Theme:
5. (Extreme) Environments – Islands, Coasts, Margins, Centres
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Maritime Encounters along the Atlantic Façade in Prehistory
Content:
Recent advances with DNA and isotopes have brought mobility back into archaeological explanation, but little attention has been paid to maritime aspects of these movements. The great prehistoric migrations, or phases of mobility, are far too often represented as large arrows spanning vast seas or rivers with no further explanation of how these groups negotiated large bodies of water. There is also a tendency to view maritime regions as passive targets of migrations and movements.
We believe that this is insufficient when studying various developments along the Atlantic façade, including contacts between agricultural societies and hunter-gatherers in Scandinavia, Bell Beaker complexes in Atlantic Europe, or Bronze Age long-distance trade. With regards to these processes, we argue that maritime interactions must have been at the centre of both social and political organizations.
Therefore, the gap lies in the actual undertaking of these travels. How did people interact and what technological innovations were a prerequisite for travels along the Atlantic façade? How was maritime crossing organized along the Atlantic façade during prehistory, and in which places in the landscape/seascape did these actions take place? Moreover, what boats were used; how were these boats built; how far did people travel; and what social and political organizations were in place to complete such voyages?
The session welcomes papers exploring methodological innovations to discuss maritime mobility, but also theoretical concepts to help us think about maritime connections in European prehistory.
Keywords:
Prehistory, Atlantic Europe, Maritime, Mobility, Boats, Trade
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:
Knut Ivar Austvoll (Norway) 1
Co-organisers:
Aurélien Burlot (Sweden) 2
Boel Bengtsson (Sweden) 2
Carolyn Howle Outlaw (Ireland) 3
Affiliations:
1. University of Oslo
2. University of Gothenburg
3. University College Cork
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