Symposium Aims and Goals

The 24th annual meeting of Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) will be held in Udine, Italy on 2-4 February and will be organized by the University of Udine with the support of GAMA.

As it has been in the past, the symposium will continue to provide an important opportunity for scholars and researchers to come together and discuss their work and research in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. Our spectrum is growing wider due to the increased importance and knowledge of interdisciplinary works in today’s scientific era.

Since prehistoric times the Mediterranean has been acting as an area for interaction between groups inhabiting regions that are now studied mainly within the different sub-fields of ancient studies. In recent years, however, the development of research techniques and analytical models of archaeological evidence have identified similar historical paths that are similar if not, in some cases, common to different areas of the ancient world from the West (Iberian peninsula) to the East (Anatolia and Levant) from the North (Europe, Black Sea Coast) to the South (Maghreb and Egypt).

The main theme of the 2023 meeting will be "Ideas that travelled by the sea". The Mediterranean Sea region is an area extremely rich in archaeological sites, underwater and on the land. All presentations related to the proposed topics of seafaring and navigation, material culture, ports and harbors, maritime cultural landscapes, tools and methods, will be welcome, and particularly those attempting to reconstruct the ancient trade in the Mediterranean and its maritime connectivity with the contribution of underwater or land archaeology. In addition to traditional issues related to archeological finds in various parts of the Mediterranean, in 2023 the focus will also be on new ideas for the management, conservation and interpretation of cultural heritage related to the maritime sites and landscapes with the emphasize on new approaches and the public engagement.

The 24th SOMA meeting welcomes presentations related to the above-mentioned topics using archaeological data collected within contexts located within the Mediterranean basin and beyond, chronologically ranging from Prehistoric to Medieval periods.

Scientific meeting will be held in the form of plenary and poster presentations. On the basis of consideration of received applications, the organizing Committee will select papers and prepare the program with the book of abstracts.

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