ISOPATH · Multi-isotopic tracing of human and animal mobility in lowland Europe
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-01-07 → 2021-04-07
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Multi-isotopic tracing of human and animal mobility in lowland Europe
The main issue being addressed by ISOPATH was to unlock patterns of mobility – an essential socio-economic strategy – in prehistoric societies of Europe. Mobility is among the fundamental problems of the modern world and the understanding of its long-lasting presence and consequences is important for modern society. ISOPATH addressed mobility’s impact on some of the earliest generations of Europeans, living between ca. 3700–1200 BC. ISOPATH had two specific aims. The first was to reconstruct cattle herding strategies in lowland areas of Europe. Pilot studies suggested seasonal movement of cattle, known as transhumance, similar to practices evidenced in mountain regions today. The second aim was to reconstruct human journeys, residential mobility and individual life histories. ISOPATH combined anthropological, archaeological and scientific perspectives of human mobility and looked for specific social practices like marrying outside one’s social group, known as exogamy, or individual journeys for various reasons.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
ISOPATH’s main aim is to unlock patterns of mobility – an essential socio-economic strategy – in non-literary societies of Europe. This study will cover a well-defined and surveyed area – the region of Kuyavia, a typical postglacial landscape of the North European Plain. To explore assumed evolutionary changes a long-time perspective is proposed, comprising ~2500 years from Middle Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3700–1200 cal. BC). The main scientific tool selected for the project is strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis of human and cattle tooth enamel, using both TIMS and LA-MC-ICP-MS techniques, and sequential oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) stable isotope analysis of cattle tooth enamel. They will be applied to samples of human and animal remains from one of the most densely inhabited and best investigated regions in European prehistory. The specific aims of the project are: (1) reconstruction of cattle herding strategies in lowland areas; (2) understanding human’s journeys, residential mobility and individual life histories. ISOPTAH will address the questions of mobility and migration, fundamental problems of the modern world, to some of the earliest generations of Europeans, following the policy European Year of Cultural Heritage (2018). It will also contribute to the development of the European Research Area (ERA) by enhancing the cooperation and knowledge exchange between the Partner Organisation. A comprehensive training-through-research embedded in this proposal aims at significant enhancing of applicant’s career prospects.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL · BRISTOLCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union