Exchange Networks and Local Transformations

Throughout the local Bronze and Iron Age, European and Mediterranean societies appear to have been involved in complex systems of exchange networks which invariably affected local customs and historical developments. Archaeological evidence suggests social and economic phenomena, cultural expressions and technological skills stemmed from multifaceted encounters between local traditions and external influences. Examples of cultural openness and transcultural hybridisation seem to be more of a norm than an exception. The articles in the volume explore the dynamic relationship between regionally contextualized transformations and inter-regional exchange networks. Particular effort has been put in approaching the issue in a multidisciplinary perspective. Continental Europe and the Mediterranean may be characterized by specific development and patterns of relations, but the authors draw attention to how those worlds were not alien to each other and illustrate how common interpretative tools can be successfully applied and a comprehensive approach including both zones adopted.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Transcultural interaction and local transformations in Europe and the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (Maria Emanuela Alberti and Serena Sabatini)

1. Theorising exchange and interaction during the Bronze Age. (Kristian Kristiansen)
2. “Periphery versus core”. The integration of secondary states into the World System of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1200BC). (Nikolas Papadimitriou and Demetra Kriga)
3. Aegean trade systems: overview and observations on the Middle Bronze Age. (Maria Emanuela Alberti)
4. The Minoans in the south-eastern Aegean? The evidence from the “Serraglio” on Kos and its main historical implications (Salvatore Vitale and Teresa A. Hancock)
5. Westernizing Aegean of LH III C (Francesco Iacono)
6. Malta, Sicily and southern Italy during the Bronze Age: the meaning of a changing relationship (Alberto Cazzella and Giulia Recchia)
7. External role in the social transformation of nuragic society? A case study from Sarrala, Eastern Sardinia, between the Middle Bronze and the Iron Ages (Luca Lai)
8. Metalwork, rituals and the making of elite identity in central western Italy at the Bronze-Iron Age transition (Cristiano Iaia)
9. Indigenous Political Dynamics and Identity from a Comparative Perspective: Etruria and Latium vetus (Francesca Fulminante and Simon Stoddart)
10. Local and transcultural burial practices in Northern Europe in the Late Bronze Age: face, house and face/door urns (Serena Sabatini)
11. Migration, Innovation and Meaning: sword depositions on Lolland, 1600-1100 BC (Sophie Bergerbrant)
12. Long and close distance trade and exchange along the Baltic coast during Early Iron Age (Jutta Kneisel)
13. Ceramic technology and the materiality of Celtic pottery (Attila Kreiter, Szilvia Szöllosi, Bernadett Bajnóczi, Izabella Havancsák, Mária Tóth, György Szakmány)

It is a wide-ranging and comprehensive work, with contributors considering how these connections saw the exchange not just of material goods and technologies, but also new artistic and religious ideas. (Carly Hilts Current World Archaeology, Issue 59, 2013)

The articles are well reasoned and well argued, and the entire corpus demands a reconsideration of established theories about social organizations and, particularly, the core-periphery model. (Cynthia Kosso American Journal of Archaeology)