Networking in the Ancient World: Tracing Trade and Social Networks 1500BC-AD 400
We warmly invite graduate students and early career researchers in Classics, Archaeology, Near Eastern studies and other related disciplines to submit abstracts for a one-day workshop on Networking in the Ancient World.
Despite the absence of modern, quick, communication mechanisms, the ancient world was intersected by a myriad of networks, criss-crossing through and between a variety of different cultures. There is numerous evidence for the extent, distance, and sheer variety of trading and social networks across the ancient world: one of the most famous examples signifying trading networks is the Ulu Burun shipwreck, while the Amarna Letters provide a window into the social interactions of the Egyptian and Near Eastern royal courts and elite of the Bronze Age. Yet bridging the gap between what we can observe and the interpretation of probable events is not straightforward. Text, archaeological finds, and scientific analysis can provide rich sources of evidence for analysing and exploring ancient networks, giving archaeologists and historians a fuller understanding of the social, political, and economic interactions of everyday life over both the short and long term.