Symposium
At the Ends of the Earth?
- Date
- Wednesday 27 November 2024
- Time
- Address
- Reuvenshal, Faculty of Archaeology, Einsteinweg 2, Leiden
How novel methods and approaches are changing our understanding of Central Asian landscapes and objectscapes
Central Asian landscapes and material repertoires are often interpreted in connection to concepts such as ‘Border Regions’, or ‘Silk Roads’. Almost everyone is familiar with the expansive steppes and fierce nomadic confederations, peripheral to and connecting the well-known empires of the ancient world, such as Han China and the Roman Empire. However, new and older research originating in both the Russian-speaking and the Western world continues to change this narrative.
Central Asia, far from a homogeneous and marginal environment, should be envisioned as a landscape with an abundance of varying local environments. New methods and research show a profusion of different societies, with complex histories of continuity and change under varying climatological, environmental, political and social conditions. For example, through radiometric dating of riverine archaeological sites and their irrigation canals, the research project ‘Rivers of the Silk Road: How Water Shaped Societies and Empires in Central Asia’ generates major insight in the impact of local water stress on settlement patterns, trade and migration. “Anchoring Innovation”, on the other hand, provides a new conceptual tool to study the intricate connection between human agency and material impact, through focusing on how societies deal with the new by incorporating it into the old.
This seminar is being organized on the occasion of the visit of Prof. dr. Mark Macklin (University of Lincoln) and dr. Katie Campbell (University of Cambridge) to the Netherlands, who together with dr. Willem Toonen (VU) will present new results from their research project, ‘Rivers of the Silkroad’. As a contribution, several papers will be presented, using novel methodologies and frameworks such as those following from the Anchoring Innovation NWO Gravity Grant funded research programme.
This seminar will address the impact of methods, case studies and concepts arising in the study of Central Asia, offering a fresh look at this under-appreciated, but fascinating region of the ancient world.
