Project description
Rethinking the Iron Age horse economy
For centuries, the mountainous corridor between the Caucasus and the Zagros has played a vital yet overlooked role in horse breeding history. Traditional research has leaned heavily on written sources that highlight Eurasian nomadic riders as the main actors in the Iron Age horse economy. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CENTAURIA project will explore horse breeding as a multifaceted system that spans not only animal husbandry and trade, but also warfare, metallurgy, training, and art. By tracing these interlinked practices, the project sheds new light on regional horse economies and their role in reshaping social and economic relations.
Objective
Since the late 2nd millennium BC, the area between the Caucasus and Zagros mountain ranges has served as a crucial hub for horse breeding. A significant challenge in studying this region has been the methodological bias favoring historical sources, which emphasize Eurasian nomadic rider groups as the exclusive drivers of horse breeding and trade in the Near East during the Iron Age. By thinking through the concept of horse economy, an interconnected system of activities spanning animal husbandry, trade, military uses, metallurgy, animal training, and artistic practices, CENTAURIA seek to emphasize the multiplicity of horse breeding centres and how the development and expansion of this mobility technology relates to changes in socioeconomic relations within and beyond the mountainous regions neighbouring the advanced civilizations of Mesopotamia.
Using a combination of archaeological and archaeogenetic data, the research seeks to uncover the complex social structures in which equids played a critical socio-economic role. CENTAURIA relies heavily on archaeological evidence, particularly horse burials in the South Caucasus and northwestern Iran, to examine how the evolution of the significance of horses and other equids impacted social dynamics during the Iron Age.
While drawing insights from historical records of empires like the Neo-Assyrian and Urartian kingdoms, as well as from the Eurasian nomadic groups, CENTAURIA's primary focus is on material culture. By integrating archaeogenetic data with archaeological evidence, the project contextualizes genetic information within specific cultural, historical, and geographic frameworks. In doing so, CENTAURIA challenges the dominant view of Eurasian nomadic rider groups as the sole drivers of horse breeding and trade in the Near East, emphasizing instead how horse economies reshaped social, symbolic, economic, and more-than-human relations in the region during the Iron Age.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- engineering and technology materials engineering metallurgy
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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)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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75794 Paris
France
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