Project description DEENESFRITPL Beyond palaces: Looking at local Mycenaean economy The Late Bronze Age era in Greece conjures images of powerful Mycenaean palace complexes and rich elite burials. The role of the non-elite population in these economies is only recently beginning to attain the focus it deserves. The EcoNoMy project will use isotope analyses from bone, food and environmental debris to formulate alternative narratives and revive discussion on non-palatial societies. Focusing on abounding evidence of Western Greek excavations that point to an advanced trade network with the Adriatic and the Balkans, EcoNoMy will introduce combined hi-tech methodologies that can be adapted to comprehensively reconstruct the economy of ancient regional communities. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective What is it like to live like common people in a Kingdom? The archaeology of Greece in the Late Bronze Age is dominated by the glory of the Mycenaean palaces and the rich warrior burials. The role of the non-elites remains at large an enigma, although recent research suggests that their contribution to the economy was much more critical than previously thought. EcoNoMy will apply a novel combination of bulk and single compound carbon and nitrogen amino acid isotope analyses from bone collagen, methionine sulphur isotopes, food and environmental debris from calculus, and proteins adsorbed to pottery, in order to shift the attention from elite burials to non-elite lifeways and construct an alternative narrative of the political economy. With this unrivalled integration of markers of subsistence, EcoNoMy will create a dynamic discussion on regional political ecologies and political economies and overcome the current stall in research, created by previous methodological limitations that offer a unidirectional -palatial- view of society. With a regional focus on Western Greece, where current excavations suggest the presence of a complex system of exchange with the Adriatic and the Balkans, EcoNoMy will be the first:1. to offer this high-tech combination of methods to reconstruct for the first time the economic character of diverse, non-elite regions 2. to directly compare and contrast dietary evidence between individuals and their pots 3. to establish the applicability of this combined methodology in archaeology but also the relative merit of each method in relation to preservation and site particularitiesThe outcome will place the applicant at the forefront of isotope researchers and ground truth an integrated analysis, which can be applied to all archaeological populations, while proposing an alternative archaeological narration that comprehends the role of non-elites in sociocultural development. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinshumanitieshistory and archaeologyarchaeologynatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaminessocial scienceseconomics and businesseconomicspolitical economy Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-CAR - CAR – Career Restart panel Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF YORK Net EU contribution € 212 933,76 Address HESLINGTON YO10 5DD York North Yorkshire United Kingdom See on map Region Yorkshire and the Humber North Yorkshire York Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 212 933,76
