Mediterranean as a supra-regional interaction sphere during late prehistory: An overview on problems and prospects

Abstract

In spite of its vast extent, Mediterranean is a landlocked marine body critically located between three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, each having its distinct cultural identity. Actually cultural disparity among regions encircling the Mediterranean is not just confined to lands along opposing shores, but also to the neighbouring peninsulas, indented topographic or desert environments making interaction through land almost impossible, thus the sea as the mediator has always been indispensable. Seafaring being relatively easy, enabled cultural interaction among distinct cultural zones that otherwise would be unaware of others existence. In this respect, the Mediterranean played a critical role in the emergence and development of civilization. There is now growing evidence from previously uninhabited islands such as Cyprus and Crete that seafaring along the Mediterranean began much earlier than previously assumed, at the latest by 14,000 BC. On the other hand, there are considerable problems in attaining evidence on the use of maritime environments in the past as the coastal morphology has gone through radical changes during the last 15000 years. Coastal sites have either been inundated due to rise in sea levels or deeply buried by alluvial deposition, which necessitates extinsive multidisciplinary studies, particularly on geoarchaeology.