Tracking Elephants: Mapping pre-colonial African ivory trade networks using Bioarchaeological techniques

Project Information

TEMBO

Grant agreement ID: 332165

Project closed

Start date 20 August 2014

End date 19 August 2017

Funded under

• Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Total cost € 202 291,20

EU contribution € 202 291,20

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF YORK
United Kingdom

Objective

TEMBo will map the flow of ivory from archaeological sites in eastern and southern Africa over the past two millennia by training the researcher in a range of bioarchaeological techniques to identify (ZooMS, FTIR) and source (isotope analysis) archaeological ivory artefacts. This information will significantly improve the understanding of regional interactions between coastal points of export and inland communities supplying the ivory for this trade by reconstructing wider Indian Ocean trade networks between some of the most important pre-colonial African states. TEMBo will thus benefit from an outgoing phase where the researcher is based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in order to obtain access to the ivory material, as well as be trained by world-leading experts in both archaeological ivory analysis and modern elephant ecology, and benefit from knowledge exchange between the archaeologists working on these sites. Though the project is archaeological, the isotope data will have an impact on modern wildlife conservation by extending the existing database of isotopic signatures characterising elephants from different parks and wildlife sanctuaries across southern Africa. Finally, TEMBo will train the researcher in spatial analyst and mapping database software (ArcGIS) to create an online, open-source database of African ivory, and will work with collaborators of TEMBo from different disciplines (archaeology, ecology, conservation, heritage) in utilising this data in a way that is suitable and useful for education, training, and outreach to the public. Thus, a core part of TEMBo will be to train the researcher in outreach and dissemination of interdisciplinary data in a way that is relevant, timely, and educational for a wide range of audiences in Europe and Africa.

Fields of science

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.

• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › software
• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › databases
• engineering and technology › environmental engineering › ecosystem-based management › habitat conservation
• humanities › history and archaeology › archaeology › ethnoarchaeology
• natural sciences › biological sciences › ecology

Programme(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

• FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development"

Call for proposal

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF)

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

• EU contribution: € 202 291,20
• Address: HESLINGTON ; YO10 5DD York North Yorkshire ; United Kingdom
• Region: Yorkshire and the Humber › North Yorkshire › York
• Activity type: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Administrative Contact: Rebollo Belen (Ms.)
• Total cost: No data