Harbours and hinterlands: reconstructing maritime cultural landscapes in Mycenaean Messenia

Conference item

Messenia has one of the longest coastlines in mainland Greece (Pl. I), yet knowledge about the maritime and maritime-related activities of the Mycenaean Messenians is extremely limited. This paper will explore ways in which the existing body of archaeological evidence can be scrutinised to reveal traces of maritime culture and offer hints about the human relationship with the sea. To do this, the concept of maritime cultural landscapes will be used to connect disparate pieces of evidence to an overall understanding of how the sea influenced the daily lifeways of ancient Messenians. Maritime cultural landscapes have been foundational for the study of the human-sea relationship beyond the physical remains of ships and harbours, and are firmly rooted in the tradition of landscape archaeology, phenomenology, and cognitive landscapes. Firstly, potential harbour locations in Messenia will be discussed and their relationship to nearby Mycenaean sites will hint at the nature of maritime interaction. Archaeological remains will then provide evidence for both the tangible and intangible connection to the sea. This should enable a deeper and more focused discussion about maritime affairs in Messenia, while also acting as a template for future investigations into the maritime cultural landscapes of other regions of the LBA Aegean.

Authors: MacDonald, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Peeters Publishers
• Host title: HYDOR. Water Resources and Management in the Aegean Bronze Age: Proceedings of the 20th Rencontre égéenne internationale/International Aegean Conference, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies & Archaeology, 11-16 June, 2024
• Pages: 427-442
• Series: Aegaeum (Annales d'archéologie égéenne de l'Université de Liège et UT-PASP)
• Series number: 50
• Place of publication: Leuven, Belgium
• Publication date: 2025-12-31
• Acceptance date: 2024-12-10
• Event title: 20th International Aegean Conference: HYDOR. Water Resources and Management in the Aegean Bronze Age
• Event location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Event website: https://hydorconference.com/
• Event start date: 2024-06-11
• Event end date: 2024-06-16
• ISBN: 9789042955882
• Language: English