
2 MPI Jena