Caravans in Global Perspective

This book provides a fresh and unique global perspective on the study of caravans by bringing together a wealth of up-to-date research that explores the similarities and divergences of caravan lifeways in Africa, Eurasia, the Near East, Southwest Asia, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. The volume presents theoretical frameworks for caravan assessment and intercultural caravan crossings, pushing the boundaries of caravan route history and archaeology to consider the emergence, evolution, maintenance, and adaptations of caravans. Drawing from anthropological, archaeological, historical, geographical, economic, social, political, and art historical perspectives, the volume will be attractive to scholars of these disciplines and beyond who are interested in social issues embedded on trade, travel, and nomadism.

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Persis B. Clarkson’s archaeological research spans the western deserts of the Americas, the tropical forests of Mesoamerica, and the boreal forests of Canada. She teaches anthropology at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, and is a temporary but keenly observant inhabitant of the Atacama Desert.

Calogero M. Santoro lives at the Instituto de Alta Investigación at the Universidad de Tarapacá in Arica, Chile, where multidisciplinary research ranges through socialcultural changes and climate variability from the Pleistocene to the present in hyperarid environments.