The session on ‘modern perspectives on ancient migration’ will consist of two papers – presented by Nina Maaranen and Vana Kalenderian – followed by shared discussion. The topics of the talks are:
Dr. Nina Maaranen
People in Motion – Bioanthropology as a Tool for Investigating Past Migration and Mobility
Themes surrounding mobility and migration have gone through waves of increasing and declining interest in archaeology with the emergence and maturation of new theoretical and methodological approaches. The past few decades have seen the increasing development of not only bioanthropological methods but also available skeletal assemblages from ancient Western Asian sites. Together, these provide an additional dimension into the investigation of movement in this region by analysing the people themselves. This presentation gives an overview of bioanthropological methods used for movement and illustrating these through case studies from the Middle Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean.
Dr. Vana Kalenderian
Interpreting Death: Migration and Burial in Roman Beirut
In the late 1st c. BC, the first Roman colony in the Near East was established in the city of Berytus (modern day Beirut, Lebanon). With the colonization of the city, as well as the increased connectivity among the Roman provinces, Berytus experienced the influx and settlement of colonists and other migrants. This presentation explores how migration and identity can be recognized and interpreted through the mortuary record. Case studies of burials from Beirut will be presented to illustrate how the contextual analysis of ancient graves through the integration of osteological, isotopic and the material evidence can help piece together individual life histories and broader sociocultural changes.
Please note the unusual time, Monday 24 January at 18:00-19:45 EET (i.e. UTC +02:00), and join us online via Zoom.
Zoom link: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/67889792118 (Meeting ID: 678 8979 2118).