TECHNET · Technological innovation and knowledge networks: a multidisciplinary approach to Greco-Roman stone vases
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-09-08 → 2022-09-07
- EU contribution
- €172,932
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Technological innovation and knowledge networks: a multidisciplinary approach to Greco-Roman stone vases
TECHNET consisted in applying a multidisciplinary approach to Greco-Roman stone vases to shed light on the development of technology in ancient crafts. TECHNET’s overall objectives were: to generate knowledge on technology applied to Greco-Roman stone working; to prove the existence of technical networks in the Greco-Roman period; to review the function and meaning of stone vases in reflecting gender and social identity of their users in Greco-Roman societies. It collected for the first-time data on Greek, Hellenistic and Roman white marble and coloured stone vases spread across international museums and private collections. This had negatively contributed to the previous state-of-the-art. TECHNET’s conclusions are: Greco-Roman stone vases involved important technological innovations, principally the lapidary lathe, resulting in great quality and variety of shapes; production entailed crafts-interaction and knowledge networks through human mobility and cultural contact, which aided the introduction of technology; both in the Greek and Roman societies socio-political and cultural changes made technological innovation possible; Greco-Roman stone vases were a deeply semiotic form of material culture for the expression of gender identity, particularly by women (e.g., white marble pyxides featuring as offerings in weddings, tombs, temples and sanctuaries of female deities) and of social status (e.g., by elite groups) because of the magical and aesthetic qualities of their lithic materials and their shape/design. Disclosing the processes and circumstances of transformative innovations in the ancient world helps modern society grasp the mechanisms of technology and its role in shaping contemporary and future culture.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Technology is one of the most transformative innovations of human kind: it has profoundly impacted economic, social and cultural history. Understanding humans’ capacity to innovate provides fundamental tools for the study of technological advance and human progress. Technology applied to crafts has radically changed the relationship between maker and matter, that is mankind’s ability to manipulate its material environment and transform it into useable objects for living. Stone is the most challenging matter for craftsmen to process since it requires a complex series of technological choices and an articulate operational sequence. Consequently, stone vases, as objects made of stone, represent crucial analytical “tools” to investigate technological innovation in ancient crafts. Disclosing the processes and circumstances of transformative innovations in the ancient world helps us comprehend the mechanisms of modern technology and its role in shaping contemporary and future societies. Much ground-breaking research has shown that Protohistoric stone vessel production involved significant technological input and knowledge transfer, thus playing a key role in the development of Prehistoric Mediterranean craft traditions. Similar research for the Classical period is still lacking. With the TECHNET action I put forward an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to the development of technology in ancient crafts using Greco-Roman stone vases as case study.My starting hypothesis is that Greco-Roman stone vases have the potential to inform us on technological development, knowledge transfer and materiality practices in the Classical period. I intend to test this hypothesis through the combination of ethno-anthropological and sociological qualitative analysis with computer informed data processing. Undertaking such a research at ICAC is set to offer novel scientific tools to the history of manufacturing technology and to bolster my scientific profile.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- Institut Català d'Arqueologia Clàssica · TarragonaCoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union