Connectivity and Demography in the Insular and Coastal Mediterranean

Abstract

Abstract The islands and coasts of the Mediterranean are often assumed to have been unusually well connected during their long prehistory. Much of the empirical evidence for this Mediterranean “connectivity” comes from material culture and by tracking the expansion of styles and traditions in stone, ceramic, metal, and glass. However, two burgeoning types of information that should have direct relevance for mobility and demographic structure, paleogenomic data and summed radiocarbon probability distributions, have not been incorporated into this discussion. The authors attempt to do so here, assessing in particular how patterns of population growth and movement can be traced when they move beyond purely material proxies for connectivity. Their initial conclusions suggest that how one thinks about Mediterranean connectivity should take population size, distribution, and mobility into account more effectively.