Mediterranean Voyages

Islands are ideal case studies for exploring social connectivity, episodes of colonisation, abandonment, and alternating phases of cultural interaction and isolation. Their societies display different attitudes toward the land and the sea, which in turn cast light on group identities. This volume advances theoretical discussions of island archaeology by offering a comparative study of the archaeology of colonisation, abandonment, and resettlement of the Mediterranean islands in prehistory. This comparative and thematic study encourages anthropological reflections on the archaeology of the islands, ultimately focusing on people rather than geographical units, and specifically on the relations between islanders, mainlanders, and the creation of islander identities. This volume has significance for scholars interested in Mediterranean archaeology, as well as those interested more broadly in colonisation and abandonment.

Helen Dawson has provided a strikingly original, thoroughly up-to-date and comprehensive study of Mediterranean island archaeology, adopting a pan-Mediterranean perspective unparalleled in the literature. Treating issues of island colonisation and abandonment made easy-to-understand with a generous spread of graphs and tables, this volume will be essential reading for anyone interested in island archaeology, within and beyond the Mediterranean.

A. Bernard Knapp - University of Glasgow and Cyprus-American Archaeological Research Institute

An engrossing account of the complex story of human colonisation, abandonment and resettlement of the islands of the Mediterranean. Theoretically informed and rooted in a detailed understanding of the archaeological evidence, this book is recommended reading for students of both Mediterranean prehistory and island archaeology.

Ruth Whitehouse - Institute of Archaeology, UCL

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