Project description
Ancient textile manufacturing practices unveiled
Textile manufacturing is one of the most ancient crafts. It provides valuable insights into human history in terms of social, technical, and cultural activities. Unfortunately, its reconstruction is complicated by the lack of specific skeletal markers used in osteoarchaeological identification of manufacturing activities. To address this issue, the EU-funded AIRLOOM project will conduct a revolutionary, cross-disciplinary study combining approaches from bioarchaeology, archaeological materials studies, experimental archaeology, to environmental sciences focusing on ancient textile manufacturing and its impact on health. AIRLOOM will establish a novel archaeological focus on a person in ancient textile manufacturing.
Objective
Textile manufacturing is one of the oldest crafting activities in human history, linking the use of natural resources and technological innovations to complex cultural and social processes. Despite the enormous economic importance of textile production, marred by its severe health impact, long-term perspectives on the history of this craft are elusive in the archaeological record, due to the perishable nature of the evidence it leaves behind, and the lack of specific and reliable skeletal markers of past occupations that would allow the osteoarchaeological identification of textile workers. AIRLOOM addresses these issues by investigating the human mouth and the respiratory tract as a ‘depositional environment’ where concentrations of textile fibres, dyes and other environmental particles can accumulate and preserve inside mineralised dental plaque (dental calculus) as a result of accidental ingestion and inhalation during manufacturing. AIRLOOM will employ cutting edge cross-disciplinary methods to skeletal collections and natural mummies from ancient Egypt, Sudan, and Lebanon (4000 BC-1000 AD). These regions are home to well-documented crafting traditions and technologies (metal, glass, textile, stone work, art), underpinning enormous inequality of living conditions for the labourers (today and in the past). AIRLOOM will integrate approaches from bioarchaeology, archaeological materials studies, ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology and environmental sciences to generate a novel multidisciplinary understanding of textile manufacturing in antiquity and its impact on health, with important direct implications for the practising of traditional textile work today. AIRLOOM is the first project of its kind in bioarchaeology, pushing current boundaries and establishing a novel archaeological focus on textile manufacturing, from ‘how and where’ textiles were made to ‘who’ made them, and at what human cost.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology ethnoarchaeology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences
- engineering and technology materials engineering textiles
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology bioarchaeology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.4. - SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-WF-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2121 NICOSIA
Cyprus
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.