Archaeology of the Early Black Sea Region ― Connectivity and Remoteness

The study of the pre-classical Black Sea has historically been both regionally fragmented and peripheral to European, Mediterranean, Eurasian, and Near Eastern archaeological traditions. Unlike the Mediterranean, the Black Sea is traditionally conceived of as a boundary or obstacle to interaction, rather than as a catalyst for cultural contact and exchange. Lacking almost completely from the literature, both theoretically and through archaeological case studies, is the exploration of sea-based connections in this region.

This is the first book to investigate inter-regional contact and interaction in and around the early Black Sea, as well as potential insularity or remoteness from it – both important themes in archaeological research. A central emphasis here lies on the material culture of connections and the significance of local social contexts. Each author in this collection addresses a range of key issues, including archaeological evidence for cultural connectivity or isolation; the means through which interactions took place and the physical parameters enabling/constraining such interactions; and the motivations and effects of inter-regional exchange for the societies concerned. This cutting-edge volume establishes the study of the pre-classical Black Sea as a significant field of research in its own right, demonstrated through some of the best recent research in the field.

Claudia Glatz is a Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her main research interests include archaeological approaches to empire, culture contact, the relationship of craft production and political power, as well as settlement and landscape studies, especially in border and transitional regions. She co-directs the Cide Archaeological Project, a survey on the west-central Turkish Black Sea coast, and the Sirwan Regional Project in the Kurdish Region of Iraq.

Susan Sherratt is a Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology, Sheffield University, UK, and one of the world’s preeminent experts in the interaction of pre- and protohistoric societies in the Bronze Age Mediterranean and surrounding regions. One of her current research projects is The Linking up of the Mediterranean, 3000-700 BC. She has published extensively on various aspects of early interaction networks, their local and large-scale consequences. Dr. Sherratt is currently involved in fieldwork on the central Turkish Black Sea as a member of the Sinop Regional Archaeological Project.

Alexander Bauer is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, USA. He co-directs the Sinop Regional Archaeological Project (SRAP) in the Black Sea region of Sinop, Turkey, with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Georgraphic Society. His research focus is on Bronze Age cultural interconnections across the Black Sea region, a subject on which he has published several articles. He has organized several conferences and workshops on a variety of topics and has been the Editor-on-Chief of the International Journal of Cultural Property since 2005.