Objects have always been central to movement in the Mediterranean. Mobility would not be possible without the physical infrastructure of travel: the ship, the caravan, the compass, the map. This working group seeks to use the material culture of mobility to develop a broader history of the multiple lived experiences of movement in the Mediterranean space.
This working group explores what those objects associated with migration in the Mediterranean space can tell us about the material culture of mobility, but also the emotional histories of the movement of people(s). By taking a broad interdisciplinary approach – drawing on archaeology, anthropology, literary studies, cultural history, economic history and the history of emotions – we seek to use artefacts of mobility to reconstruct the physical, cultural, and mental landscapes of movement and exchange across time and space in the Mediterranean world. The group is particularly interested in understanding the place that the physical infrastructures of travel – the ship, the caravan, the compass, the map – have occupied in the mental and emotional histories of mobility in this space. Through a multi-faceted study of the lived experience, memory, and the representation of trans-Mediterranean journeys in different spaces and in different time periods, we hope that we can begin to assess how the materiality of mobility has shaped its broader impact on the economy, culture, and social life of the region.
  • To establish the role of objects in driving and facilitating movement in the Mediterranean.
  • To understand how these objects shaped the experience, the memory, and the representation of movement in different areas of the Mediterranean and in different time periods.
  • To use the material culture of mobility to actively engage the broader public with histories of movement in the Mediterranean space.
We will take the lead in the COST Action’s first conference in Zadar in February 2020, which will focus on shipwrecks and caravans as the dominant configurations of collective movement in the real and imagined histories of the Mediterranean.

We will organise a total of four workshops, one in each year of the COST Action Project. They will all focus on an aspect of the Virtual Museum project that is one of the key outcomes for this working group.

Our first workshop, also in Zadar in February 2020, will introduce participants to the basic concept of the Virtual Museum and the technology that will be used to develop it.

This will be followed by a workshop in 2021 on ‘The Object in Context,’ another in 2022 on ‘Testing and Improving the Model’ and a final workshop in 2023 on ‘Lessons Learned and Future Challenges’.

We are committed to publishing the papers presented at our Conference in Zadar as a special edition of a journal or an edited volume.

We will develop an interactive Virtual Museum of the shipwreck at Gnalić in Croatia that will allow members of the general public to explore the material culture of the site and use it as a window into the broader history of mobility in the Late Renaissance period.

Konrad von Grünenberg, Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem, 1487, fol. 50r, Badische Landesbibliothek

Workgroup Leader

Dr Rosita D'Amora
Dr Rosita D'Amora

WG1 Members

Renata Ago
Renata Ago
Marta Ajmar
Marta Ajmar
Kalliopi Amygdalou
Kalliopi Amygdalou
Tülay Artan
Tülay Artan
Tuğçe Atik
Tuğçe Atik
Lisa Beaven
Lisa Beaven
Jake Benson
Jake Benson
Gianenrico Bernasconi
Gianenrico Bernasconi
Katherine Bond
Katherine Bond
Günhan Böreckçi
Günhan Böreckçi
Rosita D’Amora
Rosita D’Amora
Miroslava Daňová
Miroslava Daňová
Maria Luisa De Rinaldis
Maria Luisa De Rinaldis
Despina Dimelli
Despina Dimelli
Bilge Esirgen
Bilge Esirgen
Beatrice Falcucci
Beatrice Falcucci
Sara Fani
Sara Fani
Maria Sofia Fusaro
Maria Sofia Fusaro
Claudia Geremia
Claudia Geremia
Chiara Ghidini
Chiara Ghidini
Maria Rita Gisotti
Maria Rita Gisotti
Parisa Göker
Parisa Göker
Rossitsa Gradeva
Rossitsa Gradeva
Thobias Graf
Thobias Graf
Niccolò Guasti
Niccolò Guasti
Sasha Handley
Sasha Handley
Stephan Hanß
Stephan Hanß
Kat Hill
Kat Hill
Giulia Iannuzzi
Giulia Iannuzzi
Andreas Isler
Andreas Isler
Lauren Jacobi
Lauren Jacobi
Claudia Jarzebowski
Claudia Jarzebowski
Borut Klabjan
Borut Klabjan
Miroslava Kostic
Miroslava Kostic
Carolina Manfredini
Carolina Manfredini
Dorothea McEwan
Dorothea McEwan
Luca Molà
Luca Molà
Subha Mukherji
Subha Mukherji
Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli
Maria Giuseppina Muzzarelli
Daniele Ognibene
Daniele Ognibene
Luca Orlandi
Luca Orlandi
Alpen Ortug
Alpen Ortug
Nevin Özkan
Nevin Özkan
Ayşe Ozil
Ayşe Ozil
Natividad Planas
Natividad Planas
Anna Lia Proietti
Anna Lia Proietti
Robin Dora Radway
Robin Dora Radway
Irena Radić Rossi
Irena Radić Rossi
Hedda Reindl-Kiel
Hedda Reindl-Kiel
Giorgio Riello
Giorgio Riello
Tineke Rooijakkers
Tineke Rooijakkers
Ozge Samanci
Ozge Samanci
Mirko Sardelić
Mirko Sardelić
Lora Sarıaslan
Lora Sarıaslan
Alessandro Sidoti
Alessandro Sidoti
Anastasia Stouraiti
Anastasia Stouraiti
Giovanni Tarantino
Giovanni Tarantino
Nick Terpstra
Nick Terpstra
Sandra Toffolo
Sandra Toffolo
Felicita Tramontana
Felicita Tramontana
Lale Uluc
Lale Uluc
Márcia Vilarigues
Márcia Vilarigues
Esther Voswinckel Fliz
Esther Voswinckel Fliz
Arvi Wattel
Arvi Wattel
Luc Wodzicki
Luc Wodzicki
Neslihan Yuzbasioglu
Neslihan Yuzbasioglu