Awardees

The VIGUEIRAT project aims to exploit a batch of environmental and archaeological data acquired between 2022 and 2023 on an unpublished Roman site recently discovered in the Marais du Vigueirat nature reserve, between Arles and Fos-sur-Mer. Geoarchaeological and archaeometric analyses will be carried out to characterize the relationship between Roman-period man-made structures (5 ha of pebble pavement, delimiting a 40 ha site) and a paleochannel of the Rhône, active in ancient times, whose layout and geometry evoke the famous Marius canal, designed according to sources to link the Gulf of Fos to the river, avoiding the sandy mouths of the delta.

The analyses will be decisive for the interpretation of the site, which is not obvious on the basis of archaeological data alone. They will complete the corpus of results acquired since 2020, with a view to the first scientific publications in national and international journals. The aim is to produce 1) an initial assessment of the site's state of knowledge, as expected by the archaeological community; 2) a synthesis integrating the cumulative results of geomorphological (core drilling) and geophysical analyses of the paleochannel and its environment, on the eastern edge of the Rhône delta. Finally, the Vigueirat sector will be one of the case studies selected for a more ambitious project.

Partner(s):

• Image, City, Environment Laboratory (LIVE - Strasbourg)

The study of archaeological organic matter (AOM) remains an analytical challenge, not only because of its wide variety in terms of chemical nature and biological origin, but also because of its often complex original formulation and capacity to degrade. In the age of Big Data and AI, the automated processing of samples of this type, which generate complex data sets during their analysis, is a necessity. In this context, metabolomics, the most recent of the "omics" sciences, is the analytical approach of choice, as it offers a holistic vision both at the scale of each sample, aiming to study the entire metabolome, and also at the level of the panel of samples analyzed, through a global and automated study.

This project aims to develop metabolomic approaches applicable to various analytical techniques (GC-MS, LC-MS, SFC-MS) and specifically dedicated to archaeological samples (resins, sediments, bones...) from ongoing projects by the various partners (IMBE, CEREGE, LAMPEA). It will also help federate skills in molecular archaeometry at regional level.

Since 2018, as part of an ANR-funded research program led by IRAA, a multidisciplinary team has been studying the rocks used in the ancient monuments of Delos. This small island in the Cyclades was reputed to be the birthplace of the god Apollo. The city of Delos flourished thanks to its great sanctuary, and was endowed with monumental finery of the highest quality, built with local or imported stone. The aim of this study is to determine the origin of these stones by analyzing the rocks used and the rocks from the island's quarries, to quantify the materials extracted and to analyze how each type of stone was used at different periods in the island's history.

To disseminate the results of this Research, an exhibition for the general public will open at the Villa Kerylos (Beaulieu-sur-Mer), itself built on the model of a Delienne house.

Recent developments in underwater wooden shipwreck dating methods, through the combined use of dendrochronology and radiocarbon (14C) dating, have greatly improved our ability to date this type of site. This technique, known as wiggle-matching, applied to ship timbers, makes it possible to fix in time dendrochronological sequences that are often floating, and thus to better determine the possible date of construction of the boat. At the same time, the increasing number of radiocarbon measurements on small organic elements, whose lifespan was very limited when the ship was wrecked or abandoned, such as dunnage or seeds belonging to crew members, should enable us to better date the event. The Lifeboat project aims to apply these two methods to the Hellenistic wreck Fort-Royal 1 (1st half of 2nd century BC, Cannes, France). This site, which is still loosely dated, offers a number of advantages that suggest a positive application of these two dating methods.

Partner(s):

• Département des recherches archéologiques subaquatiques et sous-marines (DRASSM - French Ministry of Culture)
• Ipso Facto Company

Contrary to traditional accounts, animal sacrifice did not disappear at the end of Late Antiquity. While in Western Europe the Church finally succeeded, not without difficulty, in putting an end to bloody sacrifice during the Middle Ages, many Christian traditions in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Near East, Egypt and Ethiopia never ceased to practice animal sacrifice, which remains a living practice. A comprehensive overview of this phenomenon in the various Christian groups has yet to be offered. Our team of historians and anthropologists aims to fill this gap, using an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to analyze various phenomena linked to animal sacrifice in Christian societies over the long term: perception and criticism, ideological transformations and reinterpretations, persistence and continuity of sacrifice. Our analysis will focus on the Balkans and Greece on the one hand, and the Caucasus (Georgia and Armenia) on the other.

Partner(s):

• Yerevan State University (Armenia)
• Lyon 2 Lumière University
• Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia)
• Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL, - Paris)

The ACCTOr project has two main objectives:

• To improve the tools and methods used to characterize and identify the origins of the various limestone materials used in the ancient theater of Orange, in order to achieve convincing results for the publication of the monument. The results of this emblematic case study will subsequently be disseminated and exploited by the entire archaeological community for the study of other ancient or medieval stone constructions.
• Undertake prospective research into the automated recognition of limestone facies geometry, both in quarries and in the materials used, based on digital photogrammetry of monument elevations. This prospective research, based on the findings of artificial intelligence research, could yield significant results both in terms of characterizing and identifying the provenance of materials, and in terms of reconstructing the construction techniques used on the theater.

This project focuses on the mechanical and acoustic characterization of bone samples. Following an initial preliminary study of bone properties using ultrasonic analysis (ARCHé-US project, on deer tibias), demonstrating the relevance of this innovative approach, an extension is proposed which will focus on long ox bones and/or fossil bones, in order to both i) compare with previous results and ii) provide a new benchmark and iii) specify and adapt the measurement protocol for physical properties such as moduli of elasticity and modulus of elasticity.
previous results, ii) provide a new reference frame and iii) refine and adapt the protocol for measuring physical properties such as moduli of elasticity, micro-hardness or density.

Ultimately, the data will be used to test taphonomic questions of differential preservation on bone assemblages of archaeopaleontological origin. It's worth pointing out that this project reflects the interdisciplinary nature of our business. Finally, a Master 2 and a BUT (Bachelor of Technology) student are involved in this study (2022-2023).

The FCGM project, funded by the Institute for Mediterranean archaeology (ARKAIA) in 2020 and 2022, has enabled us to establish fruitful collaborations and build up a large corpus on the scale of France, Germany, Spain and continental Italy on the quarries of origin of granite drums used in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the distribution of drums during and after Antiquity. While the Narbonnaise region accounts for 100% of casks imported from the shores of the Mediterranean (Egypt, Turkey, western Mediterranean islands), this is no longer the case as we move further north or west: other, local sources have been identified for casks now preserved in Betica, Lyon, Javols, Trier, Aachen and Prague. We propose to characterize the sources of barrels used in Sicily, a crossroads between east-west and north-south trade, and a possible "semi-local" outlet for Calabrian granites.

Partner(s):

• Università di Catania (Italy)
• Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Pisa, Italy)
• Istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia (Rome, Italy)
• Università degli studi di Palermo (Italy)

The project presented here is part of Émilie Mannocci's PhD thesis (CCJ) and benefits from the expertise in applied physics of Daniel Borschneck (CEREGE) and in ceramology of Laetitia Cavassa (CCJ). The Research project involves 270 portable XRF analyses of 132 ceramics with molded decorations from northern Italy found at the Butte Saint-Antoine site in Fréjus. The aim is to distinguish different production groups within this batch of material through chemical characterization of the ceramics. Indeed, as the north-Italian ceramic workshops of the Change of Era period are not yet archaeologically known, the use of archaeometric analyses is essential to understanding their organization and functioning.

This project aims to produce a risk monitoring and prediction tool in the form of a geographic information system (GIS) for the Kerkennah coastline (Tunisia), based on an interdisciplinary approach: archaeological, architectural and photogrammetric study, archaeological and audiovisual documentation, drone survey and geographic expertise.

The archipelago is home to the archaeological remains of the important Punic and Roman port city of Cercina, which have only been briefly excavated. In view of the archipelago's dramatic maritime erosion (the coastline has receded by 7m in 10 years), there is an urgent need to identify, record and monitor the evolution of archaeological and architectural structures.

By ensuring the convergence of data from a wide range of scientific fields and techniques, RECALISKE will provide the basis for a more ambitious project on the challenges and issues facing the Mediterranean coastline in the face of climate change. The Kerkennah Islands will provide a prime study ground, including work on salt exploitation, that currently being carried out by a PhD on coastal evolution, and others to come, with a view to an ANR.

Partner(s):

• Tunisian National Heritage Institute (INP)