Project description
Motives behind the construction of a medieval wall system in Mongolia and China
In north China and Mongolia, stretching over 3 500 km, lies a complex wall system dating back to the 10th and 13th centuries CE. The purpose of this medieval wall system, which includes long earthen walls and ditches, auxiliary structures and roads, is enigmatic. It’s unclear who built it and how it functioned. The EU-funded project The Wall will answer the questions: How long was the wall in use? Who built it? For what purpose? How did it function? What amount of human labour and other resources were necessary in order to build it? The findings will shed light on the logic behind the construction of such long and expensive linear barriers (‘Great Walls’) by several Chinese dynasties and other polities in the pre-modern world.
Objective
Why did some (but not all) Chinese dynasties invest huge amount of resources in the construction of Great Walls? The proposed project will focus on precisely that question, in an attempt to unravel what is perhaps the most enigmatic episode of Great Wall construction. Roughly dated to the 10th-13th centuries CE and located far to the north of other Great Wall lines, this Medieval Wall System (MWS) is one of the longest walls ever constructed in world history, stretching over more than 3,500 km and including large auxiliary structures (Fig. 1). The amount of resources invested in this MWS must have been enormous, but historical sources are mute about its construction, and modern scholarship is unable to date it precisely or understand why it was built and how it functioned. The motives behind the construction of the MWS, its political context and ecological implications, are highly relevant for the understanding of the complex history of China and Mongolia on the eve of Chinggis Khans rise to power. However, because in the past scholars have assumed that Great Walls were fortified border lines designed to stop military incursions, such issues impetus and consequences were never addressed. Hence, the proposed project will put forward novel hypotheses, analyse them by using advanced recovery and analytical methods, and examine them against a broad archaeological, historical, environmental, and geographical background. The research hypothesis of the proposed project is that the MWS was not built as a defence against invading armies, but rather as a means to monitor and sometimes stop the movement of nomadic people and their herds. The large-scale movements of nomadic people towards more central areas of the empire happened, I would suggest, in times of ecological stress in the Steppe.
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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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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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-2019-ADG
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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.
91904 JERUSALEM
Israel
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.