Theme:
4. Polis, Empire, League and Beyond – Living in Interconnected Societies
Session format:
Discussion session (with formal abstracts)
Title:
The Archaeology of Large-scale Conflicts: The Emergence of the Mongol Empire and the Invasion of Central-Europe in its Eurasian Context
Content:
The Mongol Invasion of Central Europe in 1241-42, is a crucial episode in European history, and it occupies a position of pan-Eurasian historical significance. It was a decades-long historical process which saw the Mongol Empire occupy Central Asia, defeat the Russian principalities, and drive into the region of Central-Europe. Therefore, it is crucial to offer a reliable reconstruction of the invasion itself, and also the short and long-term impact of it. Thus, we are proposing here is a session aimed at improving our understanding of the invasion and of its broader historical context through a fuller analysis of the most recent archaeological findings and the surviving textual records. The significance of the invasion is evinced by the wide range of written sources, European and non-European. Meanwhile, new finds have been discovered that highlight the growing role of archaeological research on this topic. Publications in the last few years related to ongoing archaeological excavations (from Mongolia to Central Europe, form Russia to the Near East), along with publications on earlier finds, continue to offer new clues which help shed light on the invasion and related events. Therefore, the aim of this session is to bring together specialists from Central-Asia, Russia, Central-Europe and from other regions influenced by the emergence of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century, and to share the new archaeological data and interpretations related to this continental-scale process. Various archaeological fields (conflict, environmental, settlement, fortified sites, etc.) are in the focus with their relevant theoretical and methodological issues. They will be discussed in the context of large-scale historical processes: mass migration, climatic change, environmental impact of the invasion, and socio-economic transformation processes.
Keywords:
mongol empire, Central-Europe, conflict archaeology, historical sources, environmental and climatic changes, settlement archaeology
Session associated with MERC:
yes
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:
József Laszlovszky (Austria) 1
Co-organisers:
Balázs Nagy (Hungary) 2
Affiliations:
1. Central European University PU, Vienna
2. Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT