Page 65 - TINA Dergi Sayi 09

TINA

Maritime Archaeology Periodical

With the late 7th and 6th millennium BCE, the evi- velopment of offshore sea travel in prehistoric Aegean.
dence of maritime travels becomes more evident in the Ethnographic and historical records make clear that
archaeological record from all over the Aegean. Circu- open sea and offshore fishing were not the preferred
lation of Melian obsidian across the Aegean, transpor- methods of fishing by traditional communities at all .
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tation of animals such as domestic pigs and fallow deer As mentioned before, Marzano, relying on ancient lit-
in captivity, quick dispersal of impressed pottery along erary sources and archaeological evidence, states that
the maritime routes that span the whole eastern Medi- open sea and offshore fishing were infrequent activi-
terranean, as well as the emergence of first year-round ties throughout the Mediterranean until the 20 centu-
th
settlements on several islands are all manifestations of ry CE . Zooarchaeological evidence from the Aegean
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regular involvement with the seascapes and improving supports this observation, as inshore species dominate
navigational skills and boat building technology . the ichthyofaunal assemblages from the Mesolithic into
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Although we have no actual remains of boats or their the Late Bronze Age . Ethnographic studies from the
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artistic representations prior to EBA in the Aegean, the Maori of New Zealand and some groups of the Pacific
reconstructed range and intensity of maritime travel Northwest coast of North America indicate that open
suggest that sea-going vehicles were not mere rafts or sea fishing is either practiced when there is a shortage
floats. It would not be too far-fetched to suggest that of terrestrial mammals due to insular landscapes or
planked hulls, long boats, reed-bundle crafts, and dug- over-exploiting, or it is practiced for adventure, pres-
out canoes were built even before the Bronze Age . tige, and interest in fishing . Open sea and offshore
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Late Neolithic (5 -4 millennia BCE) and EBA periods fishing are high-risk maritime engagements and are
th
th
witness an ever-increasing settling of the islands and practiced only when the fishing season coincides with
exploration of their resources . Important raw mate- clear, calm, and predictable weather conditions . Fur-
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rials available on various Cycladic Islands, defensive thermore, it is documented that voyages undertaken to
advantages of insular landscapes, further development exploit open sea fisheries were often unsuccessful, and
of longboat technology, and the islands’ close proxim- the landings did not constitute a reliable and major con-
ity to each other encouraged a dynamic social atmo- tribution to subsistence .
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sphere which was in constant interaction with the sea . Let us examine these variables in the Aegean to in-
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Archaeological research carried out in coastal western fer the role played by offshore fishing. The land is rich
Anatolia indicates economic and cultural relations with resources that were and are still crucial for sub-
with the Aegean communities during the 3 millenni- sisting human communities. Even the islands host both
rd
um BCE . Finally, with the introduction of large sail endemic and introduced ‘wild’ and domestic terrestrial
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boats at the end of the 3 millennium BCE, presumably populations . Aegean shores and islands are some of
rd
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from Egypt, sea travels, still following the coastline, the earliest loci of westward dispersal of domestic an-
became faster and more efficient . The range and scale imals and plants, dating to 6500 BCE or earlier . As
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of economic interactions, as well as the trade of various already pointed out, although there may be time periods
goods and raw materials among complex societies in when environmental and anthropogenic factors caused
the Eastern Mediterranean, grew exponentially. a shortage of land mammals, thereby forcing people
To make a long story short, we are not denying the to exploit more of the marine resources (but note that
capacity of offshore travel in Aegean prehistory. It is there is no concrete evidence to support this sugges-
rather our intention to question what role the desire for, tion), generally the Aegean Basin provided humans
or necessity of capturing offshore fish played in the de- with sufficient meat supply.

50 STrASSEr et al. 2014.
51 MYLONA 2014, 3; SAMPSON 1998, 13-14.
52 BrOODBANK – STrASSEr 1991; ÇİLİNGİrOĞLU 2010; DAWSON 2011; ÇİLİNGİrOĞLU – ÇAKIrLAr 2013; ErDOĞU
2013; HOrEjS et al. 2015; MİLİĆ 2014; ZEDEr 2011, 231.
53 AGOUrDIS 1997, 2; BrOODBANK 2000, 99; PAPADATOS – TOMKINS 2013, 355.
54 DAWSON 2011.
55 BrOODBANK 2000; 2013.
56 ŞAHOĞLU 2005; KOLANKAYA-BOSTANCI 2016; ÜNLÜSOY 2016.
57 MCGrAIL 2001.
58 DEVECIYAN 2006; MArZANO 2013; PICKArD – BONSALL 2004.
59 MArZANO 2013, 15.
60 MYLONA 2014.
61 PICKArD – BONSALL 2004, 276.
62 AGOUrDIS 1997.
63 PICKArD – BONSALL 2004, 276.
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