The early-modern Venezuelan Caribbean did not lure seafarers with the saccharine delights of cane sugar but with the preserving qualities of solar sea salt. In this book, the historical archaeological study of this salty commodity offers a unique entryway into the hitherto unknown maritime mobilities and daily lives of the seafarers who camped at the saltpans of Venezuelan islands from the seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, cultivating and harvesting the white crystal of the sea.

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The main goal of this volume is to look at social groups involved in economic activity other than members of the palace-based institutions and “elites” in Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greek societies. The palaces and elites are the usual subject of studies of ancient economies, often from a top-down approach, but here we consider a fuller range of the members of a society, their organization, their institutions, and their contributions to the economies of those societies from bottom-up appro...

While terrestrial archaeology has engaged with contemporary philosophy, maritime archaeology has remained in comparative disciplinary – or subdisciplinary – isolation. However, the issues that humans face in the Anthropocene – from global warming to global pandemics – call for transdisciplinary cooperation, and for thinking together beyond the confines of the human-centered philosophical tradition. Growing areas such as the “blue humanities” and “oceanic thinking” draw directl...

Across Western Asia, the astonishing increase in the availability of durable ceramic containers in the seventh millennium BCE had significant societal repercussions – so much so that vital social, economic, and symbolic activities became dependent upon the availability of pottery containers. These early ceramic containers, however, established themselves alongside flourishing pre-existing container traditions, with vessels made in a wide range of materials including clay, bitumen, basketry,...

This volume presents a cutting-edge perspective on figurine studies in the Neolithic Aegean, sparking renewed interest and innovative ideas. It celebrates two significant milestones in the field: the 50th anniversary of Giorgos Hourmouziadis’ Ph.D. thesis (submitted in 1973 and published in 1974) and the 30th anniversary of Lauren Talalay’s Ph.D. thesis (submitted in 1983 and published in 1993).

Central to this work are three key questions: What advancements have been made since these sem...

The essays in this book focus on archaeological approaches to the utilization of highland regions in southwestern and central Asia, examining the interplay between human communities and highland landscapes from the Paleolithic era to the present.

Contributions combine case studies with theoretical considerations to explore adaptive strategies of movement. They discuss the significance of mobility within archaeological and anthropological discourse. Contributors engage with critical questions:...

Mit der Bronzezeit verbreitete sich das begehrte neue Metall über ganz Europa. Es veränderte Arbeitssektoren, Netzwerke, Weltanschauungen und Gesellschaften und brachte unterschiedliche Transformationen in diversen Lebensbereichen mit sich. Mit diesem Buch werden alle Transformationsprozesse der Bronzezeit für den Raum Schleswig-Holstein in den Blick genommen.

In diesem Forschungsrahmen entwickelte sich die Fundstelle Mang de Bargen bei Bornhöved (Kreis Segeberg), einst Ziel von Kieswerke...