Theme:
2. Archaeological Sciences, Humanities and the Digital era: Bridging the Gaps
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
The Late Antique to Early Medieval Transition in Europe and North Africa: Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Migration, Mobility, and Identity
Content:
The period spanning the 4th to the 9th centuries AD in the former territories of the Roman Empire and its neighbouring regions witnessed intensified human mobility, social interactions, and cultural transformations. Until recently, archaeological research related to this period has been strongly dominated by migration (or invasion) narratives and ethnic- or religious-based explanatory models, in which the Roman-Barbarian, Latin-Byzantine, and Christian-Islamic dichotomies were the main drivers for exploring and interpreting the data. The recent expansion of bioarchaeological studies, encompassing physical anthropology, isotope analyses, genetics (etc.), has facilitated multidisciplinary research, offering insights into the intricate dynamics of mobility and identity. An increasing number of research projects integrate bioarchaeological analyses with archaeological datasets and illuminate the complexity of human mobility and networks at various scales, as well as varied dynamics of interactions between non-local settlers and indigenous populations, during the Late Antique-Early Medieval transition period. In order to get an overview of recent advances in the investigation of Late Antique-Early Medieval transition, this session aims to bring together experts who combine a variety of methodological approaches such as isotope and aDNA analyses, radiocarbon dating, climate modelling etc. We encourage presentations on archaeological contexts from the former territories of the Roman Empire and its bordering regions, and are interested in diachronic studies that particularly target the transition from the Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. In this framework, special attention is paid to border regions and their hinterlands, which are particularly sensitive to changes in cultural, economic, and political settings due to their geopolitical situation. However, comparisons with core areas of Late Antique and Early Medieval administrative entities are also welcome. Additional session organisers are M. Depaermentier, Vilnius University, Lituania, and Z. Hofmanová, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany.
Keywords:
Multi-disciplinary approaches, Bioarchaeology, Cultural change, Migration, Ancient DNA, Late Antiquity
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:
Reed Morgan (United States) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Claudia Gerling (Switzerland) 3
Iñigo Olalde (Spain) 4
Vanessa Villalba (Germany) 5,6
Affiliations:
1. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Archaeogenetics
2. Harvard University, Department of History
3. University of Basel
4. Universidad del País Vasco
5. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Archaeogenetics Institute of Evolutionary Biology
6. CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra
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