Project description
Cracking the Teotihuacan food puzzle
In the bustling heart of ancient Mesoamerican cities like Teotihuacan, a mystery shrouds the food production systems that once sustained thriving urban populations. While historical records reveal a plant-heavy diet supplemented with local wildlife and small-scale turkey husbandry, many gaps in our understanding remain. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the AviCulture project will test two hypotheses. First, did Teotihuacan residents practice low-intensity turkey and quail husbandry at the household level? Second, were aquatic birds, possibly reflecting lake exploitation, more pivotal to urban subsistence than previously thought? To answer these questions, the project will use zooarchaeological and proteomic analyses. The findings will shed light on ancient urban food production, underscoring the significance of avian fauna and lacustrine resources.
Objective
Lessons from Mesoamerican cities are well-suited to address many problems with feeding urban populations today, as large cities thrived in this region in the absence of large, domesticated animals. While we know that residents of Teotihuacan consumed a plant-heavy diet, supplemented with wild animals harvested from local ecosystems and some husbandry of small animals, like turkeys, there are still many gaps in our understanding of Teotihuacans food production system. AviCulture tests two hypotheses to better our understanding sustainable food production in the city. 1. Residents practiced low-intensity husbandry of turkeys and quails at the household level. 2. Aquatic birds, a proxy for lake exploitation, were more important to urban subsistence than current evidence suggests. The project will test these hypotheses across multiple assemblages at the city by integrating common zooarchaeological analysis with proteomic analysis to improve taxonomic identification of bone and egg remains and examining eggshells to assess embryonic development. The findings of this research will speak to the organisation of two important food production strategies for the city and highlight the importance of avian fauna and lacustrine resources in investigating the development of urban economies during the classic period.
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.
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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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.
10124 TORINO
Italy
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.