Archaeologies of Migration

Archaeology has established methodologies for investigating long-distance mobilities (both through scientific analyses of ancient DNA, stable isotopes etc.; and also through more traditional analysis of artefacts, styles, and social practices). Methods for investigating local and regional mobilities are less well established. MIGMAG examines broader demographic patterns across entire regions using landscape archaeology, exploiting new and existing data from archaeological surveys to uncover settlement patterns and environmental change (Work Package 2).

What was the scale of long-distance immigration relative to shorter-distance mobility? Did the establishment of new settlements owe more to an overall increase in regional population (i.e. the arrival of many inter-regional migrants) or to the redistribution of an existing population into a new settlement pattern (i.e. the mobility of intra-regional migrants)? How much mobility was seasonal? We will be considering these questions in relation to five case-study regions.

• Western Sardinia

• Calabria (southern Italy)

• Ionia (western Turkey)

• Rough Cilicia (southern Turkey)

• Central Greece - no fieldwork, published data only

For more information on our partner field projects, see ‘Partners’ page.