Vol. 13 (2025). “In Second Use”. An archaeological and anthropological survey of recycling and reuse in the Greek world

Abstract

Vol. 13 (2025). “In Second Use”. An archaeological and anthropological survey of recycling and reuse in the Greek world.

In the last decades we have a continuous encouragement to ‘think Green’ and to recycle, upcycle, reuse, reduce waste and repurpose a variety of objects, which could be called a ‘secondary use’ of materials. Moreover, the changing patterns of landscape (natural and human-induced) exploitation and of the locally available natural resources can provide a footprint of how distinct cultural groups acted through time. All these practices are employed to redefine and extend the lifespan of objects and loci, and convey multiple meanings related to mentality, personal and collective identity, memory, cult and ideology.

 The international meeting “In Second Use”: an archaeological and anthropological survey of recycling and reuse in the Greek world” aimed to bring together early career scholars (PhD Students, recent PhDs, Postdocs) from various fields of the Humanities (archaeology, history, ethnoarchaeology, folklore, etc.) working on any aspect of secondary use in the Greek world, broadly defined, from prehistory to modern times. They presented thematic and/or interdisciplinary ways of analysis (e.g. temporal, regional, intra- or inter-regional) in which evidence of ‘secondary use’ as attested in material or non-material culture, the landscape or natural resources, provides insights on individuals, social groups or communities.