The HORIZON-MSCA Doctoral network ArCHe works for a holistic understanding of Stone Age finds and sites in coastal landscapes across Europe – and for their sustainable future.
The archaeological remains of Stone Age hunter-fisher-gatherers (c. 12.000–2.000 calBC) in coastal areas across Europe are fractured, highly vulnerable, often merely visible and under-communicated.
In response to these challenges, ArCHe trains young researchers as skilled international ambassadors contributing to research, management and communication of this legacy across different sectors.
ArCHe offers 10 PhD-positions in five European countries (Norway, Sweden, Latvia, France and Spain), covering the fields of archaeology, social anthropology, critical heritage studies, heritage management, bioarchaeology, geology, oceanography, coastal engineering/preservation and communication relevant to coastal heritage and environment.
ArCHe’s PhD-students are educated internationally, interdisciplinary and with intersectoral skills. As a joint platform for research and training, ArCHe encompasses customized PhD projects, knowledge exchange between researchers, supervisors and partners, scientific courses, workshops and conferences.
With six beneficiaries and nine associated partners, ArCHe unites academic research centres and non-academic organisations such as the cultural heritage sector, specialist organisations, museums and media.
Core objectives
- To investigate similarities, differences and diversities in the use of coastal areas in the Stone Age (Late Palaeolithic/Mesolithic periods, c. 12,000-2000 calBC) across Europe.
- To work in accordance with ArCHe's innovative past-present-future principle: Connecting the knowledge of the past with the present management, explorations and communication of archaeological sites and their future public, sustainable value.
- To apply cross-regional, interdisciplinary and intersectoral perspectives and synergies in each project.
- To include and develop knowledge exchange with non-academic actors that either already are practically engaged with prehistoric coastal areas or will become important stakeholders in the future.
- To develop new methods and results and propose solutions that can contribute to sustainable ways of dealing with Stone Age coastal areas in the future.
- To safeguard and develop innovative tools to communicate these issues to a broader public.
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ArCHe at-a-glance
Rationale
- Connecting academic, non-academic/applied and transferable skills
- Bringing together academic and non-academic partners
- Synergies open new fields (academic and applied) for research and best practices on archaeological heritage
Goals
- Cross-regional, interdiciplinary, intersectoral approach
- Educate a future generation of innovative and all-sided researchers
- Develop collaborations between partners into a sustainable network
ArCHe: Core project
- Academic training
- Applied training
- Transferable skills training
Work packages
- WP1: Coordination and management
- Scientific WPs 2–5 with 10 individual research projects (DC1-10)
- WP2: Coastal territories and environmental threats (DC1, DC2)
- WP3: Dwelling in coastal areas (DC3, DC4, DC5)
- WP4: Managing coastal resources (DC6, DC7)
- WP5: Coastal Stone Age as contemporary heritage (DC8, DC9, DC10)
- WP6: Dissemination, communication, exploration
- WP7: Training
Outcomes
- 10 skilled PhDs in the fields of archaeology, geomorphology, bioarchaeology, biology, social anthropology, cultural heritage studies – prepared for an interregional career
- 10 PhD theses (monographs/article based)
- a sustainable future network
- innovative synergies
- exploitations of tools (best practice reports) and of other results
- sustainable communication measures (e.g. "The classroom of Europe")
- a sustainable Doctoral network
Funding
ArCHe – Archaeological Coastal Heritage: Past, present and future of a hidden prehistoric legacy is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral network (MSCA-DN) funded by the European Union (HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN).
Contact
For inquiries about DN ArCHe, contact Project Coordinator professor Almut Schülke: