The Longue Duree of Malta (Mediterranean) and Lismore (Argyll, Scotland) Compared and Contrasted, and Set within Concluding Remarks

Summary

The author has undertaken fieldwork on both of these two limestone island systems, one in the Mediterranean, one leading into the Atlantic. The paper will reflect on the longue duree development of these two contrasting contexts, in terms of the rhythms of settlement organisation and interaction. The first, Lismore, an area of only 23.5 square km, is set within an enclosed maritime zone close to shore, off the western seaboard of Scotland. The second, Malta, a larger area of 316 square km, is set within the broader enclosure of the Mediterranean, but at sufficient distance from the mainland where the technology of communication would have made a very great difference, particularly in prehistory. Occupation of both islands bridges the transition from prehistory into a globalised literate world. Both have important phases of monumentalisation and strikingly different relationships to their near continents, according to the political contexts of the seas in which they are placed. The differences and similarities will be brought out in the discussion, allowing broader reflection on the papers that compare the Atlantic with the Mediterranean. The paper will conclude with a comparative analysis of the earlier examples presented, as a link to the discussants that follow.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Identity and Change: Archaeological Interaction across Archipelagos, Inland Seas, and Oceans

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14535