Mediterranean Resilience: Collapse and Adaptation in Antique Maritime Societies(New Directions in Anthropological Archaeology)

Mediterranean Resilience examines various forms of adaptation adopted by coastal societies in the ancient Mediterranean in response to external pressures they occasionally experienced. The investigation spans the longue durée stretching from the epi-paleolithic to the Medieval period. Special attention is given to the impact of two groups of variables: climate and sea level changes on the one hand, and fluctuations in political circumstances connected with the domination of empires, on the other hand. For adaptation, the volume analyses modes of coastal residence, subsistence, and maritime connectivity, not as a static feature, constant throughout history, but as a process that requires permanent adjustments due to changes in environmental, social and political conditions. Methodologically, various forms of case studies are employed, isolating thematic issues, geographic micro-regions, temporal boundaries, and disciplinary perspectives, ultimately seeking to embrace as wide an array of phenomena as possible in the human experience of collapse and adaptation.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: Mediterranean Resilience, Collapse, and Adaptation in Antique Maritime Societies Assaf Yasur-Landau, Gil Gambash, and Thomas E. Levy 2. Micro-Geoarchaeology: An Essential Component in the Detection and Decipherment of Resilience, Collapse, and Adaptation Ruth Shahack-Gross, University of Haifa 3. A Multi-Method Approach for Studying Environmental-Human Interaction: A Case Study from Dor, the Carmel Coast in Israel Gilad Shtienberg (University of California, San Diego) and Michael Lazar (University of Haifa) 4. The Maritime Neolithic: An Evaluation of Marine Adaptation in Eastern Mediterranean Prehistory Chelsea Wiseman, Flinders University and University of Haifa 5. The Early Bronze I Coastal Settlements of Israel: A New Phenomenon or Part of a Long-Lived Settlement Tradition? Roey Nickelsberg (University of Haifa), Ruth Shahack-Gross, and Assaf Yasur-Landau 6. Cypriot Pottery as an Indicator of Adaptive Trade Networks Brigid Clark, University of Haifa 7. The Collapse of the Mycenaean Palaces Revisited Philipp W. Stockhammer, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich 8. A Twelfth-Century BCE Shipwreck Assemblage Containing Copper Ingots, from Neve-Yam, Israel Ehud Galili (University of Haifa), Dafna Langgut (Tel Aviv University) , Ehud Arkin Shalev (University of Haifa), Baruch Rosen, Naama Yahalom-Mack (Hebrew University), Isaac Ogloblin Ramirez (University of Haifa), and Assaf Yasur-Landau 9. The Collapse of Cultures at the End of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean: New Developments, Punctuated Equilibrium, and Further Questions Eric H. Cline, The George Washington University 10. Anthropogenic Erosion from Hellenistic to Recent Times in the Northern Gulf of Corinth, Greece Katrina Cantu (University of California, San Diego), Richard Norris (University of California, San Diego), George Papatheodorou (University of Patras), Ioannis Liritzis (Henan University, China), Dafna Langgut, Maria Geraga (University of Patras), and Thomas E. Levy 11. Cultural Resilience in the Hellenistic Southern Levant Eleonora Bedin, University of Haifa 12. Negev Fragility and Mediterranean Prosperity in Late Antiquity Gil Gambash 13. Collapses and Renascences: What the Maya and the Old World Have in Common Geoffrey E. Braswell, University of California, San Diego

About the Author :
Assaf Yasur-Landau is Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology, Head of the Recanati Institute of Maritime Studies, founder of the Laboratory for Coastal Archaeology and Underwater Survey, and cofounder of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Gil Gambash is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Haifa and cofounder and director of the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History. Thomas E. Levy is Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division,Co-Director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability at the Qualcomm Institute and inaugural holder of the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the University of California, San Diego.