Social Archaeologies and Islands

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Social Archaeologies and Islands" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Island archaeology has advanced significantly during the past two decades, from exponential increases in empirical data to new theoretical breakthroughs, particularly in ecological and evolutionary approaches. While these bodies of knowledge are essential for understanding islands, a predominance of “scientific” theoretical frameworks for interpreting islands could be complemented by more social understandings of life on islands in the past, with implications for islander presents and futures. Island studies in general have moved from using islands as laboratories to research of islands and islanders on their own terms. From the early 2000s the field of island studies has been growing vastly, mainly due to multidisciplinary studies of current global issues and phenomena from the perspective of islands and islanders. The studies of past island life and islanders’ maritime relationships can contribute in major ways to understanding current sustainability issues and conservation strategies. This session brings together perspectives from islands around the world to engage with the diversity of social archaeologies that emerge from the perspective of smaller and larger landmasses surrounded by rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans. The session highlights engagement with the water itself as a medium of human experiences in the past as they link to the present.