Overview

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. 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.

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9781107033450

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'A gem of an archaeological history for a very small island - a book that builds impressively on accomplishments of the past four decades in Greek regional studies, while exploring the generally complex relationships between landscapes and the human populations that reside in them.' Jack L. Davis, University of Cincinnati 'Here, for the first time, are presented the fascinating results of a diachronic archaeological survey of a small Greek island, in its entirety and at an unprecedented level of detail. The sophistication of the graphical displays and statistical analyses is both pathbreaking and breathtaking.' John F. Cherry, Brown University 'Antikythera, the first Mediterranean island to undergo site survey in its entirety using modern GIS techniques, reveals the fragility and yet resilience of its landscape and human population. Bevan and Conolly's analysis of change, from pioneer farmers to predatory pirates, ably documents the microcosmic vulnerability of life in a changing sea.' Colin Renfrew, University of Cambridge

Advance praise: 'A gem of an archaeological history for a very small island - a book that builds impressively on accomplishments of the past four decades in Greek regional studies, while exploring the generally complex relationships between landscapes and the human populations that reside in them.' Jack L. Davis, University of Cincinnati Advance praise: 'Here, for the first time, are presented the fascinating results of a diachronic archaeological survey of a small Greek island, in its entirety and at an unprecedented level of detail. The sophistication of the graphical displays and statistical analyses is both pathbreaking and breathtaking.' John F. Cherry, Brown University Advance praise: 'Antikythera, the first Mediterranean island to undergo site survey in its entirety using modern GIS techniques, reveals the fragility and yet resilience of its landscape and human population. Bevan and Conolly's analysis of change, from pioneer farmers to predatory pirates, ably documents the microcosmic vulnerability of life in a changing sea.' Colin Renfrew, University of Cambridge

Author Information

Andrew Bevan is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at University College London. His primary research interests include landscape ecology, spatial and computational modeling, and archaeological fieldwork techniques. Recent publications include contributions to journals such as Antiquity, Archaeometry, Ecological Modelling, Environmental Archaeology, the Journal of Archaeological Science and the Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology. He is author of Stone Vessels and Values in the Bronze Age Mediterranean (Cambridge University Press, 2007) and co-editor (with David Wengrow) of Cultures of Commodity Branding (2010). James Conolly is Canada Research Chair in Archaeology at Trent University, Canada. His research interests span archaeology and ecology and he has published widely on the biogeography of early plant and animal domestication and on the application of spatial modeling and geographical information systems to archaeological and palaeoenvironmental datasets. He is the co-author (with Mark Lake) of Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and the co-editor (with Sue Colledge) of The Origins and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and Europe (2007). His current research focuses on early to mid-Holocene environments and archaeology in the lower Great Lakes region of North America.

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