Session: #416

Regular session

Islands in archaeology were traditionally analysed in terms of isolation and connectivity through time as well as how these phenomena affected the structuration of specific cultures and social structures. Such approaches have now declined because they could not easily deal with the diversity and variability that island worlds present to us. These include: the level(s) of geographical constraints, their size and/or availability of primary resources, with human colonization creating even greater complexities. Examples of the latter involve peculiar processes of adaption, long-term lack of contacts, specific agro-pastoral systems and management of limited resources. Bio-molecular archaeology and the third science revolution are now opening new horizons in the analysis of islanders’ human-environmental diachronic relationships. At times, they have challenged previous concepts, interpretation, and established archaeological theories.
In this session, we will deal with, not only the role of remote/limited islands as possible nodes of network, but also their bridging roles in cultural or biological bottle-neck processes and the challenges that human colonization (or re-colonization) faced. We will also discuss concepts of isolation and connectivity in relation to archaeological contexts or materials, landscape and insular identity and how contemporary trends in archaeological research can support original interpretations. Papers regarding all geographical contexts and chronological spans are welcome.

Island Archaeology, Third science revolution, Biomolecular archaeology, Isolation, Network

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Jonathan Santana-Cabrera (Spain) ¹

Claudia Speciale (Sweden) ²
Pau Surera-Torres (Spain) ³