Gosner & Hayne/Local Experiences, 2. Mediterranean Connectivity in Southern Italy

From the end of the Bronze Age to the Archaic period, southern Italy saw dramatic shifts in connectivity as did the rest of the Mediterranean. Here, I discuss the results of a series of bioarchaeological analyses aimed at identifying demographic changes linked to Greek colonization of southern Italy, a key migration phenomenon dated to the 8th-7th centuries BC. Results point to long-term, two-way interactions between southern Italian communities and migrants from across the Aegean. Yet challenges remain in teasing out recurring migration waves and sustained, small-scale mobility between southern Italy and other Mediterranean regions through bioarchaeological analyses. A comprehensive reconstruction of long-term regional diachronic changes in connectivity allows us address these challenges, clarify the interpretation of bioarchaeological analyses, and use them to their full potential by allowing their results to become part of an integrated historical narrative.