DC5: "For a history of maritime techniques in Europe: Norms and uses of techniques in prehistoric coastal communities"

Project details

Project description

Objectives

Techniques mediate the actions of humans on their environment and constitute essential archaeological evidence of the norms and practices of past populations in their lived landscapes. Because the prehistory of the shore has long been marginalized in the grand narrative of human origins, no synthesis has been produced on the particularities of these technical systems and networks compared to those developed in the inland of the continents.

Based on bibliographic data (publications, reports, inventories) and databases, the project studies coastal hunter-fisher-gatherer toolkits dated to 12 000 – 2000 cal BC made of different raw materials (lithic, bone, shell), techniques or structures (marine or estuarine fisheries, prey processing devices, storage structure) across Europe (Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic).

They also concern several other registers of action on matter as culinary practices and means of displacement movement (boats and navigation). This investigation is resolutely multi-disciplinary, integrating technological and archaeological data, archaeozoological, ethnographic data and experimental archaeology.

The aim of DC5 is firstly to establish a common methodology for interrogating such data and unifying the results. As part of the dissertation/research, a relational database should then be established to define technical solutions adopted by HFG hunter-fisher-gatherers in these different environments. The question of their originality in relation to continental techniques is central to defining the historical dynamics on the shores at the beginning and during of thein the early Holocene. The cultural and topographic diversity of the coastal earlier prehistory in Europe appears to be an asset for identifying standards and adaptations, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean seas.

The question of the functionality of certain habitats (shipyards, prey processing areas, habitats related to the maintenance and use of fisheries, etc.) is central to DC5, as this logistical organization of territories is likely to reflect original social structures. This doctoral research project requires the mobilization of numerous registers of knowledge dealing with various chronological prehistoric contexts, fueled by a real spirit of curiosity and interdisciplinarity.

Academic secondments

The aim of the academic secondments is to study comparative material/contexts. The stays will also help the candidate to discuss the results and interpret the synthesis:

• UiO, supervisor: I. M. Berg-Hansen (3 months), purpose: To study lithic technology from Norwegian sites
• UL, supervisor: V. Bērziņš  (2 months), purpose: To study bone implements in Latvia

Non-academic secondments

ARQVA (supervisor: R. Sabio, 1 month, purpose: insights in museum communication, preservation, conservation)

Supervisors

• Main supervisor: Marie-Yvane DAIRE, Senior researcher in CNRS (France), Mixed Research Unit 6566 CReAAH (Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire), Rennes University
• Co-supervisor: Inger Marie BERG-HANSEN, Associate Professor, University of Oslo (UiO), Museum of Cultural History, Norway

Eligibility criteria

The recruitment process for all Doctoral candidates in the HORIZON-MSCA-2022-DN ArCHe follows a common recruitment strategy, which is based on the European Commission’s Code of Conduct of Recruitment

MSCA-eligibility criteria

• MSCA Mobility Rule: researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their date of recruitment
• All researchers recruited in a DN must be doctoral candidates (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment)

Necessary local eligibility criteria (specific for the host institution/beneficiary)

5-years degree (Master) in Archaeology, Prehistory or related fields such as archaeometry, Archaeology and Cultures of the Ancient World, Maritime archaeology, heritage studies

Enrolment in local PhD-programme

The candidate. will be registered as a doctoral student at the University of Rennes, Doctoral school "Espaces, Sociétés, Civilisations" (ESC).

Appropriate academic knowledge and skills for position DC5

The candidate will hold a Master degree in Archaeology, Prehistory or related fields (Archaeometry, Archaeostatistics, Archaeology and Cultures of the Ancient World, Maritime archaeology, Palaeobiology, Bioarchaeology)

How to apply

You apply for the position via the website of The French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Go to application

Application deadline: May 27^th, 2024.

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