Theme:
6. The Mediterranean from Within
Session format:
Session with keynote presentation and discussion
Title:
Out across the Sea: Bell Beaker Maritime Connections and Networks in the Mediterranean
Content:
The late fourth and third millennium BCE saw the development of new long-distance maritime networks around the Mediterranean. During this late Chalcolithic phase, the ‘mental mapping’ of the Mediterranean as a maritime space reached a critical stage; the influx of new people and cultural traits, combined with a boom in seaborne exchange, meant that the western and central Mediterranean became integrated into a large maritime cultural area. Circulation routes seem to have expanded remarkably after 2500 cal BC, enabling large-scale cultural phenomena such as the Bell Beaker complex to spread across the Mediterranean and integrate a variety of local Chalcolithic groups, both on islands and in coastal or mainland areas. These large-scale networks of interaction foreshadowed the emergence of major Mediterranean civilizations in the next millennium. With this in mind, this session aims to examine the origins and dynamics of Bell Beaker connections across the Mediterranean, be it in terms of material culture, subsistence strategies, technology, human-environment relationships, absolute chronology, genomic ancestry, or isotopic provenance. We welcome presentations focused on mobility, cultural influence and exchange between islands and littoral areas during the fourth, third and early second millennia BCE. Discussions of Bell Beaker context integration in Chalcolithic societies and continued influence into the Bronze Age will be particularly appreciated.
Keywords:
Bell Beaker, Copper Age, Bronze Age, Mediterranean, maritime, networks
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:
Eve Derenne (Germany) 1
Co-organisers:
Maria Ivanova-Bieg (Germany) 1
Ana Catarina Sousa (Portugal) 2
Juan Antonio Cámara Serrano (Spain) 3
Enrico Giannitrapani (Italy) 4
Affiliations:
1. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
2. University of Lisbon
3. University of Granada
4. Arkeos
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