Keeping in touch in a changing world: network dynamics and the connections between the Aegean and Italy during the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition (ca. 1250-1000 BC)

The dynamism of todays world is to a high degree defined by ever-expanding networks and increasing interconnectivity. The recent economic crisis and the swine flu epidemic are just two examples of how our daily life is affected by interconnections that go around the globe. Networking is becoming increasingly important: companies, for instance, have started to check potential employees Facebook pages to screen the quality and extent of their social networks. Networks and connectivity, however, were as much a thing of the past as they are of our own time, as the project presented here will demonstrate. The research concerns the contacts between the Aegean and Italy during the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition (ca. 1250-1000 BC), a highly distinctive period during which the ancient world experienced a severe crisis. Around 1200 BC the palace centres in the Aegean were destroyed, and this had very serious repercussions on the existing socio-economic system and on networks of long-distance contacts. Yet in order to survive this crisis, it was crucial to remain connected. This research project starts from the position that understanding networks and interconnectivity holds the key to understanding this critical period. Understanding this period, in its turn, means understanding a decisive turning point in the course of early Greek history. This is exactly what makes this research relevant and how it seeks to accomplish its ultimate goal: to provide a fundamental re-evaluation of the post-palatial era. There is a certain urgency to it, too, as the period following the destructions is generally treated as one of decline and deterioration, whereas recent discoveries and new insights show that this period also marks a fresh start, during which some of the foundations of the later Classical civilization were laid. This period should therefore be studied in its own right. What is more, models used for the palatial era divide the Mediterranean in centres and peripheries, but these models are not applicable to the decentralized world that came into being after ca. 1200 BC. The post-palatial period therefore requires a fresh approach, using another theoretical toolkit. Especially significant for our purposes are models that are currently being developed under the influence of post-colonial and network theory; they embody a shift away from thinking in centre periphery dichotomies and fixed patterns of contact, towards networks, fluidity and multidirectional communications. The geographical focus of the research is on the Aegean and southern Italy. By incorporating the evidence from both regions, it will provide the first systematic study of the interrelations between them. A new element in the approach is that these mutual contacts will be considered from both an "Aegean" and an "Italian" perspective. The chronological range chosen for this study (ca. 1250-1000 BC) allows a comparison between the evidence from the periods before and after the fall of the palaces, so that elements of both change and continuity in interconnectivity can be identified. Italo Aegean interrelations will be studied at two levels. First, general trends in the functioning and the dynamics of interconnectivity will be examined. Next, the contexts in which imports and influences figured will be analysed for five regions in both the Aegean and Italy, which will give us detailed insights into the regional diversity in interconnectivity and into regional trajectories of network dynamics. The proposed candidate is ideally suited to carry out this research. During her bachelors and research masters studies, she familiarized herself with important datasets and recent theoretical insights into cultural exchanges. She will also profit from the expertise and international academic network that the department has developed over the years with respect to the study of culture contacts between the Aegean and Italy. The project is multidisciplinary in character: the research incorporates archaeological and social theory, and pursues an integrated use of evidence from both the Aegean and Italy during the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition, thus deliberately cross-cutting the geographical and chronological divides that traditionally exist between prehistory and Classical archaeology, and between Greek and Italian archaeology. The research results will lead to the writing of important new chapters on the early history of both Greece and Italy. The research also has a wider reach, as it will contribute to a better understanding of other historical or archaeological periods of crisis and transition.