KL. ARK Classical Archaeology - research project

The Mediterranean Sea is comprised of a myriad of dynamic marine environments and systems. In the past, these bodies of water sometimes formed micro-regions of the larger sea or could act as physical barriers; more often, however, they connected the peoples inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean, in small and large economic networks and nuanced social relationships. These maritime regions provide a palimpsest of archaeo-historical data for studying the Greco-Roman world, enabling us to investigate past cultures’ relationships with each other and the marine and coastal environments in which they functioned and lived. This course will examine diachronically the concepts and debates in studying maritime cultures and lifeways from the Classical Period to Late Antiquity; the aim is to familiarise students with the types of available source material above and below the waterline. Special focus will be placed on the main theoretical concepts, material culture and exemplary sites, the history of their study, and the legacy of this heritage. Although the main focus of the course is the Mediterranean and its sub-seas, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, western Indian Ocean and eastern Atlantic and main riverine systems feeding these will be examined. Material from the Late Bronze Age to the Byzantine period will serve to inform and complement the course’s main chronological focus.