Project description
Reframing mountain agency in Minoan Crete
For decades, scholars have viewed Bronze Age Cretan mountain communities as peripheral to the powerful palatial centres in the lowlands. But new research is overturning this assumption. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the PEAK project explores the active role these upland groups played in shaping ritual life at peak sanctuaries. By analysing figurines, trade patterns, and gathering data using archaeological science and digital tools, PEAK reveals that these communities were not passive participants but held real political agency. Their interactions at these sacred sites influenced matters of trade, land and defence, and shaped rituals later echoed in the palaces. The project redefines our understanding of Minoan society while training a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers.
Objective
PEAK investigates, for the first time, the pivotal yet long-overlooked role that Middle and Late Bronze Age Cretan (c. 1900-1450 BCE, aka ‘Minoan’ culture) mountain communities played in the management of large collective rituals held at mountain-top sanctuaries (‘peak sanctuaries’) and the subsequent influence the latter bore on ritual practices held in lowland centres (‘palaces’). Challenging traditional theories promulgating the passivity of upland populations to prevalent palatial control, the project traces the political agency of mountain populations through an innovative, interdisciplinary, and bottom-up analysis of ceramic figurine use at peak sanctuaries. Within this scope, PEAK aims to trace where the ritual participants came from, what they sought to communicate during the events, and how they bonded while negotiating matters of trade, defense and land division through participation in collective performances. Gained through an innovative combination of approaches from humanities (archaeology, anthropology), science (petrography, pXRF), and digital humanities (GIS, SfM) – for which premium training is undertaken at UNIVE and the BSA – answers to these questions bestow political agency to mountain communities and indicate the existence of a reciprocal power relationship the peaks and palaces maintained during the 2nd millennium BCE. Alongside revolutionising scholarly understandings of the structure of Cretan Bronze Age society, PEAK significantly enhances the candidate’s research capacities and professional profile through the acquisition of new widely-applicable research and horizontal skills.
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 earth and related environmental sciences physical geography cartography geographic information systems
- social sciences sociology anthropology
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology petrology petrography
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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)
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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-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.
30123 Venezia
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.