Realising consilience: How better communication between archaeologists, historians and natural scientists can transform the study of past climate change in the Mediterranean

This paper reviews the methodological and practical issues relevant to the ways in which natural scientists, historians and archaeologists may collaborate in the study of past climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin. We begin by discussing the methodologies of these three disciplines in the context of the consilience debate, that is, attempts to unify different research methodologies that address similar problems. We demonstrate that there are a number of similarities in the fundamental methodology between history, archaeology, and the natural sciences that deal with the past (“palaeoenvironmental sciences”), due to their common interest in studying societal and environmental phenomena that no longer exist. The three research traditions, for instance, employ specific narrative structures as a means of communicating research results. We thus present and compare the narratives characteristic of each discipline; in order to engage in fruitful interdisciplinary exchange, we must first understand how each deals with the societal impacts of climatic change. In the second part of the paper, we focus our discussion on the four major practical issues that hinder communication between the three disciplines. These include terminological misunderstandings, problems relevant to project design, divergences in publication cultures, and differing views on the impact of research. Among other recommendations, we suggest that scholars from the three disciplines should aim to create a joint publication culture, which should also appeal to a wider public, both inside and outside of academia.This paper emerged as a result of a workshop at Costa Navarino and the Navarino Environmental Observatory (NEO), Greece in April 2014, which addressed Mediterranean Holocene climate and human societies. The workshop was co-sponsored by IGBP/PAGES, NEO, the MISTRALS/PaleoMex program, the Labex OT-Med, the Bolin Centre for Climate Research at Stockholm University, and the Institute of Oceanography at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. We also acknowledge funding from the National Science Centre, Poland, within the scheme of the Centre's postdoctoral fellowships (DEC-2012/04/S/HS3/00226 (A.I)); the Swedish Research Council (grant numbers 421-2014-1181 (E.W.) and 621-2012-4344 (K.H.)); CSIC-Ramón y Cajal post-doctoral program RYC-2013-14073 and Clare Hall College, Cambridge, Shackleton Fellowship (B.M.); the EU/FP7 Project ‘Sea for Society’ (Science and Society - 2011-1, 289066)

Patrons, Landscape, and Potlatch: Early Medieval Linear Earthworks in Britain and Bulgaria

Often seen as exceptional monuments, comparative analyses of linear earthworks are rare. Exploring Offa’s Dyke (Wales and England) and the Erkesiya (Bulgaria) as comparable expressions of authority in the early medieval landscape. This article is a revised and updated republication of an early study (Squatriti 2001), arguing that  both linear monuments represent strategies to not only reflect, but actively create, royal power

An Environmental History of the Middle Ages: The Crucible of Nature . By John Aberth . ( Abingdon, England : Routledge , 2013 . Pp. xvi , 326. $39.95.)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108705/1/hisn12048_39.pd

Eaux et conflits

On n’a jamais autant parlé de guerre de l’eau qu’aujourd’hui. Et pourtant, les conflits suscités par la maîtrise et l’usage de l’eau ont une longue histoire. D’abord perçus comme le signe de tensions sociales et de dysfonctionnements, ces litiges apparaissent au contraire, à la lumière des travaux récents menés en histoire, en droit et en anthropologie, comme un moyen de comprendre la reconfiguration des rapports sociaux, économiques et politiques autour de l’enjeu essentiel que constitue la gestion de l’eau. À travers près de mille ans d’évolutions en Europe occidentale, du xe au début du xixe siècle, cet ouvrage analyse la façon dont interagissent les acteurs sociaux dans leurs usages de l’eau ou lors d’opérations d’aménagement hydraulique, avec une attention particulière accordée à l’échelle micro-historique (seigneurs, entrepreneurs, communautés villageoises…) et à la façon dont les villes et les États ont composé avec ces pouvoirs ruraux. À l’heure où l’eau devient un enjeu environnemental majeur, l’approche historique éclaire ainsi d’un jour nouveau le rôle des initiatives locales dans la longue durée

A banchetto con gli amici. Scritti per Massimo Montanari

Massimo Montanari ha insegnato all’Università di Bologna per più di quarant’anni, prima Storia medievale e poi Storia dell'alimentazione, e ha dato vita al Master europeo in “Storia e cultura dell'alimentazione”. È senz’altro uno dei maggiori esperti internazionali di una storia dell’alimentazione intesa come sistema culturale che può restituire il passato nella sua interezza, ma è altrettanto noto per i suoi studi di storia agraria, anch’essi sempre intesi a raggiungere una ricostruzione a tutto tondo delle società medievali, indagandone le strutture economiche e sociali insieme con quelle politiche e culturali. Questo libro, concepito come omaggio alla sua figura di studioso e di maestro, cerca di restituire il poliedrico spettro dei suoi interessi intellettuali e delle relazioni professionali e umane che ha saputo costruire nel tempo. Studiosi, allievi, collaboratori e amici hanno partecipato a questo metaforico banchetto contribuendo, ciascuno secondo il proprio stile, alla vivace conversazione propria di una tavola riccamente imbandita