Project description
Revealing the rhythms of prehistoric symbolism
Rock art sites were also more than passive canvases. They were dynamic sites that were entangled with the symbolic and seasonal rhythms of prehistoric life. How ancient peoples used these sites, however, remains an enigma. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ARTISTS project will study soot-stained cave formations (sooty speleothems) in French and Spanish caves. These natural formations capture evidence of firelight and yield a novel, year-by-year record of human visitation. ARTISTS is using novel archaeological and geoscientific techniques to reconstruct how often, and when, people returned to these sites. The findings could transform our understanding of mobility, ritual, and the social worlds of Europe’s earliest artists.
Objective
Rock art, one of humanity’s earliest symbolic expressions, is considered a milestone in human evolution. Despite extensive global research, little is known about the specific patterns and rhythms of how past societies used rock art sites. ARTISTS project seeks to understand patterns of use of rock art sites, which hold a special place in prehistoric societies' physical and symbolic territories through three main objectives: 1) Identify and characterize anthropogenic traces (such as chars) from complementary sites (geography, climate and chronology) in Spain and France using an integrated multi-method protocol, 2) Document the temporality of rock art site use with micro-chronological precision and calendar accuracy, and 3) Synthesize findings to understand the dynamics of site use from archaeological and anthropological perspectives.
To achieve these goals, Dr. Vandevelde will study sooty speleothems, which are exceptional archives for micro-chronological research. They offer precise radiometric dating and high-resolution paleoenvironmental data through annual laminae. They also serve as anthropogenic records, capturing traces of human activity, such as soot from lighting, allowing the construction of a relative chronology of visits at a site. These detailed chronologies can reveal occupation patterns on an annual scale, providing groundbreaking insights into human mobility. By targeting rock art sites, ARTISTS will shed new light on occupation dynamics of sites visited for symbolic activities. A decorated cave is not a vitrified site, and recent studies show that the temporal complexity of rock art sites is much greater than previously believed. By combining innovative in-lab and on-site multidisciplinary methods from archaeology and geosciences, ARTISTS can reveal this complexity with unprecedented accuracy. For the first time, integration of rock art sites into annual or multi-year cycles of nomadism will be discussed directly from archaeological data.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology archaeology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology geomorphology speleology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
39005 SANTANDER
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.