Objetivo Sustainability of societies in a restricted or fragile environment forms a perpetual question, past and present underpinning questions of the rise and fall of civilisation. Today, the eroded Maltese islands support one of the densest human populations in the world. When first colonised in the 6th millennium BC, pristine soil and forest covered the landscape, but within centuries the landscape was bare and under intensive cultivation. The Neolithic perpetrators of the original clearance developed a sophisticated if isolated island civilisation in the face of the precarious environment and limited natural resources. Their megalithic temples focused on ritual feasting whilst complex social organisation controlled food distribution. Over centuries, Malta maintained an intensive subsistence economy and a controlled population, but 2500 years after the first settlement that socio-economic system seems to have imploded resulting in the collapse of its island civilisation.What precise conditions led to this collapse, and was there complete or only partial economic and cultural failure? Did external factors - episodes of climatic instability, sea-level change, disease, invasion – impact irreversibly on the island inhabitants, or did over-intensification cause internal political and economic failure? Were the islands abandoned or was life sustained on them? Were other small islands affected in similar ways? These questions underpin my investigation which aims to extract eroding and fragile environmental and archaeological evidence from rapidly deteriorating landscapes. The goal is to understand the relationship between environmental change, stress and cultural continuity or collapse. I will address these questions through application of modern interdisciplinary environmental sciences (including palynology, climate studies, dating, dietary isotopes and landscape archaeology) to establish the impact of environmental change on island populations. Ámbito científico natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencesnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypalynology Programa(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Tema(s) ERC-AG-SH6 - ERC Advanced Grant - The study of the human past Convocatoria de propuestas ERC-2012-ADG_20120411 Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoria Régimen de financiación ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Institución de acogida THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST Aportación de la UE € 1 451 405,20 Dirección UNIVERSITY ROAD LANYON BUILDING BT7 1NN Belfast Reino Unido Ver en el mapa Región Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Belfast Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Investigador principal Caroline Ann Tuke Stoddart (Dr.) Contacto administrativo Rory Jordan (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos Beneficiarios (6) Ordenar alfabéticamente Ordenar por aportación de la UE Ampliar todo Contraer todo THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 1 451 405,20 Dirección UNIVERSITY ROAD LANYON BUILDING BT7 1NN Belfast Ver en el mapa Región Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Belfast Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Investigador principal Caroline Ann Tuke Stoddart (Dr.) Contacto administrativo Rory Jordan (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 402 751,20 Dirección TRINITY LANE THE OLD SCHOOLS CB2 1TN Cambridge Ver en el mapa Región East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Contacto administrativo Renata Schaeffer (Ms.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos HERITAGE MALTA Malta Aportación de la UE € 124 159,20 Dirección EX-ROYAL NAVY HOSPITAL TRIQ MARINA KKR 1524 Kalkara Ver en el mapa Región Malta Malta Malta Tipo de actividad Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments) Contacto administrativo Olivianne Briffa (Ms.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos UNIVERSITA TA MALTA Malta Aportación de la UE € 332 359,20 Dirección TAL OROQQ 2080 MSIDA Ver en el mapa Región Malta Malta Malta Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Contacto administrativo Mark Debono (Mr.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos SUPERINTENDENCE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE-SOVRINTENDENZA TAL PATRIMONJU KULTURALI SCH Malta Aportación de la UE € 169 153,20 Dirección TRIQ SAN KRISTOFRU 173 VLT 1467 Valletta Ver en el mapa Región Malta Malta Malta Tipo de actividad Research Organisations Contacto administrativo A A Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH Reino Unido Aportación de la UE € 11 940,00 Dirección DRAKE CIRCUS PL4 8AA Plymouth Ver en el mapa Región South West (England) Devon Plymouth Tipo de actividad Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Contacto administrativo Suzanne Ash (Ms.) Enlaces Contactar con la organización Opens in new window Sitio web Opens in new window Coste total Sin datos