Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English en
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

The TEmporality of the craftmanship in the diaCHroNic and synchronic production and circulation of cEramics in second millennium BCE Mesopotamia

Project description

Diachronic pottery circulation in the 2nd Millennium BCE Mesopotamia

Pottery production and circulation played a crucial role in the economy and politics of 2nd millennium BCE Mesopotamia. However, the links between these activities and shifts in political and economic dynamics during the Amorite, Kassite, and Assyrian periods remain poorly understood. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TECHNE project will explore the complex relationships between pottery production, circulation, and the evolving economic and political systems of the time. Focusing on table vessels and storage containers, the project will examine their role across different cultural and administrative contexts, shedding light on the transitions between cultural traditions and political systems.

Objective

TECHNE questions how the dynamics of changes of pottery circulation and production relate to economic and political
dynamics of 2nd millennium BCE Mesopotamia, from the Amorite collective identity in the Middle Bronze Age to the Kassite and
Assyrian cultural-political systems in the Late Bronze Age. To ensure its feasibility and not harming its completeness, the project
focuses on table vessels (plates, carinated bowls, shouldered beakers, tall-necked beakers) and storage containers (jars with band
rim), selected on the base of their diffusion in Mesopotamia and their occurrence in funerary and administrative contexts, of primary
importance to assess specific cultural traits and traditions in the use of ceramics. The selected material has been retrieved in northern
and southern Mesopotamia in four selected sites, mentioned as case-studies, and from ISAC and Penn museums’ collections. The
project challenges when the aforementioned ceramic types spread, why they were widely attested, what their cultural and economic
meaning was, how they were adopted in local traditions. TECHNE aims at bringing together the available fragmentary evidence and
the analyzing data synchronically and diachronically by means of an interdisciplinary method combining anthropological approaches, natural sciences (petrography), and Digital Humanities analytical tools (Geographic Information System). The host institution, UP1– UMR ArScAn, will provide training in GIS mapping, microscope observation and material culture anthropology. Research collaborations with top-ranking scholars in the lab and in other institutions will provide me with a broadening of my skillset and of my network for further collaborations. In the project's last quarter, I will organize a workshop involving prominent scholars researching the project’s topics. TECHNE will be disseminated in scientific conferences and publications, as well as in the local communities in Iraq and Europe.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

UNIVERSITE PARIS I PANTHEON-SORBONNE
Net EU contribution
€ 226 420,56
Address
Place du Pantheon 12
75231 Paris
France
Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data