The aim of this volume is to examine various forms of adaptation adopted by coastal societies in the ancient Mediterranean in response to external pressures they occasionally experienced. The investigation spans the longue duree stretching from the epi-paleolithic to the Medieval period. Special attention is given to the impact of two groups of variables: climate and sea level changes on the one hand, and fluctuations in political circumstances connected with the domination of empires, on the other hand. For adaptation, the volume analyses modes of coastal residence, subsistence, and maritime connectivity, not as a static feature, constant throughout history, but as a process that requires permanent adjustments due to changes in environmental, social and political conditions. Methodologically, various forms of case studies are employed, isolating thematic issues, geographic micro-regions, temporal boundaries, and disciplinary perspectives, ultimately seeking to embrace as wide an array of phenomena as possible in the human experience of collapse and adaptation.Assaf Yasur-Landau is Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology, Head of the Recanati Institute of Maritime Studies, founder of the Laboratory for Coastal Archaeology and Underwater Survey, and cofounder of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Gil Gambash is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Haifa and cofounder and director of the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History. Thomas E. Levy is Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division, Co-Director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability at the Qualcomm Institute and inaugural holder of the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands at the University of California, San Diego.