ARCH 2250
Island Archaeology in the Mediterranean
Spring Semester 2008
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Brown University
Class: M 3-5:20 p.m., Seminar Room, Joukowsky Institute
Instructor: Professor John Cherry Phone: 863-6412; e-mail: john_cherry@brown.edu Office Hours: Wednesday 2-4 p.m. (and by appointment) Office: Room 301, Joukowsky Institute (70 Waterman Street) Class wiki site: http://proteus.brown.edu/islandarchaeology/Home
SYLLABUS
The Mediterranean is a world of islands, par excellence, and the island cultures
that have developed there over the millennia have great archaeological distinctiveness.
The question immediately arises: is this because they are bounded and somewhat
isolated units, or, conversely, because their maritime setting has afforded enhanced
levels of interaction? Some have suggested that islands offer useful “laboratories for the
study of culture change,” while others deny that islands differ in any important respect
from mainland areas and insist that insularity is contextually situated and a matter of
cultural preference.
This seminar will begin by considering the concept of insularity itself, in crosscultural archeological, anthropological, and historical perspective, paying particular
attention to the potential utility of an island biogeographic framework. We will then turn
to the specifically Mediterranean literature on island archaeology, reading some of the
“classics,” and focusing in particular on island colonization, strategies of settlement, the
emergence of island interaction zones, the exploitation of distinctive island resources
and the development of exchange networks, and the incorporation of islands within
socio-economic and political systems of wider geographic extent. This part of the
seminar will have a strongly prehistoric emphasis.
Later in the semester, participants will have the opportunity to develop class
presentations and a term paper focusing on any Mediterranean island or island group, in
any period, but always emphasizing theoretical constructs of insularity. In general, we
will pay special attention to some of the classic contributions to this field (e.g., Fernand
Braudel’s The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, 1972),
as well as to very recent works, such as Horden and Purcell’s The Corrupting Sea
(2000), Broodbank’s An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades (2000), and Grove and
Rackham’s The Nature of Mediterranean Europe (2001).
Outline Schedule
Jan. 28
Orientation to the seminar
Feb. 4
Introductory readings on Mediterranean islands
Feb. 11
Insularity as a concept
Feb. 18
No class — Brown Long Weekend
Feb. 25
The colonization of the islands: theory, pattern, and process in the
Mediterranean
Mar. 3
Problems & impacts of first settlement in individual island groups [student
reports]
Ma. 10
Island biogeography and its relevance for archaeological issues
Mar. 17
Island sociogeography and “cultural efflorescence”: does insularity make
islands “odd places”?
Mar. 24
No class — Brown Spring Recess
Mar. 31
Topics, problems, and issues in Mediteranean island archaeology: I [This will
be driven in large part by student interest, though I have plenty of my own
suggestions]
Apr. 7
Topics, problems, and issues in Mediteranean island archaeology: II
Apr. 14
Presentation and discussion of term papers: I
Apr. 21
Presentation and discussion of term papers: II
May 16:
Written Term papers due
Your Responsibilities
•
Thoughtful reading of each week’s assignments, and energetic contribution to
discussion in the seminar. Generally, we will all read everything, but each of you will
choose or be assigned one article to summarize and critique in a handout of 2 or 3
paragraphs, as a means of initiating discussion.
•
For week of February 4, each of you will give a short presentation (based on sources
I will suggest) on our current understanding of the settlement of individual islands or
island groups in the Mediterranean.
•
Term paper, on a topic of your choice; 20-25 pages, due by last day of the Brown
Reading Period (May 16). You will present draft versions of your papers in the last
two meetings of the seminar; the final written version of your paper should take
account of comment, suggestions, and criticism received then.
Grades
This is a small graduate course, and your regular attendance and active involvement
is essential. All students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the
assigned readings, and to participate in discussion. Grades will be based on
individual in-class presentations and assignments (25%), general level of class
participation (25%), a significant term paper (40%), and the oral presentation of
your term paper in class (10%).
Resources
•
There will be a reserve shelf in the Joukowsky Institute Library, where xeroxes of
assigned articles or books will be placed (although many of the readings will be
provided as pdf files for download on the class wiki). Some additional works, not
specifically assigned, but potentially useful as you develop topics and term papers,
will also be placed on reserve. In particular, there are two very recent additions to
the literature of which you should be aware: P. Rainbird, The Archaeology of Islands
(Cambridge 2007), and the new Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, launched
in 2006.
•
By permission, I am able to make available to you electronically the entire
bibliography of Broodbank’s important and up-to-date book An Island Archaeology of
the Early Cyclades (2000), and an earlier (now somewhat out-of-date, but still
useful, and massive) bibliography on island archaeology, ecology, and biogeography,
compiled by Steve O. Held.
Week-by-week readings
Xeroxes of articles/book chapters or actual books on reserve shelf in Joukowsky Institute
Library or as a pdf file on the wiki
Introductory Readings for February 4
(Introductory readings on Mediterranean islands)
Everyone should read all of the following for our first, general, class..
Fitzpatrick, S.M. (2004) “Synthesizing island archaeology.’ In S.M. Fitzpatrick (ed.),
Voyages of Discovery: the Archaeology of Islands (Westport, CT, 2004), 3-18.
Braudel, F. (1972) The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II,
Collins, London. Pp. 148-67 [“The islands”]
Broodbank, C. (2000) An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge. Pp. 6-35 [Ch. 1, “Whither island archaeology?”]
Cherry, J.F. (2004) “Mediterranean island prehistory: what’s different and what’s new?” In
S.M. Fitzpatrick (ed.), Voyages of Discovery: the Archaeology of Islands (Westport, CT,
2004), 233-248.
Evans, J. D. (1973) Islands as laboratories for the study of cultural process. In C. Renfrew
(ed.), The Explanation of Culture Change: Models in Prehistory, Duckworth, London. Pp.
517-20.
Shackleton, J.C., van Andel, T. H., and Runnels, C. N. (1984) Coastal palaeogeography of
the Central and Western Mediterranean during the last 125,000 years and its
archaeological implications. Journal of Field Archaeology 11: 307-14.
Readings for February 11 (Insularity as a concept)
A. Everyone read:
Patton, M. (1995) Islands in Time: Island Sociogeography and Mediterranean Prehistory
(London, 1995), Ch. 1, “Islands in time: an introduction”, pp. 1-18.
Rainbird, P. (1999) “Islands out of time: towards a critique of island archaeology”. Journal
of Mediterranean Archaeology 12.2 (1999) 216-234. [With responses by Broodbank,
Terrell, van Dommelen, Irwin, Keegan, and Rainbird — each student to prepare a very
brief verbal summary of one of these.]
B. Everyone to read at least two of the following, and write a summary and critique (not to
exceed one page) of one of them:
Eriksen, T. H. (1993) “In which sense do cultural islands exist?” Social Anthropology 1
(1993) 133-147.
Gosden, C. & Pavlides, C. (1994) “Are islands insular? Landscape vs. seascape in the case
of the Arawe Islands, Papua New Guinea”. Archaeology in Oceania 29 (1994) 162-171.
Kuklick, H. (1996) “Islands in the Pacific: Darwinian biogeography and British
anthropology”. American Ethnologist 23.3 (1996) 611-638.
Terrell, J. E., Hunt, T. L., and Gosden, C. (1997) “The dimensions of social life in the
Pacific: human diversity and the myth of the primitive isolate”. Current Anthropology
38.2 (1997) 155-175 [with following comments].
Held, S. O. (1993) “Insularity as a modifier of culture change: the case of prehistoric
Cyprus”. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 292 (November 1993)
25-32.
(Looking again at C. Broodbank, An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades, pp. 16-21,
might also be useful.)
Readings for February 25
(The colonization of islands:
Mediterranean and beyond)
theory, theory, pattern, and process in the
Keegan, W. F. and Diamond, J. M. (1987) “Colonization of islands by humans: a
biogeographical perspective.” Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory 10 (1987)
49-92.
Cherry, J. F. (1990) “The first colonization of the Mediterranean islands: a review of recent
research.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 3.2 (1990) 145-221.
Gamble, C. (1993) Timewalkers: The Prehistory of Global Colonization (Cambridge, Mass.
1993). Ch. 10, “Humans almost everywhere”, pp. 203-240.
Broodbank, C. (2000) An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades (Cambridge 2000). Ch.
4 “The dawn treaders”, pp. 107-143. [Also look at pp. 91-106, “Moving around in the
islands”.]
Also take a general look at, and read anything, as time and interests allow:
Cherry, J. F. (ed.), (1995) Colonization of Islands [= World Archaeology 26] (London,
1995).
Readings for March 3
Problems & impacts of first settlement in individual island groups
Each student to choose, or be assigned, one island or island group; these sets of readings
are of about equivalent length in terms of pages. Come to class with a 1-2 page written
summary/critique of the data and arguments, and be prepared to talk about what you’ve
read for ca. 10 minutes.
Cyprus
Simmons, A.H. (2002) “The first humans and last pygmy hippopotami of Cyprus.” In S.
Swiny (ed.), The Earliest Prehistory of Cyprus: From Colonization to Exploitation
(Boston, 2002), 1-18. [Also a short popular account by A.H. Simmons and D.S. Reese,
“Hippo hunters of Akrotiri.” Archaeology 46.5 (1993) 40-43.]
Guilaine, J. and Briois, F. (2002) “Parekklisha Shillourokambos: an Early Neolithic site in
Cyprus.” In S. Swiny (ed.), The Earliest Prehistory of Cyprus: From Colonization to
Exploitation (Boston, 2002), 37-53.
Aegean
Broodbank, C. (1999) “Colonization and configuration in the insular Neolithic of the
Aegean.” In P. Halstead (ed.). Neolithic Society in Greece (Sheffield, 1999), 15-41.
Erdogu, B. (2003) “Visualizing Neolithic landscape: the early settled communities in western
Anatolia and eastern Aegean islands.” European Journal of Archaeology 6.1 (2003) 7-23.
Crete
Broodbank, C. and Strasser, T.F. (1991) “Migrant farmers and the Neolithic colonization of
Crete.” Antiquity 65 (1991) 233-45.
Strasser, T.F. (1996) “Soils and settlements on Neolithic Crete.” In D.S. Reese (ed.),
Pleistocene and Holocene Fauna of Crete and its First Settlers (Madison 1996), 317-36.
Sardinia & Corsica
Sondaar P. et al. (1995) “The human colonization of Sardinia: a Late-Pleistocene human
fossil from Corbeddu cave.” C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 320, IIa (1995) 145-50.
Cherry, J.F. (1992) “Palaeolithic Sardinians? Some questions of evidence and method.” In
R.H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews (eds.), Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A Footprint in the
Sea (Sheffield 1992), 28-38.
Vigne, J.-D. and Desse-Berset, N. (1995) “The exploitation of animal resources in the
Mediterranean islands during the pre-Neolithic: the example of Corsica.” In A. Fischer
(ed.), Man and Sea in the Mesolithic (Oxford 1995), 309-318.
Vigne, J.-D. (1989) “Le peuplement paléolithique des îles: le débat s’ouvre en Sardaigne.”
Les nouvelles d’archéologie 35 (1989) 39-42.
Conchon, O. (1976) “The human settlement of Corsica: palaeogeographic and tectonic
considerations.” Journal of Human Evolution 5 (1976) 241-48.
Balearic Islands
Guerrero Ayuso, V.M. (2001) “The Balearic islands: colonization of the furthest
Mediterrnaean islands from the mainland.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 14.2
(2001) 136-58.
Ramis, D. et al. (2002) “The chronology of the first settlement of the Balearic islands.”
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 15.1 (2002) 3-24.
Malta
Bonnano, A. (2000) “Early colonization of the Maltese islands: the status quaestionis.” In
V.M. Guerrero and S. Gornés (eds.), Colonización humana en ambientes insulares:
Interacción con el medio y adaptación cultural (Palma, 2000) 323-37.
Rainbird, P. (2007) “Ch. 4. The Mediterranean: Malta.” In P. Rainbird, The Archaeology of
Islands (Cambridge 2007), 68-89.
Readings for March 10
(Island biogeography and its relevance for archaeological issues; island faunas,
island extinctions, and the role of humans)
A. Everyone read:
Quammen, D. (1996) “The coming thing.” In The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in
an Age of Extinctions (New York: Scribner, 1996), 409-47.
Fitzhugh, B. & Hunt, T.L. (1997) “Introduction: Islands as laboratories: archaeological
research in comparative perspective.” Human Ecology 25(3) [1997] 379-83.
Terrell, J. (1976) “Island biogeography and man in Melanesia.” Archaeology & Physical
Anthropology in Oceania XI(1) (1976) 1-17.
Sondaar, P.Y. (1986) “The island sweepstakes.” Natural History 95(9) [1986] 50-57.
Davis, S. (1985) “Tiny elephants and giant mice.” New Scientist (3 January 1985), 25-27.
Davis, S. (1987) “Mediterranean islands—a case study.” In S.J.M. Davis, The Archaeology
of Animals (London: Batsford, 1987), 118-25.
B. Each choose one and provide a one-page written summary/critique:
Schule, W, (1993) “Mammals, vegetation and the initial human settlement of the
Mediterranean islands: a palaeoecological approach.” Journal of Biogeography 20
[1993] 399-412.
Alcover, J., Sans, A. & Palmer, M. (1998) “The extent of extinctions of mammals on
islands.” Journal of Biogeography 25 [1998] 913-18.
Vigne, J.-D. (1999) “The large ‘true’ Mediterranean islands as a model for the Holocene
human impact on the European vertebrate fauna? Recent data and new reflections.” In
N. Benecke (ed.), The Holocene History of the European Vertebrate Fauna: Modern
Aspects of Research (Rahden, Westfalia 1999), 295-321.
Held, S.O. (1989) “Colonization cycles on Cyprus I: The biogeographic and palaeontological
foundations of early prehistoric settlement.” Report of the Department of Antiquities,
Cyprus, 1989: 7-28.
Lax, E. & Strasser, T.F. (1992) “Early Holocene extinctions on Crete: the search for a
cause.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 5.2 (1992) 203-224.
Readings for March 17
(Island sociogeography and “cultural efflorescence”. Does insularity make islands
“odd places”?)
John Evans (1973:519) asserted in his short paper on “Islands as laboratories for the
study of culture change” (which we have read), that “island communities often display a
tendency towards the exaggerated development of some aspect of their culture, which is
often connected with ceremonial… A large number of island communities in many parts of
the world have spent much time and energy in erecting ceremonial and religious complexes,
which they have gone on progressively elaborating and embellishing over a great many
centuries.”
This “esoteric efflorescence” argument goes back to Marshall Sahlins’ classic 1955 paper
(on Easter Island). I suggest we explore this line of thinking via Evans’ 1977 paper on the
Lipari and Maltese groups, Renfrew’s papers on Malta/Easter Island/Tonga, and into the
past decade with papers on Malta by Malone & Stoddart and by Robb.
Everyone read Sahlins, Evans, one of the Renfrew papers, one of the Malone papers,
and Robb. If you can, look at everything (especially Colin Renfrew meeting the King of
Tonga!). And think comparatively (Sardinian nuraghe, Balearic talayots, Cretan palaces,
etc.: Patton’s Islands in Time Ch. 5 lays this out), and in diachronic perspective.
Sahlins, M. (1955) “Esoteric efflorescence in Easter Island.” American Anthropologist 57
(1955) 1045-52.
Evans, J.D. (1977) “Island archaeology in the Mediterranean: problems and opportunities.”
World Archaeology 9.1 (1977) 12-26.
Renfrew, C. (1973) “The world’s first stone temples.” In C. Renfrew, Before Civilisation: The
Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe (Cambridge 1973), 147-66.
Renfrew, C. (1984) “Islands out of time.” In C. Renfrew, Approaches to Social Archaeology
(Edinburgh 1984), 200-224.
Malone, C. et al. (1993) “Cult in an island society: prehistoric Malta in the Tarxien period.”
Cambridge Archaeological Journal 3.1 (1993) 3-19.
Malone, C. & Stoddart S. (2004, in press) “Towards an island of mind?” In J.F. Cherry et al.
(eds.), The Archaeology of Society: Studies in Honour of Colin Renfrew (Cambridge
2004), 93-102.
Robb, J. (2001) “Island identities: ritual, travel and the creation of difference in Neolithic
Malta.” European Journal of Archaeology 4.2 (2001) 175-202.
Readings for March 31 and April 7
(Topics, problems, and issues in Mediterranean island archaeology)
At this point in the seminar, we can turn to themes of particular interest to students in the
class; we will disucss it nearer the time. Some may want to focus more closely on issues,
questions and case studies that take us well past the prehistoric periods. Meanwhile, here
are two possible themes, which could be extended/tweaked in a number of ways:
A. Natural resources and manufactured commodities on islands: provenance
sourcing. and patterns of production and circulation
John Evans (1973:518) identified as one of the archaeological advantages of the
boundedness of islands the fact that “it is relatively easy to pick out objects made of
substances which must have been brought from elsewhere, either as raw material or as
finished products”. The reverse is also true (i.e., exports of distinctive island products), and
in fact some of the most important raw materials used in the Mediterranean had island
sources. We’ll discuss a few examples:
Obsidian:
Tykot, R.H. (1996) Obsidian procurement and distribution in the Central and Western
Mediterranean. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 9.1 (1996) 39-82
Torrence, R. (1984) Monopoly or direct access? Industrial organization at the Melos obsidian
quarries. In J.E. Ericson and B.A. Purdy (eds.), Prehistoric Quarries and Lithic Production
(Cambridge 1984), 49-64.
Millstones:
Runnels, C.N. (1985) Trade and the demand for millstones in southern Greece in the
Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. In A.B.Knapp and T. Stech (eds.) Prehistoric
Production and Exchange: the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean (Los Angeles 1985),
30-43.
Williams-Thorpe, O, and R.S. Thorpe (1993) Geochecmistry and trade of Eastern
Mediterranean millstones from the Neolithic to Roman periods. Journal of Archaeological
Science 20.3 (1993) 263-320. [Available on-line via Mirlyn]
Marble:
Craig, H., and V. Craig (1972) Greek marbles: determination of provenance by isotopic
analysis. Science n.s. 176, no. 4033 (April 28, 1972), 401-403. [Available on-line via
Mirlyn]
Herz, N. (1992) Provenance determination of Neolithic to Classical Mediterranean marbles
by stable isotopes. Archaeometry 34 (1992) 185-94. [Available in the Museums Library]
Herz., N. (1985) Isotopic analysis of marble. In G.R.Rapp and J.A. Gifford (eds.),
Archaeological Geology (New Haven, 1985), 331-51.
Copper:
Knapp, A.B. (2000) Archaeology, science-based archaeology and the Mediterranean Bronze
Age metals trade. European Journal of Archaeology 3.1 (2000) 31-56.
Knapp, A.B. et al. (2001) Copper smelting in Late Bronze Age Cyprus: the excavations at
Politiko Phorades. Near Eastern Archaeology 64.4 (2001) 204-210. And website at:
http://www.scsp.arts.gla.ac.uk/Phorades/
Lo Schiavo, F. (1998) Sardinian oxhide ingots. In T. Rehren, A. Hauptamnn, and J.D. Muhly
(eds.), Metallurgica antiqua (Bochum 1998) 99-112.
Pottery:
A huge range ofpossibilities here. We could read about (e.g.) amphoras, and the fact that
in many periods, some of the main centers of wine-production have been on islands, such
as Thasos, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, etc.
B. Aegean island settlement patterns, and other issues.
(i) A discussion of insular settlement patterns might work best by focusing tightly on one
area, in this case the Cyclades and the Aegean. Consider the Melian and Keian attempts
(research from the 1970s and 80s, respectively) to meld survey data with historical and
documentary sources in tracing long-term settlement and demographic trends. How
successful were they? What changes in approach or emphasis do you see between them?
What could be added to the study these sorts of issues today? Above all, what does the
insular setting of these case-studies permit, or add? [Do you agree with Horden & Purcell
pp.74-77 on Melos?]
(ii) Davis 1982, a quick read, offers an intriguingly little study of regional island settlement
— or, rather, the lack of it on Delos for religious reasons. Why did Delos become a sacred
island hub? Hasluck 1910-11, an even quicker read (because it’s essentially a list), is
intended to give you a sense of the richness of the Venetian- and Ottoman-period sources
for the islands.
(iii) For this class, we should certainly read some of The Corrupting Sea. It’s hard to assign
a single section, because so many themes are woven throughout the book (and the
bibliographic essays at the end also need to be read alongside the main text). Look at the
short sections I have indicated, and also browse, using the index. (I’m hoping that some of
you will find stimulating lines to pursue for your term paper by beginning from Horden and
Purcell.)
Horden, P., and N. Purcell (2000). The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History
(Oxford, 2000), pp. 74-77 (‘Melos), 133-35 (‘Extended archipelagoes’), 224-30 (‘The
case of the smaller Mediterranean island’), 381-83 (‘Why islands have large
populations’), and other pages referring to islands (see Index).
Wagstaff, M. and J.F. Cherry (1982) ‘ Settlement and population change’ and ‘Settlement
and resources.’ In C. Renfrew & M. Wagstaff (eds.), An Island Polity: The Archaeology of
Exploitation in Melos (Cambridge 1982), pp. 136-55 and 246-63.
J.F. Cherry, J.L. Davis & E. Mantzourani (1991) Patterns in the landscape of Keos. In J.F.
Cherry et al. (eds.), Landscape Archaeology as Long-Term History: Northern Keos in the
Cycladic Islands from Earliest Settlement until Modern Times (Monumenta Archaeologica
16) (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology), pp. 457-79.
J.L. Davis, (1982) Thoughts on Prehistoric and Archaic Delos. Temple University Aegean
Symposium 7 (1982) 23-33.
Hasluck, F.W. (1910-11) Depopulation in the Aegean Islands and the Turkish conquest.
Annual of the British School at Athens 18 (1910-11) 151-81.