Conceptualizing the Circum-Mediterranean for Purposes of Social Scientific Research

Although circum-Mediterranean anthropologists have rejected the culture area trait approach, none has offered a comprehensive alternative. This paper presents a reconceptualization of the circum-Mediterranean area utilizing a dynamic systems model. It discusses how this systems approach, combined with a theoretical paradigm, can facilitate social scientific research by viewing the region as an intensive interactional/ecological zone or as a substantive/theoretic generative field; or by focusing on the circum-Mediterranean system interface and making inter-areal systems comparisons. [circum-Mediterranean, culture area, anthropological theory].