THAIS · Tracking Health and Ancestry Impact of the Greek colonisation in Southern Italy
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2023-06-01 → 2025-05-31
- EU contribution
- €214,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Tracking Health and Ancestry Impact of the Greek colonisation in Southern Italy
The THAIS project aims to explore one of the most important periods in Mediterranean history, the Greek colonisation of Southern Italy between 900 and 500 BCE. While this era laid the foundations for cultural and political developments in the region, the demographic and biological impact of Greek colonisation remains poorly understood. THAIS aims to fill this gap by combining archaeological evidence with state-of-the-art ancient DNA analysis. The project investigates the genetic ancestry, kinship structures, and health profiles of both local indigenous Italic populations and incoming Greek settlers in order to reconstruct the demographic shifts and genetic legacies of Greek colonisation in southern Italy. The project also aims to demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary research, integrating archaeology, genomics, and bioanthropology to produce a more nuanced narrative of the past.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The period of Greek colonisation between 900 and 500 BC was one of the most formative periods of classical antiquity. Historical and archaeological research has greatly informed our understanding of this era, but the exact nature and demographic impact of the colonisation process remains unclear. The THAIS project will shed new light on this process by combining existing archaeological evidence with new ancient DNA data based on the analysis of human skeletal remains from four archaeological sites in Southern Italy, one of the focal points of Greek colonisation. Using archaeological and molecular lines of evidence, the project will address the following objectives: 1) reconstruct the genetic ancestry and kinship structures of the local Italic population in southern Italy; 2) investigate the origins of the Greek colonists at two colonial sites (Metaponto and Siris); 3) assess nature and demographic impact of the Greek colonisation by investigating possible admixture processes and sex-biased migration, and 4) investigate the genetic legacies and lasting health impact of the Greek colonisation in Southern Italy. The THAIS project will be the first to use ancient DNA analysis to study the impact of the Greek colonisation and together with archaeological lines of evidence will provide new information on the colonisation process and the interactions between the colonists and the indigenous Italic population at a key moment in Mediterranean history.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET · KOBENHAVNCoordinatorDenmark
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101109463
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e505104826&appId=PPGMS
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e51c04440e&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union