Registration is now open.
Follow the links on the left hand side of the page to register your details.
The conference is
free to all delegates.
A provisional timetable and speakers' abstracts are now available to download
from the
Programme Section of the website.
It may be possible to accommodate a small number of research Posters. Those
wishing to submit a poster should email the convenors at
lifewaves@live.co.uk.
Please watch this space for further updates regarding the event.
Conference Aims
The forthcoming conference has been designed to invigorate the study of
different aspects relating to prehistoric saltwater societies. Archaeological
research has tended to ignore the specific practices and qualities associated
with saltwater societies. Discourse has tended to focus on a past of fairly
uniform land based societies, and notions of maritime navigation and contact
have been explained in terms of population diffusion and cultural correlates.
Despite recent critiques of culture historical models little has been done to
readdress this imbalance when considering the sea. Direct archaeological
evidence is extremely variable for such societies and alternative methods by
which consider their existence in specific contexts have not yet been fully
explored by archaeologists who are themselves both land based and land
orientated. Yet despite this, the concept of maritime travel and contact is
often implicit within many dialogues concerning prehistoric societies.
However, recent archaeological debate has opened up new ways of thinking about
the nature of material culture and the ways in which identities are created and
mediated through being in the world. We would like to apply these theories to
studies that deal directly with the sea and the activities that take place upon
it. In particular we would like to explore notions of social identity that
accompany such practice. By doing this, we hope to open up a forum for debate
in which the sea and saltwater peoples can be better integrated into the wider
discourse on prehistoric life. We would also encourage contributions from those
outside of the discipline to provide contributions which allow us to deepen our
understanding of saltwater communities.
