Project description
Leveraging palaeogenomics to study protohistoric gender differences
Studying gender inequality during the transitional period between Neolithic and Bronze Ages cannot be done with present-day indicators such as pay or education levels. Typically, scientists use proxies including data from ethnoarchaeology and anthropobiology, isotope analyses, or funerary practices and artistic representation to gain insight. The ERC-funded anthropYXX project intends to apply palaeogenomics to protohistoric human remains. Combined with isotope analyses, it will open a window on the health status of men and women, family structures and inbreeding. Scientists will also evaluate potential differences between men’s and women’s contributions to genetic variation and develop new methods to assess DNA methylation levels and evaluate epigenetic environmental impact at key points in time.
Objective
The project anthropYXX proposes an archaeogenomic exploration of the status and life of women and men during the key transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in occidental Europe, with the ambition to better understand the deep roots of gender contrasts in present-day societies. Inequalities today can be measured through economical markers, health or education levels. As these metrics are not directly accessible in prehistoric periods, alternative proxies have to be exploited to trace back the emergence of inequalities, including data from ethno-archaeology and anthropobiology, traditional isotopic analyses, or the interpretation of funerary practices and artistic representation. The project anthropYXX proposes to add palaeogenomics to the current gender archaeology toolkit. More specifically, anthropYXX aims at leveraging the latest advances in ancient genomics applied to a rich collection of protohistoric human remains, and combined with isotopic data, to better picture the contrasted life of women and men, through the reconstruction of family structures, inbreeding levels and residential rules. The health status of the women and men, and their associated microbes, will be assessed. The development of innovative approaches both on the bench and in silico will enable the characterization of past DNA methylation levels and their comparison with modern data, especially at positions impacted by adverse life conditions. Finally we will document the populations’ genetic heterogeneity and investigate the hypotheses of sex biases in population migrations.
The anthropYXX project will provide a new proxy to test if (i) health conditions, reproductive behaviour, as well as epigenetic environmental impact, were contrasted between women and men during protohistory, (ii) men and women contributed differently to the genetic makeup of European populations, and (iii) these contrasts were exacerbated during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology ethnoarchaeology
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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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
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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-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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) ERC-2023-STG
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31400 Toulouse
France
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