H2020Индивидуална стипендия2020–2022

ArCAN · An Archaeology of Exchange Networks in Central Africa. The Cases of the Copperbelt and Niari Basin Copper Deposits

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2020-10-01 → 2022-09-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 224 934 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Търговските мрежи в Централна Африка се анализират чрез проучване на медните находища в басейна Ниари и региона Copperbelt. Това помага да се разбере икономическата история на региона и ролята на местните общности преди пристигането на европейците.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

An Archaeology of Exchange Networks in Central Africa. The Cases of the Copperbelt and Niari Basin Copper Deposits

Before the 20th century, an extensive network of long-distance and regional trade routes crossed Central Africa. The development of these networks and the flow of goods they drained most likely played a major role in the economic and socio-political history of Central Africa but nevertheless remain poorly known, especially for periods predating European contact. ArCAN aimed to reconstruct the history of exchange in the area through multi-evidential sources and a multidisciplinary approach, including archaeology, materials science, historical geography and history. The key approach was to assess the potential of material culture in reconstructing and interpreting exchange networks, starting with the 19th-century regional and long-distance trade and then extending further back in time. The project focused on exchange networks related to copper deposits in the Niari Basin (Republic of Congo) and the Copperbelt (southern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Zambia). Copper was a valuable metal and was exchanged during the entire second millennium over long distances. The value of copper and its durability in the archaeological record offers a good gateway to explore regional and long-distance exchange networks over time. It furthermore allows to gain more insight in the role of valuable materials and their producing communities in the building and dynamics of the trade networks. The goal was also to document the processes at work in the creation and management of long-distance exchange networks by specifying the relative contributions of local and regional exchange, local communities and larger socio-political spaces, and the impact of natural features on the physical layout of networks. The solid empirical ground gained would allow feeding general theoretical and methodological reflections for further studies on ancient interaction in places where material culture is the only available record to document the past.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Exchange networks have played a major role in the history of Central Africa, but their exact location and how they operated remain largely unknown. This project aims at investigating the history of these networks by studying the exchange from and to the copper deposits in the Niari Basin (southern Republic of Congo) and in the Copperbelt (south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo). Both areas were part of large scale and extensive economic spaces during the 2nd millennium AD. An interdisciplinary approach – including archaeology, materials science, historical geography and history – will be used for unravelling the course of the trade routes and their regional interconnectivity. The late 19th century networks are historically well documented, and will serve as a starting point for tracing their earlier configurations, origins and precursors, using material culture as the main source of evidence. Copper and ceramic artefacts will be studied in order to provide information on trade networks as well as on exchange of knowledge and ideas through the examination of their style and manufacturing processes. The investigation – including laboratory analyses – will result in the reconstruction through time of the exchange networks, and of the socio-economical spaces of which they were a part. This will allow reconstruction of the history of regional and long-distance connections and interactions, and assessment of the respective roles of geographical features and the socio-political context in shaping and maintaining exchange networks through time. Besides improving our knowledge on the ancient economic history of the area, the project results will provide empirical grounds for the development of more robust analytical and theoretical frameworks for interpreting ancient interaction and exchange networks in Africa using material culture. The Researcher will receive training in archaeological theory, archaeometry, GIS and spatial analysis, and pottery analysis (secondment).

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · CAMBRIDGEКоординаторОбединеното кралство