FAST Lecture: "Disentangling Contacts between Greece and Italy at the End of the Bronze Age"

The end of the Bronze Age is a period of close contacts between Italy and Greece. But with the transition to the Early Iron Age in Greece (the Final Bronze Age in Italy) most evidence of direct contacts dwindles and ultimately vanishes. This process is associated with far-reaching changes in both regions. However, while well-established paradigms exist with which to understand emerging connections and entanglement, we lack a comprehensive method to analyze processes of ‘disentanglement’ and their implications. Through two regional case studies (Salento and Achaea), I hope to show that the concept of ‘disentanglement’—understood as a process of strategic responses by all agents involved in contacts to a series of interconnected changes—can be usefully employed to illuminate two key issues: (1) the nature and degree of entanglement between the communities involved in contact; and (2) the social dynamics that engendered long-term shifts in contact patterns across the Adriatic.

Reception precedes the lecture.

FAST (Field Archaeology on Thursdays) lectures are organized by students in the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology.