Description du projet
L’invention technique et sociale dans le Caucase
Les civilisations de l’ancienne Mésopotamie ont donné naissance à de nombreuses avancées cruciales dans les sciences et la technologie. La plus ancienne roue, par exemple, a été découverte dans cette région, et elle était utilisée pour des chariots il y a environ 5 000 ans. Le projet ARCHCAUCASUS, financé par l’UE, conteste cette théorie, répandue dans le monde des sciences et de l’archéologie, en créant de l’espace pour des hypothèses alternatives: les nouvelles technologies et techniques soi‑disant découvertes en Mésopotamie constituaient en fait une adaptation provenant de différentes «zones périphériques». L’étude d’ARCHCAUCASUS s’étendra sur le sujet en enquêtant sur quatre innovations axiales: la roue et le wagon, les alliages métalliques, la métallurgie de l’argent et le mouton laineux. Ce projet pluridisciplinaire emploie les méthodes analytiques les plus récentes.
Objectif
This project leads to one of the most dynamic regions in prehistory: the Caucasus of the 4th and early 3rd mill. BC. During this vibrant time, basic innovations emerged, which were crucial until the 19th century: wheel and wagon, copper alloys, the potter’s wheel, new breeds of woolly sheep, domestication of the horse, and others. At the same time, massive migrations from the East European steppe during the early 3rd mill. BC changed the European gene pool.
The project challenges the still predominant narrative that all technical achievements stemmed from urban centres in Mesopotamia. New studies have created space for alternative hypotheses: possibly it was not the development of new techniques, but instead their adaptation from different ‘peripheries’ and their re-combination and re-configuration that formed the basis for the success of these ‘civilisations’.
The Caucasus, linking Mesopotamia to the Eurasia and Europe, is for the first time in the focus of a study on innovation transfer. The study will make a major contribution by investigation of four axial innovations: wheel and wagon, metal alloys, silver metallurgy and woolly sheep. 40 wheels will be analysed by computer tomography and strontium isotopes. Some 300 copper alloys artefacts and 200 silver objects will be examined using mass spectrometry with laser ablation. 400 aDNA genom-wide analyses of humans from burials in the North Caucasus will offer the unique chance of elucidating the role of migrations for the spread of innovations. The pottery in the region, often linked to Mesopotamia, will be studied under technical aspects and is a complementary path to shed light on migration and the transfer of knowledge. Excavations in settlements will allow building up a chronology using 400 AMS 14C analyses. The project is multidisciplinary, making use of the most up-to-date analytical methods. Our long experience and reputation on both sides of the Caucasus is the ideal background for cutting-edge research.
Champ scientifique
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistoryprehistory
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistoryancient history
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metals
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkaline earth metals
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrymass spectrometry
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringmetallurgy
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitution d’accueil
14195 Berlin
Allemagne