Session: #184

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
1. Archaeologists and Archaeology Here and Now
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
Center vs Periphery. Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Material Culture, Architecture, and Landscape in 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 key issue for Empires from the Early Bronze Age to the Medieval period. In recent years, the archaeology of the Caucasus has developed at a very fast 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 researchers focusing on the study of the Caucasus as a border area between empires, but also as an independent polity. We welcome papers presenting innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of artefacts and ecofacts in relation to the concepts of ‘border area’, connectivity and skill transfer as presented in the archaeological record. The session's main goal is to bring together specialists from different fields (i.e., pottery, glass, coins, 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.
Keywords:
Caucasus, Liminal regions, Cultural complexity, Interdisciplinary studies
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
Jacek Hamburg (Georgia) 3
Rafał Bieńkowski (Poland) 1
Affiliations:
1. Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences
2. University of Helsinki, Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires
3. Krukowski Polish-Georgian Interdisciplinary Research Center