Project description DEENESFRITPL A closer look at climate change in the Fertile Crescent Home to the oldest civilisations, the Fertile Crescent is a region stretching from northern Egypt to the Persian Gulf. Named for its rich soils, its access to water helped farming and trade routes. However, water in the area is growing scarcer due to climate change. Extreme weather events such as droughts have resulted in population declines, social complexity and political changes. In this context, the EU-funded CLaSS project will research the sustainability and resilience of local societies through both abrupt and longer-term climate changes. To that end, it will construct empirical data sets using archaeological data science. Archaeological settlement and archaeobotanical (plant and tree remains) data will be collated for the entire Fertile Crescent region. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Over the last 8000 years, the Fertile Crescent of the Near East has seen the emergence of cities, states and empires. Climate fluctuations are generally considered to be a significant factor in these changes because in pre-industrial societies they directly relate to food production and security. In the short term, ‘collapse’ events brought about by extreme weather changes such as droughts have been blamed for declines in population, social complexity and political systems. More broadly, the relationships between environment, settlement and surplus drive most models for the development of urbanism and hierarchical political systems. Studies seeking to correlate social and climatic changes in the past tend either to focus on highly localised analyses of specific sites and surveys or to take a more synthetic overview at much larger, even continental, scales. The CLaSS project will take a ground breaking hybrid approach using archaeological data science (or ‘big data’) to construct detailed, empirical datasets at unprecedented scales. Archaeological settlement data and archaeobotanical data (plant and tree remains) will be collated for the entire Fertile Crescent and combined with climate simulations derived from General Circulation Models using cutting edge techniques. The resulting datasets will represent the largest of their kind ever compiled, covering the period between 8000BP and 2000BP and an area of 600,000km2. Collecting data at this scale will enable us to compare population densities and distribution, subsistence practices and landscape management strategies to investigate the question: What factors have allowed for the differential persistence of societies in the face of changing climatic and environmental conditions? This ambitious project will provide insights into the sustainability and resilience of societies through both abrupt and longer term climate changes, leveraging the deep time perspective only available to archaeology. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencebig datahumanitieshistory and archaeologyarchaeologynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes Keywords Social Complexity Archaeological Data Science Urbanism Geographical Information Systems Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2018-STG - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2018-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Host institution UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM Net EU contribution € 1 100 105,00 Address STOCKTON ROAD THE PALATINE CENTRE DH1 3LE Durham United Kingdom See on map Region North East (England) Tees Valley and Durham Durham CC 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 € 1 100 105,00 Beneficiaries (3) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 1 100 105,00 Address STOCKTON ROAD THE PALATINE CENTRE DH1 3LE Durham See on map Region North East (England) Tees Valley and Durham Durham CC 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 € 1 100 105,00 UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 140 395,00 Address WOODHOUSE LANE LS2 9JT Leeds See on map Region Yorkshire and the Humber West Yorkshire Leeds 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 € 140 395,00 EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN Germany Net EU contribution € 258 150,00 Address GESCHWISTER-SCHOLL-PLATZ 72074 Tuebingen See on map Region Baden-Württemberg Tübingen Tübingen, Landkreis 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 € 258 150,00
