On we sweep with thrashing oar: Interaction networks in Aegean Prehistory

Summary

Prior to the introduction of sailing technology during the 3rd millennium BCE, communication and movement throughout the Aegean Basin was greatly shaped by the region’s mixed landscape of open sea, island clusters, and mountainous interiors. Modeling the physical landscape and accounting for travel rates and physical restrictions to travel over both land and sea, I examine the nature of movement across the Aegean during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (6500-2000 BCE). Based on these variables, I use techniques and approaches from GIS and network analysis to model how social interaction between the various sub-regions (e.g. the Cyclades, Thessaly, Crete) took place and changed over time. I relate these models back to the archaeological trajectory of the region and explore how patterns of large-scale interaction may have influenced changes in demographics and social organization at the regional and local levels.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17542