Maritime Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean World

This volume brings together scholars of Mediterranean archaeology, ancient history, and complexity science to advance the study of maritime connectivity.

Justin Leidwanger (Edited by), Carl Knappett (Edited by)

9781108429948, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2018

272 pages
26.1 x 18.4 x 1.7 cm, 0.76 kg

'… the authors of the volume have succeeded in presenting a consistent sample of current research in Mediterranean archaeology and history, with networks given pride of place … this is a major contribution to a promising field of inquiry.' François Gerardin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

This volume brings together scholars of Mediterranean archaeology, ancient history, and complexity science to advance theoretical approaches and analytical tools for studying maritime connectivity. For the coast-hugging populations of the ancient Mediterranean, mobility and exchange depended on a distinct environment and technological parameters that created diverse challenges and opportunities, making the modeling of maritime interaction a paramount concern for understanding cultural interaction more generally. Network-inspired metaphors have long been employed in discussions of this interaction, but increasing theoretical sophistication and advances in formal network analysis now offer opportunities to refine and test the dominant paradigm of connectivity. Extending from prehistory into the Byzantine period, the case studies here reveal the potential of such network approaches. Collectively they explore the social, economic, religious, and political structures that guided Mediterranean interaction across maritime space.

1. Maritime networks, connectivity, and mobility in the ancient Mediterranean Justin Leidwanger and Carl Knappett
2. Robust spatial network analysis Tim Evans
3. New approaches to the Theran eruption Ray Rivers
4. Geography matters: defining maritime small worlds of the Aegean Bronze Age Thomas F. Tartaron
5. Cults, cabotage and connectivity: experimenting with religious and economic networks in the Greco-Roman Mediterranean Barbara Kowalzig
6. Shipwrecks as indices of Archaic Mediterranean trade networks Elizabeth S. Greene
7. Netlogo simulations and the use of transport Amphoras in antiquity Mark L. Lawall and Shawn Graham
8. Lessons learned from the uninformative use of network science techniques: an exploratory analysis of tableware distribution in the Roman Eastern Mediterranean Tom Brughmans
9. Amphorae, networks, and Byzantine maritime trade Paul Arthur, Marco Leo Imperiale and Giuseppe Muci
10. Navigating Mediterranean archaeology's maritime networks Barbara J. Mills.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Archaeology by period / region [HDD], Archaeology [HD], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], History [HB], Humanities [H]