Mediterranean Islands, Fragile Communities And Persistent Landscapes: Antikythera In Long-term Perspective
by Andrew Bevan /
2013 / English / PDF
19 MB Download
Mediterranean landscape ecology, island cultures and long-term
human history have all emerged as major research agendas over the
past half-century, engaging large swathes of the social and natural
sciences. This book brings these traditions together in considering
Antikythera, a tiny island perched on the edge of the Aegean and
Ionian seas, over the full course of its human history from the
Neolithic through the present day. Small islands are particularly
interesting because their human, plant, and animal populations
often experience abrupt demographic changes, including periods of
near-complete abandonment and recolonization, and Antikythera
proves to be one of the best-documented examples of these shifts
over time. Small islands also play eccentric but revealing roles in
wider social, economic, and political networks, serving as places
for refugees, hunters, modern eco-tourists, political exiles,
hermits, and pirates. Antikythera is a rare case of an island that
has been investigated in its entirety from several systematic
fieldwork and disciplinary perspectives, not least of which is an
intensive archaeological survey. The authors use the resulting
evidence to offer a unique vantage on settlement and land use
histories.
Mediterranean landscape ecology, island cultures and long-term
human history have all emerged as major research agendas over the
past half-century, engaging large swathes of the social and natural
sciences. This book brings these traditions together in considering
Antikythera, a tiny island perched on the edge of the Aegean and
Ionian seas, over the full course of its human history from the
Neolithic through the present day. Small islands are particularly
interesting because their human, plant, and animal populations
often experience abrupt demographic changes, including periods of
near-complete abandonment and recolonization, and Antikythera
proves to be one of the best-documented examples of these shifts
over time. Small islands also play eccentric but revealing roles in
wider social, economic, and political networks, serving as places
for refugees, hunters, modern eco-tourists, political exiles,
hermits, and pirates. Antikythera is a rare case of an island that
has been investigated in its entirety from several systematic
fieldwork and disciplinary perspectives, not least of which is an
intensive archaeological survey. The authors use the resulting
evidence to offer a unique vantage on settlement and land use
histories.
