A Study on Wellbeing in the Western Mediterranean area between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age

Alessandra Tagini , University of Tuebingen

This paper attempts to explore from different perspectives the diachronic development of wellbeing in the societies of the Western Mediterranean between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The Western Mediterranean area sees a historical path distinct from the development of the Ancient Near East until the Bronze Age, but cultural and technological contaminations arrive in large part of the Western Mediterranean through continental Europe. Therefore, the Western Mediterranean area results as only relatively isolated, relatively to the institutional innovations of the Ancient Near East, but overall part of the complex exchange system of Eurasia. I study the diachronic development of wellbeing in the Western Mediterranean area between the Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age, considering both bioarchaeological indicators of living standards and cultural expression. Interestingly, the trends of nutrition show very different patterns in the Western part of the Mediterranean area compared to the Eastern Mediterranean area and extended Mesopotamia, in accordance with distinct historical and demographic processes affecting the Western Mediterranean area.

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 Presented in Session 117. Flash Session - Changing Mortality Patterns over Time and Space