Living on Small Islands: Archaeological Perspectives on Vulnerability and Resilience

This volume examines the archaeology of small islands and the ways in which island communities have responded to environmental challenges across different regions and periods. The contributors examine the resilience of islanders in addressing these challenges, the solutions that they have devised, and instances in which resource depletion necessitated the abandonment of inhabited islands. The topics addressed include the demographic and social impacts of environmental changes on small islands and the influence of the unique environmental conditions on local cultures and range from the survey of small Aegean islands and strategies for managing water scarcity in the Iron Age Cyclades to Greek colonisation in the Adriatic, shell mound-building societies of southern Brazil, and community-based approaches to heritage and climate resilience in the Caribbean. The contributors consider religious practices, social organisation, economies, material culture and traditions. Together, the studies demonstrate the diverse roles played by small islands within wider cultural and economic networks and highlight their importance for understanding long-term human-environment relationships.