Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Anthropology

Advisor

Arthur Bankoff

Advisor

Thomas McGovern

Committee Members

Arthur Bankoff

Alexander Bauer

Peter Biehl

Thomas McGovern

Subject Categories

Archaeological Anthropology

Keywords

Ecology, Landscape Connectivity, Bronze Age, Archaeometallurgy, Southeast Europe, Digital Humanities

Abstract

“Connectivity: an ecological paradigm for the study of Bronze Age” addresses the relationship between historic and prehistoric people, and the landscapes they inhabited, moved about, and continue to inhabit. It suggests alternative methodological approaches that have broader ramifications for the discipline of (Bronze Age) archaeology. By engaging the code and innovations stemming from ecology and digital technology, the research questions concern the interface – referred to as connectivity – between the archaeological sites, resources, networks of communication, and the conditions of archaeological knowledge acquisition. Drawing on published and new data, the aim of the project is to put forward a strategy for a geographically and linguistically inclusive research of the Bronze Age Collapse, analyzing landscape connectivity that does not promote culture as a common denominator of archaeological data sets. Topics that are explored: archaeometallurgy, environmental pressures, mobility, pottery analysis - can be distilled to the issue of scalability of archaeological scholarship. The narrower case study focuses on the southeastern Europe 1650-1100 BCE.

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