Palaeolithic Populations in Armenia and Turkey: Expanding Archaeological Understanding

Project Information

PLATEAU

Grant agreement ID: 330301

Project closed

Start date 15 September 2013

End date 14 September 2015

Funded under

• Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Total cost € 166 336,20

EU contribution € 166 336,20

Coordinated by

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
Türkiye

Objective

The proposed multi-disciplinary project investigates hominin behavior during the Middle Pleistocene in Turkey and Armenia in terms of regional hominin behavior patterns, population dynamics, and dispersals. Based on available fossil data, recent studies on Eurasian hominin dispersals hypothesize ‘source’ areas for populations, including the Balkans, the Levant, and Central Asia. Lying geographically between these areas, Anatolia and the southern Caucasus are two crucial regions for understanding hominin population dynamics and dispersals. However, due to biased research intensity the regions still represent knowledge gaps in the Palaeolithic database. The main objective of the proposed research is to generate new archaeological data for the Middle Palaeolithic in Turkey and Armenia. The research seeks to integrate regional archaeological data into theories on hominin population dynamics. Preliminary archaeological data from upland open-air sites in Turkey and Armenia suggest regionally distinct patterns in technology and land use, and may indicate complex population dynamics, involving geographically isolated populations and local extinctions. In the proposed research, regionally distinct patterns in technology and land use are viewed in terms of ‘culturally mediated’ structured metapopulations. Research methods include: analyzing artifact techno-typology in two comparative regions of Turkey and Armenia; experimental archaeology; mapping and excavating archaeological deposits; studying archaeological site formation using field and laboratory methods; chronometric dating and sampling of archaeological deposits using a variety of techniques. Data generated in this project will aid comparison with more intensely studied regions of Eurasia, will refine theories on hominin population dynamics, and expand knowledge of human evolution. The applicant will transfer knowledge to the ERA through teaching, collaborative laboratory and fieldwork, and outreach activities.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › databases
• humanities › history and archaeology › archaeology › ethnoarchaeology
• social sciences › sociology › anthropology › physical anthropology

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Programme(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IIF - Marie Curie Action: "International Incoming Fellowships"

Call for proposal

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IIF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)

Coordinator

MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

• EU contribution: € 166 336,20
• Address: DUMLUPINAR BULVARI 1 ; 06800 Ankara ; Türkiye
• Region: Batı Anadolu › Ankara › Ankara
• Activity type: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Total cost: No data