Theme:
6. The Mediterranean from Within
Session format:
Session with keynote presentation and discussion
Title:
The Mediterranean(s) in Transition: Global Permanence(s), Material Culture(s), and Resilience between 5th and 10th Century AD
Content:
The peoples and cultures of the Mediterranean are often compared on the basis of their geographical origin, whether Eastern or Western. Especially for the period between the 5th and 10th centuries, this comparison is mainly based on political distinctions and often ignores material aspects. But are identities around the mare nostrum really based on political boundaries, or should we seek regional specificities using different interpretative media? In particular, the distinction between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean appears to be particularly marked in the scholarly debate and attempts to bring together evidence from these “two worlds” are rare and not systematic.
The questions that arise then are: can we still speak of a single Mediterranean during Late Antiquity and Early Medieval times? Are East and West following completely different trajectories? Is it possible to compare their respective historical processes and material cultures? Or can some common features be identified, despite regional particularisms? Is trade global or does it mutate according to political factors affecting local identities? To this sense, different forms of resilience and adaptation and the potential development of one or more transitional cultures are fundamental interpretative keys.
In this Call for Papers, we invite scholars and archaeologists to bridge the scholarly division between East and West and present research focusing on material evidence from the 5th until the 10th century AD from all around the Mediterranean.
Keywords:
Late Antiquity - Early Middle Ages, Globalisation, Mediterranean, Resilience, Identity, Regionalism
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:
Nicolo Pini (Belgium) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Julie Marchand (Belgium) 3,4
Alessandro Carabia (United Kingdom) 5
Affiliations:
1. CReA-Patrimoine – Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
2. FNRS
3. Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels (KMKG-MRAH)
4. CReA-Patrimoine – Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
5. University of Birmingham, Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies
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