Theme:
4. Persisting with Change: Theory and Archaeological Scrutiny
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Bridging the Walls: Comparative Perspectives on Fortified Settlements
Content:
The period between the 3rd and 1st millennia BC in the Mediterranean and Temperate Europe saw the rise of militarised communities and the significant increase of extra-domestic economies, such as long-range exchange of prestige goods and raw materials. In this framework, the emergence of fortified settlements was of particular significance, embedding new rising ideological, political and socioeconomic aspects, but also signifying a profound transformation of human interactions with the landscape.
From a social perspective, the construction of monumental defensive structures necessitates significant and repeated collective efforts, reflecting a stronger internal cohesion of communities. However, archaeological data concerning the spatial arrangement of domestic spaces also reveal increasingly complex forms of internal community organisation, with both examples of hierarchical and heterarchical structures. On the other hand, the prolonged occupation of strategically important locations could deeply affect the political structure of the landscape as well as the environment, due to intense exploitation of soil and natural resources.
In recent decades, fortified settlements have attracted a wide array of interdisciplinary research efforts, spanning from traditional artefact and bioarchaeological studies to geoarchaeology, GIS, geospatial, and remote sensing analyses. While these efforts have significantly expanded our understanding, the development of this research field has followed uneven trajectories across the investigated periods and geographical areas. Persistent gaps remain in the theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and data linkages within archaeological research.
This session aims to transcend regional and chronological boundaries to offer a comparative analysis of the varied phenomena related to the rise of fortified settlements in the Mediterranean and Temperate Europe between the 3rd and 1st millennia BC. We invite contributions at different scales of analysis, from intra-site studies to regional and macro-regional approaches, thus helping to enrich interdisciplinary and comparative debates on the topic.
Keywords:
Fortified settlements, Hillforts, Late Prehistory, Mediterranean Sea, Temperate Europe
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:
COMFORT
Main organiser:
Enrico Lucci (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Giacomo Fontana (United Kingdom) 2
Mara Migliavacca (Italy) 3
Matija Črešnar (Slovenia) 4,5
Manuel Fernandez-Götz (United Kingdom) 6
Affiliations:
1. University of Bari Aldo Moro, Dipartimento di Ricerca e Innovazione Umanistica
2. University College of London, Institute of Archaeology
3. University of Verona, Department of Cultures and Civilizations
4. University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts Department of Archaeology
5. Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Archaeology
6. School History, Classics & Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, William Robertson Wing
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