Theme:
1. Archaeologists and Archaeology Here and Now
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Winds of Change? Post-medieval and Historical Archaeology in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean
Content:
Historical Archaeology and Post-Medieval Archaeology, sometimes divided into Early Modern and Contemporary Archaeology, seem to be well developed concepts in some parts of the world. The subject has been approached with several publications which summarize and address the key points in the debates that this concept generates in terms of material culture, mobility, inequality, globalization, social structures… among many other subjects. However, such discussions do not seem to be equally distributed. While in northern Europe this debate is decades long, even originating several written syntheses and frequent conferences, for the Mediterranean area the subject is seldom discussed, and southern European countries are under-represented in historical archaeology conferences. Although some exceptions exist, and historical and contemporary archaeology projects are being developed in countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, the general panorama is still fragmented in national traditions and lacks a large-scale discussion. Why weren't these ideas discussed and books written? Is it a problem of linguistic or cultural barriers? Lack of exchange of information? Maybe related to the paucity of theoretical debate in a type of archaeology that insists on providing more empirical data? Is it a problem linked to a still dominant classical archaeology perspective? Ceramology and other artefacts studies still seem the most flourishing field although lacking supra-local or -regional studies and rarely overcoming the firmly rooted typological studies.
In this session we invite people to think about what the specificities and themes for Historical/Post-Medieval Archaeology of the Mediterranean countries are. We encourage papers focusing on critical reviews of national and regional traditions, comparative studies between different nations, regions or border areas, relations and exchanges between east-west and north-south, not only from the European Mediterranean countries but engaging or in relation with a broader Mediterranean cultural perspective, but also single case studies that highlight themes of general interest.
Keywords:
Historical Archaeology, Post-Medieval Archaeology, Contemporary Archaeology, Mediterranean, southern Europe
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:
Main organiser:
Alessandro Panetta (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Tânia Casimiro (Portugal) 2
Affiliations:
1. Università degli Studi di Genova
2. Universidade Nova de Lisboa
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