Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
Ancient and Medieval harbours – gateways between cultures and communities.
Content:
From prehistory until modern ages harbours played an important role as places of interregional contacts. They allowed communities and individuals to exchange products, ideas, beliefs, services and general know-how. On one hand harbours were a safe haven for ships and their crews, on the other hand they were places use for economic, political and military expansions.
Harbours were important already for early civilisations and cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East. They played significant role in the Classical World and they were crucial for changes that took place during the Byzantine time. North European harbours were essential for interregional contacts that took place in the Early Medieval and Medieval Times.
Spatial and technical organizations of harbours were often an expression of political and economic influence or power. Phoenicians and Romans located their harbours not only in geographically attractive places but also in locations that were close to settlements of local communities. In the Early Medieval and Medieval Times local harbours located on the Baltic and North Sea served both local communities and the Scandinavian visitors.
Keywords:
Harbours, interregional contacts, underwater archaeology
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Dr. Andrzej Pydyn (Poland) 1
Co-organisers:
Asst. Prof. Hakan Oniz (Turkey) 2
Affiliations:
1. Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland
2. Division of Underwater Archaeology - Selcuk University
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT