Objective
This interdisciplinary project will show that inter-imperial zones and small to mid-size regional networks of exchange were crucial for ancient Transeurasian exchange connections. It will demonstrate the significance of exchange in imperial frontier zones emerging from political, economic, infrastructural, institutional and technological development within empires. This will lead to a new conceptual frame for analyzing inter-imperiality and the morphology of exchange networks within and across imperial zones.
The centuries from 300 BCE to 300 CE were a period of accelerated empire transformation involving also new regions of the Afro-Eurasian world. Consumption centres shifted, affecting production, settlement, and regional exchange networks. They changed the dynamics of exchange, created new geographies, and greater cultural convergence between imperial spheres of influence. The development of imperial frontier zones of intense exchange and mobility (e.g. Northern China, Bactria, Gandhara, Syria, and the Red Sea/Gulf/Indian Ocean coasts) was related to imperial hinterlands, their fiscal-military-administrative regimes, the development of media of exchange and infrastructures, settlement, urban growth, and so on. It was also related to new forms and levels of consumption in imperial centres. In order to understand Transeurasian connectivity, the interdependence of frontier zone and inner-imperial development is crucial. We will reveal that competitions for social power within empires mobilized and concentrated resources reclaimed from natural landscapes and subsistence economies. Greater mobility of resources, both human and material, endowed competitions for power with economic force, feeding into inter-imperial prestige economies and trade. This new model of Afro-Eurasian connectivity will abandon some problematic assumptions of Silk Road trade, while maintaining the Afro-Eurasian macro-region as a meaningful unit for cultural and economic analysis.
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
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.
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.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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) ERC-2016-ADG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
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.
79098 Freiburg
Germany
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.