Tran-PLANT was developed along two Work Packages: 1) Linguistic traits of plants and dye plants in Linear B—Indo-European and substrate Aegean elements, and 2) Cultural dimension of dye plants and dyed textiles, from technical knowledge to crafted goods as cultural and socio-political tools. Research activities approached the written sources, Linear B inscriptions, from an interdisciplinary perspective encompassing textual comparisons with Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic inscriptions, linguistic analysis, history of science, and textile studies. The program was completed by training with craft and textile experts.
The main results were:
- An in-depth understanding of the cultural dimension of dyed textiles—each color and the plant (or plants) producing it is now connected with cultural identities, socio-political groups, resource control and exploitation.
- The identification of wild and domesticated species of plants in the textual sources.
- A global study of the symbolism of the complex and dynamic relationship between color and textile type throughout the Bronze Age Aegean, and a comparison with different Aegean elites and leadership.
- A detailed overview of the dye plants' terminology, based on the combination of textual, linguistic, and archaeobotanical data.
- The establishment of typological criteria for textile types and dyed textiles as well as statistics on their chronological and geographical distribution.
- The identification of different features in Aegean inscriptions, depending on the nature, chronology, and geography of the document—the earliest deposits from Knossos for Linear B tablets, local variations in Linear A inscriptions, administrative vs non-administrative purpose for Cretan Hieroglyphic seals.
- The multiplication of case studies illustrating the importance of the substrate Aegean language(s) and culture(s) in shaping cultural identities and fueling socio-political changes.
Trans-PLANT has delivered a rich program of dissemination activities, scientific and public.
Scientifically, I engaged in 28 peer-reviewed publication projects (papers: 8 published, 4 accepted; books: 1 published as a guest co-editor in a journal’s special issue, 1 co-edited book accepted; 13 MASt symposia published, 1 accepted), led the organization of 13 MASt symposia (interdisciplinary approaches to Bronze Age Aegean studies) and 2 international conferences (1 in trans-cultural textiles and 1 in Indo-European linguistics), and co-organized an international conference (on dyes in history and archaeology). Also, I gave 12 talks at international conferences, 7 talks in national seminars, and 4 talks in trans-departmental workshops. Additionally, I collaborated with other 2 EU-funded projects (4EU+ and a COST action), for which I accepted the role of deputy member and, in addition, gave talks and organized experimental sessions and teaching activities. Finally, I organized the visiting research stay of 5 international scholars.
For my outreach activities, I produced 10 dissemination pieces (targeting a more general audience and focusing on ancient plants and their cultural impact in ancient and today’s world to address the concepts at the core of the project: translation, transformation, and transculturation), 1 podcast episode on Linear B, 2 small films, and offered quarterly oral and digital presentations in venues such as high schools, cultural café, local festivals, and student events. Finally, I was selected, twice, to present my work at the EU-organized event “Science is Wonderful”.
