Johannes Preiser-Kapeller – Falko Daim (Eds.)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Pre-Print: Harbours and Maritime Networks (not for distribution!) Johannes Preiser-Kapeller – Falko Daim (eds.), Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems International Workshop “Harbours and maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems” at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz, 17.-18. 10. 2013, within the framework of the Special Research Programme (DFG-SPP-1630) “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages” Mainz 2014 1 Pre-Print: Harbours and Maritime Networks (not for distribution!) Interdisziplinäre Forschungen zu den Häfen von der Römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum Mittelalter in Europa, Vol. 2 RGZM – Tagungen 2 Pre-Print: Harbours and Maritime Networks (not for distribution!) Pre-Print: Johannes Preiser-Kapeller – Falko Daim (eds.), Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems (Interdisziplinäre Forschungen zu den Häfen von der Römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum Mittelalter in Europa/RGZM Tagungen). Mainz 2014 This volume collects selected papers given at the International Workshop “Harbours and maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems” at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz, 17.-18. 10. 2013, within the framework of the Special Research Programme (SPP-1630) “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages”, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (http://www.spp-haefen.de/en/home/). The volume is devoted to the conceptualisation and analysis of maritime history within the framework of complexity theory on various levels: the selection, construction, utilisation, maintenance or abandonment of a harbour site depended on the interactions of a multiplicity of actors (population on-site and in the hinterland; local, regional and central authorities; merchants and sailors, etc.) against the background of an equally complex interplay between society and environment (natural conditions on land and on sea and their dynamics). Within this framework, also the concept of path dependence is of relevance: decisions and efforts made for the selection and construction of a harbour determine the parameters for subsequent contexts of decision making. Ports are integrated into local and regional settlement systems via multiplex connections with their hinterland and co-determine the distribution of demographic and economic potentials within these systems. Local, regional and over-regional sea-routes link ports of various sizes and importance in complex maritime networks, which are equally characterized by the emergence of hierarchies of harbours. On the basis of these sea-routes, also individuals and groups in various localities are connected in social networks, which can be characterised by mercantile, political, religious or cultural interactions, but especially through the mobility of individuals. A systematic survey of these entanglements between individuals, groups and localities contributes to a more adequate analysis of the complexity of these phenomena as do detail studies on the interplay between social and environmental factors for the development of selected ports. Contributions: ñ Falko Daim, Preface ñ Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems - Thematic Introduction ñ Franck Goddio, Damian Robinson and David Fabre, The life-cycle of the harbour of Thonis-Heracleion: the interaction of the environment, politics and trading networks on the maritime space of Egypt’s northwestern Delta ñ Myrto Veikou, Byzantine ports and harbours within the complex interplay between environment and society. Spatial, socio-economic and cultural considerations based on archaeological evidence from Greece, Cyprus and Asia Minor ñ Pascal Arnaud, The interplay between actors and decision-makers for the selection, organisation, utilisation and maintenance of ports under the Roman Empire ñ Flora Karagianni, Networks of Medieval City-Ports in the Black Sea (7th-15th cent.). The Archaeological Testimony ñ Søren M. Sindbæk, Northern Emporia and Maritime Networks. Modelling past Communication using Archaeological Network Analysis ñ Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, The Maritime Mobility of Individuals and Objects: Networks and Entanglements 3 Pre-Print: Harbours and Maritime Networks (not for distribution!) Preface The establishment of the Special Research Programme (SPP) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 1630 “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages. The archaeology and history of regional and over regional traffic systems” in spring 2013 for a period of six years provides the opportunity to study the conditions under which anchorages, harbours and port cities emerged, were used and disappeared. Within this framework, three major European shipping zones are scrutinized, which at first sight are characterised by very different conditions and dynamics: the Mediterranean, the Northern and Baltic Seas and inland waterways. For all three areas, the same fundamental questions are posed: How and under what conditions interfaces between water and land were designed and organised in space and time? Yet, natural and historical parameters as well as the available written and materials source evidence very much differ. Moreover, these various regions and periods are embedded in different and highly sophisticated scientific cultures with their own systems of concepts and thinking styles. The research focus therefore faces not only also otherwise existing challenges of major research projects to organise the analysis of immense amounts of data and the systematic exchange between the individual projects, but also to overcome “cultural” barriers between disciplines in order to ultimately provide large syntheses. Besides the necessary explanations of terms and a discussion of criteria by which comparisons are to be drawn, it is also important to consider different theoretical approaches for their applicability and to use tools of the digital humanities in order to collect and analyse the evidence and to gain new scientific ground. Special meeting held at the RGZM in Mainz for the SPP-1630 are devoted to these issues. The first one focused on “Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems” and took place on October 17th and 18th 2013. Through the contributions of the speakers and extensive discussions, it became clear that network theory and the accompanying digital tools are well suited to analyse complex systems, such as maritime and terrestrial transport systems and their interfaces. Our thanks go to Johannes Preiser-Kapeller for the concept and organisation of the meeting as well as to the speakers who provided not only perfect presentations but also written versions of their contributions. May this collection of papers stimulate the working groups within the SPP “Harbours” and also beyond. The initiators of the SPP “Harbours” Claus von Carnap-Bornheim Falko Daim Peter Ettel Ursula Warnke 4 Pre-Print: Harbours and Maritime Networks (not for distribution!) Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems – a thematic Introduction Johannes Preiser-Kapeller The theory of complex systems was intensively discussed and integrated in archaeology in the last decades1, but much less so in other historical disciplines. As we intend to demonstrate on the following pages, this approach provides a most useful conceptual framework for various phenomena of maritime history to be discussed within the framework of the DFG-funded Special Research Programme (SPP 1630) “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages”. Complex systems elude attempts for simplification and mechanistic disintegration into single parts; but they show a number of common characteristics2: ñ Complex systems can be conceptualised as networks of individual components, whose interactions at the microscopic level produce “complex” changing patterns of behaviour of the entire system on the macroscopic level (“emergence”). In the field of social systems, these patterns stem from the actions and interactions of individuals, families, communities, etc. up to the globalized society of today.3 ñ These systems show a nonlinear character, which means that they answer to certain stimuli (actions of individuals on different scales or external influences and events, for instance) or minimal differences in initial conditions not in a linear way (which would mean that the output is proportional to its input), but because of the interactions between the parts of the system these stimuli can be reinforced (or weakened) through feedback mechanisms in an unexpected way (“non-linearity”, “butterfly effect”). ñ Complex systems are often “path-dependent”; their trajectory does not only depend on current conditions, but also on the “history” of the system. ñ Change within complex systems is described as transition between alternative (more or less) stable states or “attractors”. At the same time, complex systems are typically open systems, which are entangled with their environment in equally complex interrelations. The transition from one state to another can emerge because of endogenous interactions which sum up and reinforce each other (“positive feedback”) until a certain “tipping point” or “bifurcation point” is reached, at which the transition to a new attractor takes place; Marten Scheffer also calls attention to the fact that “systems may gradually become increasingly fragile to the point that even a minor perturbation can trigger a drastic change toward another state”; this depends on “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still