Project description
Exploring infectious disease epidemics in prehistoric societies
Recent advancements in ancient metagenomics have opened avenues to study human-pathogen interactions much earlier than recorded history. The 2nd millennium BCE holds the earliest textual evidence of infectious disease epidemics. The ERC-funded PROTOPEST project aims to explore the impact of infectious disease epidemics on prehistoric human societies, focusing on the significant socio-cultural changes of the time. The project will generate extensive ancient genomic datasets by analysing human and animal remains from key regions in Europe, the Near East, and Central Asia. By combining this data with cultural, isotopic, palaeodemographic, and palaeopathological information, the project seeks to uncover the unknown landscape of Middle/Late Bronze Age epidemics.
Objective
In recent years, rapid developments in the field of ancient metagenomics, enabled through advances in genomic sequencing and ancient DNA retrieval, have provided temporal transects of microbial diversity and have paved the way for studying human-pathogen interactions, on the biological and cultural dimensions, far earlier than the written historical record. With these tools at hand, PROTOPEST will utilise a timely opportunity for investigating the impact of infectious disease epidemics on prehistoric human societies. The project will be centred on the 2nd millennium BCE, a period of large-scale socio-cultural transformations witnessed differentially across the archaeological records of Europe, Near East and Asia. Until now, studies have focused on environmental changes, economic shifts, warfare and human migration to explain these phenomena. Crucially, the 2nd millennium bears the earliest textual evidence of infectious disease epidemics ever identified, yet, their possible contribution to observed transformations, as well as their trans-regional impact beyond textual descriptions, remain largely unexplored. PROTOPEST will produce extensive ancient metagenomic, pathogen genomic and human genomic datasets, generated from human and animal remains across key regions of Europe, the Near East and Central Asia. Co-analysed alongside cultural, isotopic, paleodemographic and palaeopathological information, these data will be used to expose the unknown landscape of Middle/Late Bronze Age epidemics across a large geographical expanse. Our unique multidisciplinary framework will define indicators of prehistoric community responses to infectious disease outbreaks, and reveal how pathogens emerged and disseminated within and across human populations. In this capacity, PROTOPEST will provide a deep evolutionary and cultural framework for empirically examining the diachronic challenges that pathogens have posed on human societies, to gain a more holistic view on human prehistory.
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.
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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)
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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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) ERC-2023-STG
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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.
72074 Tuebingen
Germany
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.