Call for papers

Call for Papers

No Escape Timing

Life cycles, seasonality and human activities

in the Bronze Age Aegean

Catania, 28th-29th May 2026

Time is an inescapable dimension of human experience. The lack of written sources, the ephemeral nature of measurement systems, and the complex link between natural cycles and daily life make it difficult to reconstruct how time was understood, estimated, and lived in prehistoric times.

The cycle of seasons, day and night, moon phases, tides, and fertility impacted pre-industrial communities often in ways that elude modern understanding. Concepts of time influenced the scheduling of daily and ritual activities, work organization, and broader social rhythms, all closely tied to climate, daylight, and biological cycles.

How much and in which way is it possible to trace such influences on Aegean societies from the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age?

The conference aims to examine all possible archaeological markers, from material culture, iconography, epigraphic sources, to bioarchaeological remains, with a focus on possible methodological and applicative solutions fostering integrated approaches (ethnoarchaeology, energetics, reconfiguring Legacy Data, etc.) to explore the rhythms of life and work in the pre- and protohistoric Aegean.

The conference will focus on the following topics:

• Time for economic activities. Seasonal changes impact on production and economic systems (agriculture, livestock, shipping, construction, manufacturing, etc.) and their interconnections in more or less complex societies.
• Time and living spaces. Settlement choices, architectural and topographical solutions and relationships between complementary settlements in response to seasonal climatic change.
• Daily time. Biorhythms, individual and collective practices and daily domestic activities (cooking, weaving, lighting, etc.) carried out in the short, medium and long term.
• Ritual times. Rituals and cults linked to natural cycles (seasonal festivals, propitiatory rites) or to stages in the life cycle (rites of initiation, passage, of end) and symbolic meanings of time in the sacred dimension.
• Time and the sky. Study of celestial phenomena and their possible integration into Aegean calendars.
• Representation of time. Symbolic and visual expressions of temporality in art, iconography, and spatial arrangements, and their meanings within Aegean societies.

How to participate

Participation is free of charge but registration is mandatory.

The conference will be held in English. 

Two communication formats are accepted: a 20-minute presentation or a 5-minute presentation, both followed by 10 minutes of questions.

In order to participate, please send a short abstract (approx. 250 words) indicating the format you would like to present and your affiliation using the following

e-mail: scapecon8@gmail.com before the 1st of November 2025.

Conference date: 28th-29th May 2026

Venue: University of Catania

Submission deadline: 1st of November 2025

Contact: scapecon8@gmail.com 

ScapeCon8_Call for papers